The regular season is over, a somewhat controversial Selection Sunday has come and gone, the transfer portal is open, and the coaching carousel is spinning off its axis once again.

Now, it’s time to lock in our predictions as College Football Bowl Season kicks off around the country.

What a historic postseason it will be, as the College Football Playoff expands to 12 teams to determine the national championship.

Making predictions for college football’s bowl games is famously difficult, given the players who opt out, the transfers, and coaching changes.

But we soldier on, locking in our picks for every matchup in the 2024 postseason.

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Sat., Dec. 14

Celebration Bowl: Jackson State over South Carolina State, as the JSU Tigers should have the vertical offense to skirt around the Bulldogs’ good pass defense.

Salute to Veterans Bowl: South Alabama over Western Michigan behind a solid offense that is averaging almost five touchdowns per game and good for 65 percent of its passes.

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Tues., Dec. 17

Frisco Bowl: Memphis over West Virginia, as the Tigers’ offense should more easily navigate the Mountaineers’ short-handed defense that struggles against good quarterbacks.

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Wed., Dec. 18

Boca Raton Bowl: Western Kentucky over James Madison, although this could go either way as both teams boast credible deeper passing attacks that can expose each others’ defenses.

LA Bowl: UNLV over Cal, as the Rebels are the more consistent team, even after losing their head coach, but the Golden Bears have the weapons to get behind UNLV’s secondary.

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Thurs., Dec. 19

New Orleans Bowl: Georgia Southern over Sam Houston, as the Eagles have the far superior passing offense with receivers who can expose the Bearkats’ shorthanded defense.

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Fri., Dec. 20

Cure Bowl: Ohio over Jacksonville State, although both teams lost their head coaches, the Bobcats just might have the defenders up front to contest JSU’s strong rushing attack.

Gasparilla Bowl: Florida over Tulane, given the Green Wave won’t have star quarterback Darian Mensah as he transfers out, while the Gators’ DJ Lagway and this defense should take over.

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Mon., Dec. 23

Myrtle Beach Bowl: UTSA over Coastal Carolina, as Roadrunners quarterback Owen McCown has been very productive, throwing over 3,000 yards with 24 TDs, and has a solid group of targets.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Northern Illinois over Fresno State, with the latter team’s personnel losses in the transfer portal too much to ignore, as NIU’s defense should take over.

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Tues., Dec. 24

Hawai’i Bowl: San Jose State over USF, because, even though the Bulls can run the ball, the Spartans have enough firepower throwing the ball to overcome any deficits.

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Thurs., Dec. 26

GameAbove Sports Bowl: Pittsburgh over Toledo, given the Panthers’ defense should take over against a Rockets attack that has sputtered late in the season.

Rate Bowl: Kansas State over Rutgers, despite the Scarlet Knights winning 3 of their last 4 games, but the Wildcats do have the superior quarterback situation and fewer opt-outs.

68 Ventures Bowl: Bowling Green over Arkansas State, with the Falcons presenting a greater defensive challenge, ranking 24th in FBS by allowing under 21 points per game.

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Fri., Dec. 27

Holiday Bowl: Syracuse over Washington State, as the Orange are tops nationally in passing offense as Kyle McCord is over 4,300 passing yards.

Birmingham Bowl: Georgia Tech over Vanderbilt, although both boast dynamic dual threat quarterbacks, Tech has a slight advantage given Haynes King’s passing acumen.

Armed Forces Bowl: Navy over Oklahoma, after Jackson Arnold transferred out of OU and some defensive opt-outs could open a path towards the Midshipmen running towards an upset.

Liberty Bowl: Texas Tech over Arkansas, given the Red Raiders’ superb offensive output to close out the season and the Razorbacks lost a lot of talent to the transfer portal.

Las Vegas Bowl: Texas A&M over USC, as the Aggies have the bodies in their defensive front to throw the Trojans’ lackluster protection out of sorts.

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Sat., Dec. 28

Fenway Bowl: UConn over North Carolina, thanks to the Huskies’ vastly-improved rushing attack and a solid run defense over the Tar Heels’ wholesale program transformation.

Pinstripe Bowl: Boston College over Nebraska, given how well the Eagles’ offense responded to a change at quarterback while the Cornhuskers still struggle running the ball and scoring.

New Mexico Bowl: TCU over Louisiana, although the Horned Frogs won’t have their top receiver thanks to an injury, but are more consistent running the football.

Pop-Tarts Bowl: Miami over Iowa State, in a battle of two very disappointed teams that just missed out on the playoff, but the Hurricanes could have Cam Ward in this game.

