CFB: New Year's Six Projections
The 2017-18 College Football season is (unfortunately) quickly flying by right before our very eyes, and that means it's time to project who reaches the New Year's Six bowl games. Now, these are of course the consolation prizes for teams that just missed out on the College Football Playoff, but that doesn't mean that these aren't treats! 2014 gave us Michigan State's comeback against Baylor, 42-41, in the Cotton Bowl. 2015 offered an upset of Houston over Florida State, 38-24, in the Peach Bowl. And 2016 had an instant class as USC slipped past Penn State, 52-49, on a last second field goal to win the Rose Bowl. Here are our projections!
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (December 29) - No. 4 Notre Dame (67 percent) vs. No. 11 Oklahoma State (33 percent): The College Football Playoff Committee had Notre Dame (7-1, 3-0) in their initial playoff field, but our crew is predicting they'll slip out of the top four spots and will instead, end up in the Cotton Bowl. It'd be the second New Year's Six bowl game for the Fighting Irish after losing to Ohio State in the 2015 Fiesta Bowl. Oklahoma State (7-1, 4-1) has also been to one NY6 game, losing to Ole Miss in the 2015 Sugar Bowl. However, Charles Post has the Cowboys getting to the CFP and Chinedum Wejinya has Notre Dame reaching the same feat, so these are two very quality teams, but as a result, it wasn't the consensus. Other teams that could end up in this game are Oklahoma (30 percent), Penn State (27 percent), and Virginia Tech (33 percent). If it were to end up Cowboys versus Fighting Irish, it'd be a thrilling matchup to see Mason Rudolph attack Brian Kelly's defense.
PlayStation Fiesta Bowl (December 30) - No. 8 Penn State (33 percent) vs. No. 12 Washington (67 percent): This is almost certainly going to end up as a Pac-12 against Big Ten matchup, unless something really unexpected happens over the next month (it is college football, though, so nothing is out of the realm of possibility). Each of our writers had it being those two conferences, but the teams somewhat varied. Washington (7-1, 4-1) is the likely Pac-12 champion, but unless they reach the CFP, they'll end up here. And then it's up in the air what Big Ten team will find themselves in Arizona. Charles Post and Chinedum Wejinya have the Buckeyes in their CFP field, so they couldn't be here, even though Chase Zayac has Wisconsin going undefeated and getting to the playoff. So we're left with Penn State (7-1, 4-1) who should finish the year with only one loss. Another team to look out for is Stanford (33 percent), if they can defeat the Huskies. Both of these teams were in the NY6 last year as Washington lost to Alabama in the Peach Bowl and as previously mentioned, Penn State lost a thriller to USC in the Rose Bowl. Saquon Barkley against another Pac-12 team in a top bowl game? Yes please.
Capital One Orange Bowl (December 30) - No. 2 Georgia (67 percent) vs. No. 10 Miami (90 percent): Georgia (8-0, 5-0) had the top spot in the first CFP Committee rankings, but our team isn't buying that will last until the end of the year. The Bulldogs have looked great so far this season, but with a road game against Auburn looming and a potential match with Alabama in the SEC title game, they'll likely suffer at least one loss. And that'd equate to them being selected to the Orange Bowl. Miami (7-0, 5-0) is one of three ACC teams that could be placed here, alongside Clemson and Virginia Tech, as well as Notre Dame. But with all of our experts predicting Clemson to reach the CFP, they're safe. And with Notre Dame already placed in the Cotton Bowl, they're safe. So it comes down to Miami and Virginia Tech, and the Hurricanes have a good chance to defeat the Hokies this weekend, so the Orange Bowl is theirs. Wisconsin (33 percent) and Virginia Tech (10 percent) are other possibilities, but Georgia versus Miami seems likely. Nick Chubb's final game could be a great one against the 'Canes, especially since neither of these teams have reached a NY6 game.
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (January 1) - No. 6 Wisconsin (34 percent) vs. No. 16 Central Florida (90 percent): This would be Wisconsin's (8-0, 5-0) second consecutive NY6 bowl after beating Western Michigan in the Cotton Bowl last year, and it'd be Central Florida's (7-0, 5-0) out coming. This would be a matchup of great defense against great offense and it could get wild, with Scott Frost's up tempo offense, who just put up 73 points last week. In our scenario, the Badgers would be 12-1, coming off of a loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten title game and would be sent here instead of the CFP, although, Chase Zayac has picked Wisconsin to run the table. After South Florida's loss last weekend, the Group of Five spot will come down to Central Florida, Memphis (5 percent), and Toledo, unless South Florida can pull off an upset of UCF and get back into the mix. A handful of other options are Georgia (26 percent), Iowa State (10 percent), and Oklahoma (10 percent), and TCU (5 percent).
For our College Football Playoff picks, check out our Week 10 Preview.
Photo Credit: CBS & Sports Illustrated.
