{"id":81462,"date":"2025-10-22T12:00:34","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T16:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=81462"},"modified":"2025-10-21T16:53:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T20:53:43","slug":"2025-bowl-projections-after-week-eight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/10\/22\/2025-bowl-projections-after-week-eight\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 Bowl Projections After Week Eight"},"content":{"rendered":"
Hello everyone, and welcome back to our 2025 Bowl Projections After Week Eight. A huge thank you to everyone who’s followed along this year. It seems there’s one week when upsets happen and the rankings get shaken up like a giant Etch A Sketch. This past weekend was one of those times. Miami lost at home to Louisville, shaking up the ACC rankings. Texas Tech lost at Arizona State<\/a>, further opening up the Big 12. Speaking of the ACC, Florida State lost at Stanford, and in the process, has gone from a playoff team a month ago to possibly being out of our picks. Additionally, Mike Norvell’s status as head coach is a significant topic of discussion. However, it looks like no decision will be made until after the season.<\/div>\n
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Speaking of coaches, Florida fired Billy Napier even after they’ve won two of their last three. Furthermore, another Norvell, Jay, was let go at Colorado State. If you are counting, that’s 11 head coach openings now in college football. Now, back to why you’re here, our Week 8 projections. You’ll see lots of shuffling in the playoffs and in many of our games from last week.\u00a0<\/a>One last note, we are up to 24 bowl-eligible teams, or nearly 1\/3 of the teams we need. With the preliminaries out of the way, let’s get to this week’s picks.<\/div>\n

Wholesale Changes In Our Playoff<\/h2>\n

College Football Playoff First Round<\/h3>\n
Friday, December 19th \u2013 (12) South Florida at (5) Georgia Tech.<\/strong> Texas Tech’s loss gives us a new matchup this week. Behind quarterback Byrum Brown, <\/a>the Bulls blew out Florida Atlantic 48-13 to remain one of our Group of Five teams. Traveling to Memphis is one of the week’s best games. On the other side of the ball, the Yellow Jackets are now in the driver’s seat in the ACC with Miami’s loss. However, you’ll notice we don’t have them in the top four.<\/div>\n
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Saturday, December 20th- (11) Notre Dame at (6) Georgia.<\/strong> Behind a career-high 228 yards by Jeremiyah Love <\/a>, the Irish beat USC by 10. Gunner Stockton\u00a0<\/a>and the Bulldogs knocked off previously unbeaten\u00a0<\/a>Ole Miss and moved up a couple of spots.<\/div>\n
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Saturday, December 20th- (10) Ole Miss at (7) Oregon.<\/strong> The Rebels drop after the Georgia loss, but are still in the playoffs. Dan Lanning\u2019s Ducks bounced back from the Indiana loss by beating Rutgers 56-10.<\/div>\n
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Saturday, December 20th- (9)- Miami at (8) Texas Tech.<\/strong> Both teams lost on Saturday. However, both remain in the playoffs.<\/div>\n

College Football Playoff Quarterfinals-<\/h3>\n
Goodyear Cotton Bowl: Wednesday, December 31st- (5) Georgia Tech vs. (4) Texas A&M\u2013<\/strong> Mike Elko\u2019s Aggies got past Arkansas 45-42 on Saturday. They travel to LSU this week.<\/div>\n
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Capital One Orange Bowl: Thursday, January 1st- (7) Oregon vs. (2) Indiana-<\/strong> As we mentioned earlier, the ACC champion isn’t slotted to the Orange Bowl. Instead, we present a sequel to the game earlier in the year, won by the Hoosiers.<\/div>\n
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Rose Bowl Game: Thursday, January 1st\u2013 (8) Texas Tech vs. (1) Ohio State\u2013<\/strong> With Miami’s loss, the Buckeyes ascend back to the top spot in our rankings.<\/div>\n
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Allstate Sugar Bowl: Thursday, January 1st- (6) Georgia vs. (3) Alabama-<\/strong> What would a College Football Playoff be without these two schools meeting?<\/div>\n

