{"id":51084,"date":"2023-09-19T09:00:10","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T13:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=51084"},"modified":"2023-09-18T16:58:54","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T20:58:54","slug":"2023-week-three-bowl-projections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2023\/09\/19\/2023-week-three-bowl-projections\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 Week Three Bowl Projections"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>No Changes At The Top This Week<\/h3>\n<p>Welcome to the Last Word On College Football Week Three Bowl Projections. Many college football pundits called this past weekend&#8217;s slate a &#8220;Subpar Saturday&#8221; due to the lack of big games. However, we&#8217;d never say that because any weekend of college football is a good one.<\/p>\n<p>As it turned out there were a couple of upsets and all of our playoff teams struggled. A little further down a couple of surprises in the SEC shook up their selections. Of course, there was that Colorado-Colorado State game that dominated headlines for most of the week. There&#8217;s no real news so let&#8217;s get right to our 2023 Week Three Bowl Projections. As always if you&#8217;d like to see what changed from last week <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2023\/09\/12\/2023-week-two-bowl-projections\/\" target=\"_self\">click here.<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">College Football Playoff<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Rose Bowl: January 1st- (2)- Michigan vs. (3)- Texas-<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> The Wolverines only led Bowling Green 14-6 before eventually pulling away. Call it an &#8220;Alabama Hangover&#8221; but the Longhorns got all they could handle from Wyoming. Tied 10-10 at the end of three Texas scored 21 in the fourth for a 31-10 win.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Sugar Bowl: January 1st- (1)- Georgia vs. (4)- Florida State-<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> The Bulldogs found themselves trailing South Carolina 14-3 at the half. They righted the ship outscoring the Gamecocks 21-0 after that.\u00a0 The Seminoles jumped out to a 31-10 lead over Boston College. However the Eagles made a furious comeback and if not for a late penalty things may have gotten very interesting. <strong>Mike Norvell&#8217;s<\/strong> squad travels to Clemson next week. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">College Football National Championship: January 8th- (1)- Georgia vs. (2)- Michigan-<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Our title game remains unchanged from last week.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Selection Committee Games<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Goodyear Cotton Bowl: December 29th- Washington vs. Oklahoma- <\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Huskies had no trouble on the road with Michigan State. With Texas in the playoff the Big 12 representative this week is the Sooners. They&#8217;ve looked very impressive so far and why not send them to Dallas one last time.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: December 30th- LSU vs. Tulane<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u2013 The Green Wave got back on track with a 21-3 win over Southern Mississippi.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/jayden-daniels-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jayden Daniels<\/a> and the Tigers had <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2023\/09\/17\/bulldogs-blown-out-by-the-bayou-bengals\/\" target=\"_self\">no trouble with Mississippi State. <\/a><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Capital One Orange Bowl: December 30th- North Carolina vs. Penn State<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u2013 Right now we\u2019re forecasting the Tar Heels as the ACC representative. The Nittany Lions easily got past Illinois and host Iowa on Saturday.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">VRBO Fiesta Bowl: January 1st- Ohio State vs. USC-\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Heisman winner\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=caleb-williams-5,caleb-williams-3&amp;search=Caleb+Williams&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-01_cfb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Caleb Williams<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> has been spectacular in his first three games. The Buckeyes travel to Notre Dame in the game of the weekend.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Continuing with our 2023 Week Three Bowl Projections let\u2019s roll through the games by date. One thing to note there are no games on December 24th or 31st so as to not go up against the NFL schedule.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Games Around the New Year<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Cheez-It Citrus Bowl: January 1st-Big 10 vs. SEC- Alabama vs. Wisconsin-<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Let&#8217;s be honest, the Crimson Tide have a quarterback problem. Following their loss to Texas and uninspiring win over South Florida, <strong>Nick Saban&#8217;s<\/strong> club drops out of the New Year&#8217;s Six game.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">ReliaQuest Bowl: January 1st- SEC vs. Big 10- Tennessee vs. Maryland-<\/span><\/strong> Couple Alabama&#8217;s bad play with the Volunteers&#8217; loss to Florida and the SEC games changed up this week. Apparently, the worst thing you can do when playing the Terrapins is get ahead 14-0. It&#8217;s happened the last two weeks and they&#8217;ve gone on to blowout wins.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">TransPerfect Music City Bowl: December 30th- SEC vs. Big 10- Minnesota vs. Missouri<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl: December 30th- MAC vs. MWC<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u2013\u00a0<\/span><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Fresno State vs. Northern Illinois<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: December 29th- SEC vs. Big 10 or ACC\/Notre Dame- Miami (Florida) vs. Ole Miss\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl: December 29th- ACC\/Notre Dame vs. Pac-12- Duke vs. Oregon State<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">AutoZone Liberty Bowl: December 29th- Big 12 vs. SEC- South Carolina vs. Texas Tech<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Post Christmas Games<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Quick Lane Bowl: December 26th- Big 10 vs. MAC- Michigan State vs. Western Michigan<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">SERVPRO First Responder Bowl: December 26th- American\/ACC\/Big 12\/ SEC- Central Florida vs. Florida-<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> We&#8217;ve stuck with the Gators in our picks this year and they gave <strong>Billy Napier<\/strong> his best win since starting in Gainesville.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Guaranteed Rate Bowl: December 26th- Big 12 vs. Big 10- TCU vs. Rutgers<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Holiday Bowl: ACC vs. Pac-12- Clemson vs. Utah<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Military Bowl: December 27th- ACC\/Notre Dame vs. American- Navy vs. Wake Forest- <\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Demon Deacons rallied <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2023\/09\/16\/wake-forest-with-an-epic-comeback-27-24\/\" target=\"_self\">from 17 down to beat Old Dominion <\/a>and remain undefeated.