I’ll update this post as selections are announced. If I miss anything, feel free to comment!
All times Eastern.
Saturday, December 16th
| Bowl | Team | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Myrtle Beach Bowl | Georgia Southern | Ohio | 11:00 AM, ESPN, Brooks Stadium, Conway, SC |
| Cricket Celebration Bowl | Howard | Florida A&M | 12:00 PM, ABC, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA |
| R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl | Louisiana | Jacksonville State | 2:15 PM, ESPN, Ceasars Superdome, New Orleans, LA |
| Avocados from Mexico Cure Bowl | Appalachian State | Miami (OH) | 3:30 PM, ABC, FBC Mortgage Stadium, Orlando, FL |
| Isleta New Mexico Bowl | New Mexico State | Fresno State | 5:45 PM, ESPN, University Stadium, Albuquerque, NM |
| LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk | Boise State | UCLA | 7:30 PM, ABC, SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA |
| Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl | Texas Tech | Cal | 9:15 PM, ESPN, Independence Stadium, Shreveport, LA |
Monday, December 18th
| Bowl | Team | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Famous Toastery Bowl | Western Kentucky | Old Dominion | 2:30 PM, ESPN, Jerry Richardson Stadium, Charlotte, NC |
Tuesday, December 19th
| Bowl | Team | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl | Marshall | UTSA | 9:00 PM, ESPN, Toyota Stadium, Frisco, TX |
Thursday, December 21st
| Bowl | Team | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roofclaim(dot)com Boca Raton Bowl | South Florida | Syracuse | 8:00 PM, ESPN, FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, FL |
Friday, December 22nd
| Bowl | Team | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl | UCF | Duke | 6:30 PM, ESPN, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL |
Saturday, December 23rd
| Bowl | Team | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camellia Bowl | Arkansas State | Northern Illinois | 12:00 PM, ESPN, Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, AL |
| Birmingham Bowl | Georgia Tech | Troy | 12:00 PM, ABC, Protective Stadium, Birmingham, AL |
| Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl | James Madison | Air Force | 3:30 PM, ABC, Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, TX |
| Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Utah State | Georgia State | 3:30 PM, ESPN, Albertsons Stadium, Boise, ID |
| 68 Ventures Bowl | South Alabama | Eastern Michigan | 7:00 PM, ESPN, Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, AL |
| SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl | Northwestern | Utah | 7:30 PM, ABC, Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV |
| Easypost Hawai’i Bowl | San José State | Coastal Carolina | 10:30 PM, ESPN, Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, Honolulu, HI |
Tuesday, December 26th
| Bowl | Team | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quick Lane Bowl | Bowling Green | Minnesota | 2:00 PM, ESPN, Ford Field, Detroit, MI |
| SERVPRO First Responder Bowl | Texas State | Rice | 5:30 PM, ESPN, Gerald J. Ford Stadium, Dallas, TX |
| Guaranteed Rate Bowl | Kansas | UNLV | 9:00 PM, ESPN, Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ |
Wednesday, December 27th
| Bowl | Team | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Military Bowl Presented by GoBowling(dot)com | Tulane | Virginia Tech | 2:00 PM, ESPN, Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, MD |
| Duke’s Mayo Bowl | North Carolina | West Virginia | 5:30 PM, ESPN, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC |
| DIRECTV Holiday Bowl | Louisville | USC | 8:00 PM, FOX, Petco Park, San Diego, CA |
| TaxAct Texas Bowl | Oklahoma State | Texas A&M | 9:00 PM, ESPN, NRG Stadium, Houston, TX |
Thursday, December 28th
| Bowl | Team | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wasabi Fenway Bowl | SMU | Boston College | 11:00 AM, ESPN, Fenway Park, Boston, MA |
| Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl | Miami (FL) | Rutgers | 2:15 PM, ESPN, Yankee Stadium, New York, NY |
| Pop-Tarts Bowl | NC State | Kansas State | 5:45 PM, ESPN, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL |
| Valero Alamo Bowl | Oklahoma | Arizona | 9:15 PM, ESPN, Alamodome, San Antonio, TX |
Friday, December 29th
| Bowl | Team | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| TaxSlayer Gator Bowl | Clemson | Kentucky | 12:00 PM, ESPN, EverBank Field, Jacksonville, FL |
| Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl | Oregon State | Notre Dame | 2:00 PM, CBS, Sun Bowl Stadium, El Paso, TX |
| Autozone Liberty Bowl | Iowa State | Memphis | 3:30 PM, ESPN, Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, Memphis, TN |
| Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic | Ohio State | Missouri | 8:00 PM, ESPN, AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX |
Saturday, December 30th
| Bowl | Team | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl | Penn State | Ole Miss | 12:00 PM, ESPN, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA |
| Transperfect Music City Bowl | Auburn | Maryland | 2:00 PM, ABC, Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN |
| Capital One Orange Bowl | Florida State | Georgia | 4:00 PM, ESPN, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL |
| Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl | Toledo | Wyoming | 4:30 PM, The CW, Arizona Stadium, Tucson, AZ |
Monday, January 1st
| Bowl | Team | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ReliaQuest Bowl | LSU | Wisconsin | 12:00 PM, ESPN2, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL |
| Cheez-It Citrus Bowl | Iowa | Tennessee | 1:00 PM, ABC, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL |
| VRBO Fiesta Bowl | Oregon | Liberty | 1:00 PM, ESPN, State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ |
| Rose Bowl Presented by Prudential | Michigan | Alabama | 5:00 PM, ESPN, Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, CA, CFP Semifinal |
| Allstate Sugar Bowl | Washington | Texas | 8:45 PM, ESPN, Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, LA, CFP Semifinal |
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Michigan, Washington, Florida State, Texas
I think this has to be it. There’s no way to justify putting an SEC team in over any of these teams this year. Undefeated conference champs are all locks, regardless of how you feel about strength of conferences, you just can’t leave out a P5 team that literally hasn’t lost unless there’s 5 of them. So, last spot is between Texas, Bama, Georgia, Ohio State.
All have fairly similar resumes, except one of them is a conference champion, and beat another one head to head. That puts them over the top.
You could argue (correctly) they also have the worst loss of the 4, but I think the positives outweigh the negatives, and that was in a rivalry game where things are always a little weird. And it’s not like Oklahoma is outright bad. Plus it took some last second heroics. While it’s the worst loss of those 4, it’s not a bad loss. So I think you have to put in the conference champion.
So, sorry SEC fans, it’s your turn to learn how it feels to have a team that’s probably good enough to win left out of the playoffs. That’s how it goes.
Edit: welp, I was wrong. FSU got screwed. That’s disappointing. Can’t wait for a real playoff.
There’s just no way an sec team isn’t in I think
They are certainly campaigning for us to all believe that. Maybe NOT this time.
THEY CAN’T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH IT
Michigan, Washington, Alabama, FSU, Texas.
Top 5, in that order.
Texas beat Alabama in head to head.
Yes they did. And that’s one criterion they can use amongst many. It’s generally used for tiebreakers.
I also think they’ll consider Alabama the better team right now, without the need for a tiebreaker. I also think they’ll use FSU on purpose to create separation so they can avoid the tie-breaker discussion.
Edit: Can we leave downvoting for disagreeing on the other site? If you don’t like conversation, what are you even doing here?
Can we leave downvoting for disagreeing on the other site? If you don’t like conversation, what are you even doing here?
I’m with you there. Disappointing to see them being used by some folks for disagreement. (FWIW, I do think you have a bad take in this argument, but it doesn’t merit downvotes)
And it looks like I was wrong. But I was definitely not expecting Texas to jump FSU. That actually shocks me a bit.
Just for the record, I did think they were going to find some way to put Alabama in and justify it. But I was not expecting it like this.
Strength of schedule is real though. Who cares if FSU is undefeated they’ve only played two ranked teams this season.
3, LSU, Clemson, and Louisville
But yeah, the criteria changes constantly. Who would win, who has the best win, head to head, worst loss, conference championship, undefeated, SOS, SOV. It’s whatever they feel like.
Until this year, fairly sensible hierarchy had emerged.
- Undefeated P5 champ
- 1-loss P5 champ
- 1-loss P5
- Undefeated G5
Notre Dame would slot in as 1.a or 2.a whenever they had 0 or 1 losses. This is the first time that the unstated guidance wasn’t followed. While the Florida fan part of me finds that hilarious, it is also concerning. The dreaded “eye test,” which seemed mostly to be eyeing TV ratings, was only used to break ties. The 12-team will have controversies of its own, but at a minimum, almost everyone’s argument for who they would have voted number 1 in a poll should be able to get in.
