College football bowl projections: Sizzling South Carolina to Orlando? What about Texas A&M?

Posted by Admin November 19, 2024 Football

While the 12-team College Football Playoff field will be the focal point of the sport these last three weeks, there will still be 70 other teams that go bowling this winter.

Red-hot South Carolina, even with three losses, would be a no-brainer pick for the Citrus Bowl, which has the first choice of the SEC’s non-Playoff teams. Their fans figure to be far more excited than Tennessee’s if the Vols miss the cut. Texas A&M (if it loses to Texas) and LSU then make sense for the ReliaQuest and Gator Bowls, respectively.

As one of the Pac-12’s legacy bowls, the Alamo Bowl could theoretically pit two current Big 12 teams if one side is Colorado or Arizona State. We have BYU there for now but could see the Sun Devils supplanting the Cougars if they win this week.

The Holiday Bowl thought it was getting Clemson last season until Florida State’s CFP snub caused an 11th-hour domino effect. We have the Tigers going to San Diego this year to face Washington.

Finally, Florida for the first time this season looks like it will get bowl-eligible, but a 6-6 Gators team would still fall below most SEC bowls. The Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa becomes a natural landing spot, where they would likely face an ACC foe. We chose North Carolina.

A friendly reminder: Most non-CFP bowls do not have to select teams in order of conference standings.

College Football Playoff

Bowl/Playoff	Date	Team	Team	Location	Time (ET)	Network
Playoff	Dec. 20	6. Penn State	11. Ole Miss	State College, Pa.	8 p.m.	ABC/ESPN
Playoff	Dec. 21	7. Georgia	10. Indiana	Athens, Ga.	Noon	TNT
Playoff	Dec. 21	5. Oregon	12 Boise State (G5 champ)	Eugene, Ore.	3:30 p.m.	TNT
Playoff	Dec. 21	8. Texas	9. Notre Dame	Austin, Texas	8 p.m.	ABC/ESPN
Fiesta	Dec. 31	4. Colorado (Big 12 champ)	Oregon-Boise St winer	Glendale, Ariz.	7:30 p.m.	ESPN
Peach	Jan. 1	3. Miami (ACC champ)	Penn State-Ole Miss winner	Atlanta	Noon	ESPN
Rose	Jan. 1	1. Ohio State (Big Ten champ)	Texas-Notre Dame winner	Pasadena, Calif.	5 p.m.	ESPN
Sugar	Jan. 1	2. Alabama (SEC champ)	Georgia/Indiana winner	New Orleans	8:45 p.m.	ESPN
Orange	Jan. 9	Quarterfinal winner	Quarterfinal winner	Miami, Fla.	7:30 p.m.	ESPN
Cotton	Jan. 10	Quarterfinal winner	Quarterfinal winner	Arlington, Texas	7:30 p.m.	ESPN
Championship	Jan. 20	Semifinal winner	Semifinal winner	Atlanta	7:30 p.m.	ESPN