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Duke\u2019s Mayo Bowl: December 27th- ACC\/Notre Dame vs. SEC- Kentucky vs. Syracuse- <\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">With all the switching around with the SEC teams we&#8217;ve got a new game for the Wildcats.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">TaxAct Texas Bowl: December 27th- Big 12 vs. SEC- BYU vs. Texas A&amp;M<br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Wasabi Fenway Bowl: December 28th- ACC\/Notre Dame vs. American- North Carolina State vs. Rice<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Bad Boy Motors Pinstripe Bowl: December 28th- ACC\/Notre Dame vs. Big 10- Louisville vs. Illinois- <\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Cardinals continue their tour of baseball parks. Last year it was the Fenway Bowl and in 2023 we have them at Yankee Stadium.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Pop Tarts Bowl- December 28th: ACC\/Notre Dame vs. Big 12-<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma State- <\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A win over the Buckeyes likely sends Notre Dame into our selection committee games next week.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Valero Alamo Bowl: December 28th- Big 12 vs. Pac-12- Kansas State vs. Oregon<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As we roll on with our 2023 Week Three Bowl Projections let\u2019s move to the set of games just before Christmas. That includes a whopping seven games on December 23rd.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Games Right Before Christmas<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl December 23rd: American vs. SEC- Auburn vs. Memphis<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Camellia Bowl- December 23rd: MAC vs. Sun Belt- Eastern Michigan vs. Coastal Carolina<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: December 23rd- American vs. C-USA- Kansas vs. Texas San-Antonio<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: December 23rd- MAC vs. MWC- Miami (Ohio) vs. San Jose State<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">68 Ventures Bowl: December 23rd- MAC vs. Sun Belt- Georgia Southern vs. Toledo<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl: December 23rd- Big 10 vs. Pac-12- Iowa vs. Washington State<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u2013 Yes Iowa football and Las Vegas may seem like an odd combination. However, that\u2019s the match-up we\u2019ve got for this week.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Easy Post Hawai\u2019i Bowl: December 23rd- Conference USA\/MWC\/American- UAB vs. Wyoming<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl: December 22nd- American\/ACC\/Notre Dame\/SEC- Arkansas vs. Pittsburgh<br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl: December 21st- Group Of Five vs. Group Of Five- Appalachian State vs. North Texas<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Frisco Bowl: December 19th-Group of Five vs. Group Of Five- Cincinnati vs. SMU<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">First Weekend Games<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">HomeTown Lenders Bahamas Bowl: December 16th- Conference USA vs. MAC- Ball State vs. Marshall<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Cricket Celebration Bowl: December 16th- MEAC vs. SWAC- Florida A&amp;M vs. North Carolina Central<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: December 16th- Conference USA vs. Sun Belt- Liberty vs. South Alabama<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Duluth Trading Cure Bowl: December 16th- Group Of Five vs. Group Of Five- Army vs. Old Dominion<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Isleta New Mexico Bowl: December 16th- C-USA vs. MWC- Air Force vs. Western Kentucky- <\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">This bowl game now has a sponsor.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl: December 16th- Pac-12 vs. Mountain West- Boise State vs. UCLA<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl: December 16th-<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Big 12 vs. Pac-12- West Virginia vs. Colorado<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u2013\u00a0<\/span><strong>Deion Sanders\u2019<\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Buffaloes went to 3-0 after that epic game against Colorado State. Business is about to pick up when they face Oregon and USC in back-to-back weeks. However, they&#8217;ll have to go it without <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/travis-hunter-2.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Travis Hunter<\/a> who&#8217;s expected to miss three weeks.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Myrtle Beach Bowl: American\/MAC\/Sun Belt- December 18th- Florida Atlantic vs. Troy<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As we mentioned earlier it&#8217;s a huge weekend for college football. Ohio State and Notre Dame head the lineup that also features Ole Miss at Alabama, UCLA at Utah, and Oregon State at Washington State. Thanks for checking out our Week Three 2023 Bowl Projections here at<\/span><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Last Word On College Football.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-51281\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/09\/USATSI_19703982_168400536_lowres-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"2023 Week Three Bowl Projections\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/09\/USATSI_19703982_168400536_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/09\/USATSI_19703982_168400536_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/09\/USATSI_19703982_168400536_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/09\/USATSI_19703982_168400536_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/09\/USATSI_19703982_168400536_lowres-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/09\/USATSI_19703982_168400536_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/09\/USATSI_19703982_168400536_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Photo courtesy: \u00a0Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No Changes At The Top This Week Welcome to the Last Word On College Football Week Three Bowl Projections. Many college football pundits called this past weekend&#8217;s slate a &#8220;Subpar Saturday&#8221; due to the lack of big games. However, we&#8217;d never say that because any weekend of college football is a good one. As it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":877,"featured_media":51281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7361],"tags":[10099,6992,5476,35627,184,5583,140,126,10101],"class_list":["post-51084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bowl-games","tag-2023-selection-committee-games-projections","tag-acc-bowl-projections","tag-big-12-bowl-projections","tag-big-ten-bowl-projections","tag-cfb","tag-college-football-playoff-projections","tag-fbs","tag-ncaa","tag-pac-12-bowl-projections"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/877"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}