Semi-Finals and Final-<\/h3>\n
VRBO Fiesta Bowl: Thursday, January 8th- (4) Texas &M \u00a0vs. (1) Ohio State-<\/strong> The Buckeyes are 4-0 all-time against the Aggies, with the last meeting coming in the 1999 Sugar Bowl.<\/div>\n
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Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl: Friday, January 9th- (3) Alabama vs. (2) Indiana-<\/strong> These two schools have never met on the gridiron.<\/div>\n
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College Football National Championship: Monday, January 19th- (3) Alabama vs. (1) Ohio State-<\/strong> We\u2019re going with a Big Ten-SEC final.<\/div>\n
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That\u2019s your breakdown of the playoff for this week. Continuing with our 2025 Bowl Projections After Week Eight, let\u2019s move to the games around the New Year.<\/div>\n

Filling The Void<\/h3>\n
Once again, this season, legacy Pac-12 teams can be slotted to games featuring that league. However, that goes away next year when the conference starts fresh with new teams. As always, we\u2019ll try not to pair them with teams they\u2019ve already played.<\/div>\n
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In addition, with it being 2025, the SEC plays in the Mayo Bowl while the Big Ten goes to the Las Vegas Bowl. Furthermore, for the second time in three years, the Bahamas Bowl won\u2019t be played there. No word yet on what a replacement game might be called.<\/div>\n
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One other thing to note, we’ve gone from having more SEC bowl-eligible teams than bowls to not having enough. Such is the life of playing in that league.<\/div>\n
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Music City Bowl: December 30th- Big Ten vs. SEC- Nebraska vs. Texas<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Valero Alamo Bowl: December 30th- Big 12 vs. Pac-12- Arizona State vs. USC+<\/strong>\u2013The Trojans go to San Antonio as a legacy Pac-12 member.<\/div>\n
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Radience Technologies Independence Bowl: December 30th- Big 12 vs. Conference USA- Kansas vs. Jacksonville State<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Reliaquest Bowl: December 31st- SEC vs. Big Ten- Tennessee vs. Illinois<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl: December 31st- ACC\/Notre Dame vs. Pac-12- California vs. Arizona+<\/strong> The Wildcats go to El Paso as a legacy Pac-12 team.<\/div>\n
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Cheez-It Citrus Bowl: December 31st- Big Ten vs. SEC- Michigan vs. Oklahoma<\/strong><\/div>\n
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SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl: December 31st- Big Ten vs. Pac-12- Northwestern vs. Iowa State *<\/strong>\u2013 With no legacy Pac-12 team available we are sending the Cyclones to Vegas.<\/div>\n
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Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: January 2nd- Big 12 vs. American\/Conference USA\/Sun Belt- Army vs. Utah State<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Autozone Liberty Bowl: January 2nd- Big 12 vs. SEC- TCU vs. Auburn<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Duke\u2019s Mayo Bowl: January 2nd- ACC\/Notre Dame vs. SEC- LSU vs. SMU<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Holiday Bowl: January 2nd- ACC vs. Pac-12- Virginia vs. Utah+\u2013<\/strong> This will be the first time this game has ever been played in January. The Utes go as a legacy Pac-12 school.<\/div>\n
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Moving on with our 2025 Bowl Projections after Week Eight, let\u2019s look at the games right after the big holiday.<\/div>\n
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Photo Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Post-Christmas Games<\/h3>\n
Game Above Sports Bowl: December 26th- Big Ten vs. MAC- Maryland vs. Buffalo<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Rate Bowl- December 26th: Big Ten vs. Big 12- Minnesota vs. Houston<\/strong><\/div>\n
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SERVPRO First Responder Bowl: December 26th- AAC\/ACC\/Big 12- Baylor vs. Appalachian State<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Go Bowling Military Bowl: December 27th- ACC\/Notre Dame vs. American- Navy vs. Clemson<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl: December 27th- ACC\/Notre Dame vs. Big Ten- Pittsburgh vs. Iowa<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Wasabi Fenway Bowl: December 27th- ACC\/Notre Dame vs. American- Florida State vs. Tulane-<\/strong> For now, we’re keeping the Seminoles in our projections. In addition, we have FSU playing against the coach who will be one of the hottest names in the off-season, Jon Sumrall.<\/div>\n
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Pop-Tarts Bowl: December 27th- ACC\/Notre Dame vs. Big 12- Louisville vs. BYU<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Snoop Dog Arizona Bowl: December 27th- MAC vs. Mountain West- Western Michigan vs. Fresno State<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Isleta New Mexico Bowl: December 27th- Mountain West vs. American\/Conference USA\/MAC\/Sun Belt- UNLV vs. Texas State<\/strong><\/div>\n
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TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: December 27th- ACC\/Notre Dame vs. SEC- Duke vs. Vanderbilt<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Kinder\u2019s Texas Bowl: December 27th- Big 12 vs. SEC- Missouri vs. Cincinnati<\/strong><\/div>\n
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JLab Birmingham Bowl: December 29th- American\/ACC\/SEC- Troy vs. East Carolina<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Moving on with our 2025 Bowl Projections After Week Eight, let\u2019s move to the season\u2019s initial games.<\/div>\n