Remaining bowls

Bowl	Date	Team	Team	Location	Time (ET)	Network
Bahamas	Jan. 4	NIU (MAC)	Liberty (C-USA)	Nassau, Bahamas	11 a.m.	ESPN2
Duke’s Mayo	Jan. 3	Minnesota (Big Ten 6)	Duke (ACC 5-7)	Charlotte, N.C.	7:30 p.m.	ESPN
First Responder	Jan. 3	Arkansas State (ESPN)	UTSA (ESPN)	University Park, Texas	4 p.m.	ESPN
Gator	Jan. 2	SMU (ACC 2-4)	LSU (SEC 3-8)	Jacksonville, Fla.	7:30 p.m.	ESPN
Texas	Dec. 31	Baylor (Big 12 4)	Arkansas (SEC 3-8)	Houston	3:30 p.m.	ESPN
Citrus	Dec. 31	Illinois (Big Ten 2)	South Carolina (SEC 2)	Orlando, Fla.	3 p.m.	ABC
Sun	Dec. 31	Syracuse (ACC 5-7)	USC (Pac-12 5)	El Paso, Texas	2 p.m.	CBS
ReliaQuest	Dec. 31	Iowa (Big Ten 3)	Texas A&M (SEC 3-8)	Tampa, Fla.	Noon	ESPN
Music City	Dec. 30	Nebraska (Big Ten 4)	Missouri (SEC 3-8)	Nashville, Tenn.	2:30 p.m.	ABC
Independence	Dec. 28	Army (AAC)	Cincinnati* (Pac-12 7)	Shreveport, La.	9:15 p.m.	ESPN
Alamo	Dec. 28	BYU (Big 12 2)	Washington State (Pac-12 2)	San Antonio, Texas	9:15 p.m.	ABC
Military	Dec. 28	Navy (AAC)	Georgia Tech (ACC 8-10)	Annapolis, Md.	5:45 p.m.	ESPN
Arizona	Dec. 30	Colorado State (MWC)	Miami of Ohio (MAC)	Tucson, Ariz.	4:30 p.m.	CW
Pop-Tarts	Dec. 28	Iowa State (Big 12 3)	Pittsburgh (ACC 2-4)	Orlando, Fla.	3:30 p.m.	ABC
New Mexico	Dec. 28	New Mexico (MWC)	Texas State (ESPN)	Albuquerque, N.M.	2:15 p.m.	ESPN
Pinstripe	Dec. 28	Michigan (Big Ten 5)	Louisville (ACC 5-7)	Bronx, N.Y.	Noon	ABC
Fenway	Dec. 28	Virginia Tech (ACC 8-10)	Memphis (AAC)	Boston	11 a.m.	ESPN
Vegas	Dec. 27	Arizona State (Pac-12 3)	Tennessee (SEC 3-8)	Las Vegas, Nev.	10:30 p.m.	ESPN
Holiday	Dec. 27	Clemson (ACC 2-4)	Washington (Pac-12 4)	San Diego, Calif.	8 p.m.	FOX
Liberty	Dec. 27	Kansas State (Big 12 5)	Vanderbilt (SEC 3-8)	Memphis, Tenn.	7 p.m.	ESPN
Birmingham	Dec. 27	West Virginia* (ESPN)	Tulane (ESPN)	Birmingham, Ala.	12/3:30 p.m.	ESPN
Armed Forces	Dec. 27	TCU (Big 12 7)	Rutgers (ESPN)	Fort Worth, Texas	12/3:30 p.m.	ESPN
68 Ventures	Dec. 26	Georgia Southern (Sun Belt)	Western Kentucky (C-USA)	Mobile, Ala.	9 p.m.	ESPN
Rate	Dec. 26	Michigan State (Big Ten 7)	Texas Tech (Big 12 6)	Phoenix, Ariz.	5:45 p.m.	ESPN
GameAbove	Dec. 26	Wisconsin (Big Ten 8)	Ohio (MAC)	Detroit	2 p.m.	ESPN
Hawaii	Dec. 24	James Madison* (MWC)	Jacksonville State (C-USA)	Honolulu, Hawaii	8 p.m.	ESPN
Idaho Potato	Dec. 23	San Jose State (MWC)	Buffalo (MAC)	Boise, Idaho	2:30 p.m.	ESPN
Myrtle Beach	Dec. 23	Coastal Carolina (ESPN)	East Carolina (ESPN)	Myrtle Beach, S.C.	11 a.m.	ESPN
Gasparilla	Dec. 20	North Carolina (ACC 8-10)	Florida (ESPN)	Tampa, Fla.	3:30 p.m.	ESPN
Cure	Dec. 20	USF (ESPN)	Marshall (ESPN)	Orlando, Fla.	Noon	ESPN
New Orleans	Dec. 19	Louisiana (Sun Belt)	Sam Houston (C-USA)	New Orleans	7 p.m.	ESPN2
LA Bowl	Dec. 18	California (Pac-12 6)	UNLV (MWC 1)	Inglewood, Calif.	9 p.m.	ABC
Boca Raton	Dec. 18	UConn (ESPN)	Bowling Green (ESPN)	Boca Raton, Fla.	5:30 p.m.	ESPN
Frisco	Dec. 17	Toledo (ESPN)	North Texas (ESPN)	Frisco, Texas	9 p.m.	ESPN
Camellia	Dec. 14	South Alabama (ESPN)	Western Michigan (ESPN)	Montgomery, Ala.	9 p.m.	ESPN

Notes: (ESPN) indicates an ESPN Events bowl. Teams can be moved between them. An * indicates a replacement team because a league was not able to fill all of its slots.

(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic, Photos: Don Juan Moore / Getty)