Arizona Bowl: Miami (OH) over Colorado State, in a game that could go either way given both teams run the ball well, but the RedHawks play the better pass defense.

Military Bowl: NC State over East Carolina, as the Wolfpack should have the more dynamic quarterback play with CJ Bailey at the helm.

Alamo Bowl: Colorado over BYU, in this Big 12 matchup with Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter both expected to play, and considering the Buffaloes’ marked defensive improvement.

Independence Bowl: Army over Marshall, after the Herd lost their successful head coach and the Black Knights pounding away on the ground against Marshall’s 110th ranked run-stop.

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Mon., Dec. 30

Music City Bowl: Missouri over Iowa, because the Hawkeyes just still aren’t there on offense, especially with a QB change and no Kaleb Johnson in the backfield, combined with Mizzou’s overall better air attack, even without top target Luther Burden.

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Tues., Dec. 31

ReliaQuest Bowl: Alabama over Michigan, because although the Wolverines can test the Tide up front with a strong defensive front, Bama has more vertical weapons who can expose that secondary easily, and avenge last year’s CFP semifinal loss in the process.

Sun Bowl: Louisville over Washington, as the Cardinals have more offense not only looking downfield, but with a solid backfield rotation to balance things out.

Citrus Bowl: South Carolina over Illinois, with the Gamecocks playing some ferocious defense up front, but the Illini can put the ball in the air with Luke Altmyer working behind center.

Texas Bowl: Baylor over LSU in an upset, as the Bears should be the more inspired team after starting 2-4 and rebounding to win their final 6 games.

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Thurs., Jan. 2

Gator Bowl: Ole Miss over Duke, after the Blue Devils lost quarterback Maalik Murphy to the transfer portal, even against a Rebels roster that could be depleted itself, but still bigger, faster, and stronger than its ACC counterpart.

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Fri., Jan. 3

First Responder Bowl: Texas State over North Texas, as the former plays a dynamic offense averaging more than 37 points per game and almost 475 yards on average.

Duke’s Mayo Bowl: Minnesota over Virginia Tech, with the Hokies expected to lose some important personnel, combined with the Gophers’ balanced offense with Max Brosmer at quarterback and Darius Taylor running the ball.

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Sat., Jan. 4

Bahamas Bowl: Buffalo over Liberty, as the Flames’ offense lost star quarterback Kaidon Salter to the portal, and the Bulls went on a four-game win streak to close out behind some tough defense.

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First Round games

Notre Dame over Indiana, because although the Hoosiers really can pack a punch offensively, the Irish should have the overall defensive advantage and play at home.

Penn State over SMU, given the Nittany Lions have some real offensive momentum after outgaining Oregon despite losing the Big Ten title, and have a very dominant home-field advantage that could be enough to slow down SMU’s gifted backfield.

Texas over Clemson, because of the Longhorns’ superb defensive front that should contain the Tigers’ ground game and a secondary that can get the better of a Clemson aerial attack that still hasn’t played up to the program’s standard.

Tennessee over Ohio State, because SEC speed really does kill, especially when it’s the Vols’ overpowering front seven going after the Buckeyes’ injury-depleted line without its star center or left tackle, preventing Ohio State from building momentum on offense.

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Quarterfinal games

Penn State over Boise State, as the Nittany Lions have the front seven alignment to eventually contest Ashton Jeanty in the backfield and Drew Allar has the targets to get behind the Broncos’ secondary.

Texas over Arizona State, given the Longhorns have a run defense ranked in the top 10 nationally to contain Cam Skattebo and the Sun Devils’ ground game and while Quinn Ewers finds enough to get past an ASU back seven that has been vulnerable in the air at times.

Oregon over Tennessee in the Rose Bowl, although the Ducks may struggle to run the ball effectively on the Volunteers, they have a dynamic passing offense that can make up the difference.

Georgia over Notre Dame, because although the Irish are strong on the ground and defensively overall, the Bulldogs have the speed advantage and a front seven that will benefit from the first-round bye to put together one of its better games.

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Semifinal games

Georgia over Penn State, because James Franklin’s dismal record against highly-ranked teams sticks out, and the Bulldogs, while they may struggle to run the ball against PSU up front, still have enough downfield targets to credibly test the Nittany Lions’ secondary.

Oregon over Texas, because the Ducks just might have too many offensive weapons for even the Longhorns’ elite defense to cover all of, and Oregon has the quarterback advantage as Quinn Ewers has been a little too inconsistent lately.

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National Championship

Oregon over Georgia: Those concerns around the Bulldogs’ secondary will become too apparent against the Ducks’ diverse array of skill weapons on the ground and in the air.

National Champion: Oregon

More … 2024 college football bowl schedule

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