Absolutely fucked FSU. Fuck the committee
Bull Gators must have been saving that Jaden Rashada money for the right day. 😂
I hope this stuff with FSU will mean we’ll have some new fans saying the 2017 UCF team was also snubbed and should have had a shot.
I’ve always supported ucf’s nc claim
SEC/ESPN money made the playoffs again! The one way to turn Michigan face again this year is putting them against Alabama.
All the bowls before about Dec 29th sound like an AI made them up.
I can’t wait to find out what bowl the Ducks are going to disappoint me in!
I read somewhere that it’s likely the Fiesta vs. Mizzou (meh). And Nix may not play? It doesn’t matter much to me at this point. They have already failed in their actual big game, per normal.
As is tradition
Bo Nix announced he will play in the Fiesta Bowl.
Bo Nix against UW or Bo Nix against any other team?
ESPN has the same order I do in my head, best teams over most deserving. Michigan and Washington are both tied at 1 for me but Michigan was ranked higher previously so I’m giving them the edge. Would’ve been way more interesting/controversial if Jordan Travis was still healthy and FSU dominated Louisville. We really might not have had an SEC team in the playoff for the first time ever.
MichiganWashingtonTexasAlabama- Georgia
- Florida State
For Clemson, it’s looking like the Holiday Bowl against either Oregon State or USC. I’m fine with either school. The matchup against DJU would’ve been an interesting one and the Riley Bowl matchup would be fun. Never played the Beavers before but we’d have a chance to avenge our lone loss to the Trojans back in checks notes 1966.
Good luck to everyone, may the Bowls be ever in your favor!
FSU getting left out is crazy, but Michigan even being eligible is insane to me.
Rose Bowl Presented by Prudential Michigan Alabama 5:00 PM, ESPN, Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, CA, CFP Semifinal
Allstate Sugar Bowl Washington Texas 8:45 PM, ESPN, Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, LA, CFP SemifinalGo Gators. With Georgia and FSU left out of the playoff, this season is now like going to a restaurant and having your entree fucked up beyond all edibility, but at the end of the meal they roll out the most exquisite dessert imaginable. Does it make up for the entire evening? No; far from it. It sure as hell helps, though.
Speak for yourself. The committee putting alabama in makes me beyond sad
I have no love for them, but they’re just sort of this annoying thing that exists, taking up too much space. Y’all and Auburn can send all the bad vibes their way.
Believe you me, we’re trying
And now that my initial schadenfreude giggling has subsided, yes, the “right” thing to have done would be to leave out Bama too, but we always suspected that the committee leans Resume versus Eye-Test largely based on which brings more eyeballs to the CFP; they just never had to bring down the axe on an undefeated P5.
Funny how this will work completely fine for the narrative of justifying the 12-team playoff 🤔. For the record, I support that anyway. Most bowls have been silly exhibitions a lot longer than fans like to admit.
And, in conclusion, BWAHAHA! Fuck 'em.
Fwiw I still think that a poll is the best way to crown a nc in this sport. It’s silly to pretend that florida and San Diego State have the ability to compete on an even level head to head in a tournament format. But if SDSU were to have an immaculate season, why shouldn’t they be considered the best performing team in the country? Imo, the nc doesn’t need to be the “best” team so much as the team that accomplished the most.
Structurally, the idea of a NC in this sport is very stupid. No one can even agree on what we’re rewarding, whether it’s with a poll of hundreds to crown a champ or a poll of 13 to decide who gets invited to a tournament. There’s too much structural inequality to silence the “eye test” people, too few data points to silence the “win who you play” people. I was a kid before the BCS came around, but I was paying enough attention to know how unsatisfying people found THAT system, and while the debates will continue, I think a larger playoff becomes its own reward in a way, and something in the 8-16 range should gather up every reasonable candidate from all schools of thought without completely gutting the regular season.
Also, it’s time to compensate the players in return for their giving up some mobility. It’s the worst of all worlds right now.
Gator bowl vs nc state is my guess. Maybe unc? And mayber texas vs wvu? Either way we’re getting sponsored by tax software.
“Can’t spell citrus without ut”
