Mid-Season Overview
Collegiate Football bowl games are arriving soon, so who’s playing where is a question we ask ourselves every year. With teams such as Alabama, Oregon, Georgia, and Oklahoma all looking like they are playoff contenders, who will make it to the grand stage?
Season Schedule
A team’s schedule is always planned out a few years in advance, and with the rankings constantly changing, who knows as of right now who will make it, but you can use the team’s remaining schedule, we can decide the toughness, and chances of making it to big bowl games.
The top teams in the predictions for a playoff spot are:
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Oregon
- Ohio State
New Year’s Six Bowl (NY6)
For right now, these are all predictions and can change easily over time with wins and losses. But there are many other teams available for New-Years-6 bowls, and that means that some real competition is up. For instance, BYU, a possible NY6 bowl contender. Although slim, BYU’s chances of making it to an NY6 bowl are still possible. BYU needs to win the rest of their games, including GASU, an 87% win. The week after that, USC, the only team BYU should have any worries about, but should still make it past and make it to a big(ish) bowl. But looking at all of this, there is almost no chance that BYU will even get CLOSE to making it to the playoffs.
The NY6 games are the biggest college football games of the year, these six bowl games include:
Rose Bowl — Big Ten #1 vs. Pac-12 #1 (Michigan State VS Oregon)
Sugar Bowl — SEC #1 vs. Big 12 #1 (Alabama VS Oklahoma State)
Orange Bowl — ACC #1 vs. SEC #2, Big Ten #2, or Notre Dame (Georgia VS Cincinnati)
Cotton Bowl — at-large or “Group of Five” (committee selection) (Oklahoma vs Ohio State)
Fiesta Bowl — at-large or “Group of Five” (committee selection) (Texas A&M VS Notre Dame)
Peach Bowl — at-large or “Group of Five” (committee selection) (Wake Forest VS Michigan)
Other Bowl Games
Even though most everyone focuses on those big 6 games, there are still many other bowl games to be played.
- Bahamas Bowl (Dec. 17) Tie-In: Conference USA vs. MAC Projection: FAU vs. Ball State
- Cure Bowl (Dec. 17) Tie-In: AAC/C-USA/MAC/MW/Sun Belt/Army Projection: Appalachian State vs. Liberty
- Boca Raton Bowl (Dec. 18) Tie-In: AAC/C-USA/MAC/Sun Belt Projection: UAB vs. Coastal Carolina
- New Mexico Bowl (Dec. 18) Tie-In: AAC/C-USA/MAC vs. Mountain West Projection: UTEP vs. Utah State
- Independence Bowl (Dec. 18) Tie-In: BYU vs. Conference USA Projection: BYU vs. UTSA
- LendingTree Bowl (Dec. 18) Tie-In: MAC/C-USA vs. Sun Belt Projection: Eastern Michigan vs. Troy
- LA Bowl (Dec. 18) Tie-In: Mountain West vs. Pac-12 Projection: San Diego State vs. Oregon State
- New Orleans Bowl (Dec. 18) Tie-In: Conference USA vs. Sun Belt Projection: Marshall vs. Louisiana
- Myrtle Beach Bowl (Dec. 20) Tie-In: AAC/MAC/C-USA/Sun Belt Projection: Charlotte vs. Miami (Ohio)
- Famous Idaho Bowl (Dec. 21) Tie-In: MAC vs. Mountain West Projection: Kent State vs. Nevada
- Frisco Bowl (Dec. 21) Tie-In: AAC/C-USA/MAC/MW/Sun Belt Projection: Air Force vs. WKU
- Armed Forces Bowl (Dec. 22) Tie-In: Big 12/C-USA/AAC/Army Projection: Texas Tech vs. Army
- Gasparilla Bowl (Dec. 23) Tie-In: AAC/ACC/SEC Projection: Louisville vs. LSU
- Hawaii Bowl (Dec. 24) Tie-In: AAC/C-USA vs. Mountain West Projection: SMU vs. San Jose State
- Camellia Bowl (Dec. 25) Tie-In: MAC/C-USA vs. Sun Belt Projection: Central Michigan vs. Georgia State
- Quick Lane Bowl (Dec. 27) Tie-In: Big Ten vs. MAC Projection: Maryland vs. Northern Illinois
- Military Bowl (Dec. 27) Tie-In: ACC vs. American Projection: Syracuse vs. East Carolina
- Birmingham Bowl (Dec. 28) Tie-In: American/ACC/C-USA vs. SEC Projection: South Carolina vs. Houston
- First Responder Bowl (Dec. 28) Tie-In: AAC/Big 12/C-USA/Sun Belt/MW Projection: Western Michigan vs. Memphis
- Liberty Bowl (Dec. 28) Tie-In: Big 12 vs. SEC Projection: West Virginia vs. Mississippi State
- Guaranteed Rate Bowl (Dec. 28 Tie-In: Big 12 vs. Big Ten Projection: Kansas State vs. Boise State
- Holiday Bowl (Dec. 28) Tie-In: ACC vs. Pac-12 Projection: North Carolina vs. UCLA
- Fenway Bowl (Dec. 29) Tie-In: ACC vs. American Projection: Boston College vs. UCF
- Pinstripe Bowl (Dec. 29) Tie-In: ACC vs. Big Ten Projection: Virginia vs. Purdue
- Cheez-It Bowl (Dec. 29) Tie-In: ACC vs. Big 12 Projection: Iowa State vs. Pitt
- Alamo Bowl (Dec. 29) Tie-In: Big 12 vs. Pac-12 Projection: Utah vs. Baylor
- Duke’s Mayo Bowl (Dec. 30) Tie-In: ACC vs. SEC Projection: NC State vs. Tennessee
- Music City Bowl (Dec. 30) Tie-In: Big Ten vs. SEC Projection: Iowa vs. Arkansas
- Las Vegas Bowl (Dec. 30) Tie-In: Big Ten vs. Pac-12 Projection: Arizona State vs. Minnesota
- Gator Bowl (Dec. 31) Tie-In: ACC vs. SEC Projection: Florida vs. Clemson
- Sun Bowl (Dec. 31) Tie-In: ACC vs. Pac-12 Projection: Miami vs. Washington State
- Arizona Bowl (Dec. 31) Tie-In: MAC vs. Mountain West Projection: Toledo vs. Fresno State
- Outback Bowl (Jan. 1) Tie-In: Big Ten vs. SEC Projection: Penn State vs. Kentucky
- Citrus Bowl (Jan. 1) Tie-In: Big Ten vs. SEC Projection: Wisconsin vs. Ole Miss
- Texas Bowl (Jahttps://athlonsports.com/college-football/bowl-projections-2021n. 4) Tie-In: Big 12 vs. SEC Projection: Texas vs. Auburn.
As said before, these are all just predictions, but anything could happen in these last 3 weeks of football, and we could see a new contender in the mix.
Sources:
- https://athlonsports.com/college-football/bowl-projections-2021
- https://collegefootballplayoff.com/rankings.aspx
- https://collegefootballnews.com/2019/01/2019-2020-college-football-playoff-new-years-six-bowl-schedule-conference-matchups