First Weekend Games<\/h3>\n
Cricket Celebration Bowl- December 13th- MEAC vs. SWAC- North Carolina Central vs. Jackson State<\/strong><\/div>\n
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LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk: December 13th- Mountain West vs. Pac-12- Boise State vs. Washington+-<\/strong> The Huskies go to LA as a legacy Pac-12 squad. As a result of their big win over UNLV, the Broncos are back as our Mountain West champ.<\/div>\n
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IS4S Salute To Veterans Bowl: December 16th- Mid-American vs. Sun Belt- Central Michigan vs. Coastal Carolina<\/strong><\/div>\n
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StaffDNA Cure Bowl: December 17th- American\/Conference USA\/Sun Belt- Wake Forest vs. UCONN- <\/strong>We talked about them last week, and indeed, the Demon Deacons are here this week.<\/div>\n
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68 Ventures Bowl: December 17th- Conference USA\/MAC\/Sun Belt- Southern Mississippi vs. Toledo<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Myrtle Beach Bowl: December 19th- Conference USA\/MAC\/Sun Belt- Marshall vs. Kennesaw State<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl: December 19th- American\/ACC\/Notre Dame\/SEC- Memphis vs. North Carolina State<\/strong><\/div>\n

Bowls Right Before Christmas<\/h3>\n
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: December 22nd- Mountain West vs. MAC- San Diego State vs. Ohio<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Boca Raton Bowl: December 23rd- American\/Conference USA\/MAC\/Mountain West\/Sun Belt- James Madison vs. Louisiana Tech<\/strong><\/div>\n
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New Orleans Bowl: December 23rd- Conference USA vs. Sun Belt\u2013 Western Kentucky vs. Southern Mississippi<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Scooter\u2019s Coffee Frisco Bowl: December 23rd- AAC\/CUSA\/MAC\/MWC\/SBC- North Texas vs. Old Dominion<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Sheraton Hawai\u2019i Bowl: December 24th- American vs. Mountain West- Temple vs. Hawaii<\/strong><\/div>\n

To Be Announced Bowl Game-<\/h3>\n
Former Bahamas Bowl: Conference USA vs. MAC \u2013 New Mexico State vs. Miami (Ohio).<\/strong> We don\u2019t know the title or where the game will be played, but we have a matchup.<\/div>\n

What We’re Watching<\/h3>\n
While it’s not quite the slate of games from this past week, there are still some exciting games. In addition to the previously mentioned South Florida at Memphis, Oklahoma hosts Ole Miss, and Vanderbilt hosts Missouri. Furthermore, a sneaky game to watch is Indiana hosting a suddenly red-hot UCLA. Thanks for checking out our 2025 Bowl Projections After Week Eight. We’ll see you in seven days.<\/div>\n
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Main Photo: Adam Cairns\/Columbus Dispatch \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/div>\n
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Hello everyone, and welcome back to our 2025 Bowl Projections After Week Eight. A huge thank you to everyone who’s followed along this year. It seems there’s one week when upsets happen and the rankings get shaken up like a giant Etch A Sketch. This past weekend was one of those times. Miami lost at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":877,"featured_media":70051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_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":[7361,7,9,6,5,10,8,11,2,12,13,17,3,14],"tags":[7159,9148,3498,8010,2100],"class_list":["post-81462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bowl-games","category-acc","category-americanathletic","category-big12","category-bigten","category-conferenceusa","category-fbs","category-independents","category-featured","category-midamerican","category-mountainwest","category-news","category-sec","category-sunbelt","tag-billy-napier","tag-dan-lanning","tag-jay-norvell","tag-mike-elko","tag-mike-norvell"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81462","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=81462"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81517,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81462\/revisions\/81517"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}