Now that the 82 teams that will go bowling are known, let’s figure out the pairings for each of the 41 bowls.
Before we dive into my newest bowl projections, my loyal readers will remember last week’s projections. The part where I wrote Minnesota would be the only 5-7 team needed to fill the 82nd spot and — guess what — Minnesota is the only 5-7 team headed to a bowl.
Remarkable, huh?
The toughest aspect of the projections is correctly forecasting the four playoff teams and New Year’s Six bowl matchups.
These projections are based on my playoff picks of Georgia, Michigan and Florida State all finishing 13-0 and 12-1 Pac-12 champion Oregon getting the final spot.
These also are based on FSU making the playoff, which guarantees an ACC team (Louisville) to the Orange Bowl, and Missouri and Penn State earning the final at-large New Year’s Six bids, sending Ole Miss to the Citrus Bowl.
The breakdown of the 82 bowl teams by conference is as follows: Sun Belt (12), ACC (11), Big Ten (9), Big 12 (9), SEC (9), Pac-12 (8), Mountain West (7), AAC (6), MAC (6), Conference USA (4) and Notre Dame.
I will update my projections on Wednesday following Tuesday’s penultimate College Football Playoff selection committee rankings. All the official pairings will be announced on Sunday and/or hopefully on my Twitter (X) feed.
Here are the projections along with the projected point spread of each matchup from Action Network senior writer Collin Wilson’s betting power ratings.
2023 College Football Bowl Game Updates: Confirmed Matchups for Bowl SeasonRead nowCFP National Championship PredictionNational ChampionshipJan. 8 •Houston, TXGeorgia-2.5MichiganCollege Football Playoff Semifinals ProjectionsRose BowlJan. 1 •Pasadena, CAMichiganOregon-1Allstate Sugar BowlJan. 1 •New Orleans, LAGeorgia-11.5Florida StateNew Year's Six Bowl GamesVrbo Fiesta BowlJan. 1 •Glendale, AZWashingtonAlabama-4Chick-fil-A Peach BowlDec. 30 •Atlanta, GAPenn State-13.5TulaneCapital One Orange BowlDec. 30 •Miami, FLOhio State-14LouisvilleGoodyear Cotton BowlDec. 29 •Arlington, TXTexas-3MissouriProjections for All Other Bowl GamesCheez-It Citrus BowlJan. 1 •Orlando, FLOle Miss-13.5IowaReliaQuest BowlJan. 1 •Tampa, FLNotre DameLSUPKArizona BowlDec. 30 •Tucson, AZFresno State-3Miami OHMusic City BowlDec. 30 •Nashville, TNTexas A&M-5WisconsinAutoZone Liberty BowlDec. 29 •Memphis, TNIowa State-9MemphisTony the Tiger Sun BowlDec. 29 •El Paso, TXMiamiUSC-3.5TaxSlayer Gator BowlDec. 29 •Jacksonville, FLTennessee-6.5UNCValero Alamo BowlDec. 28 •San Antonio, TXOklahoma-2.5ArizonaPop-Tarts BowlDec. 28 •Orlando, FLNC StateKansas State-9Pinstripe BowlDec. 28 •Bronx, NYGeorgia Tech-1RutgersWasabi Fenway BowlDec. 28 •Boston, MABoston CollegeUTSA-10.5TaxAct Texas BowlDec. 27 •Houston, TXAuburn-0.5Oklahoma St.Holiday BowlDec. 27 •San Diego, CAClemson-2.5Oregon StateDuke's Mayo BowlDec. 27 •Charlotte, NCDukeKentucky-5.5Military BowlDec. 27 •Annapolis, MDVirginia TechSMU-2.5Guaranteed Rate BowlDec. 26 •Phoenix, AZKansas-4MarylandFirst Responder BowlDec. 26 •Dallas, TXAir Force-3.5LouisianaQuick Lane BowlDec. 26 •Detroit, MIMinnesota-1.5OhioEasyPost Hawai'i BowlDec. 23 •Honolulu, HISan Jose St.-10RiceLas Vegas BowlDec. 23 •Las Vegas, NVUtah-10.5Northwestern68 Ventures BowlDec. 23 •Mobile, ALS. Alabama-13.5E. MichiganFamous Idaho Potato BowlDec. 23 •Boise, IDUtah StateBowling Green-3.5Armed Forces BowlDec. 23 •Fort Worth, TXWest Virginia-11.5SyracuseCamellia BowlDec. 23 •Montgomery, ALWyoming-7Georgia St.Birmingham BowlDec. 23 •Birmingham, ALTroy-3LibertyGasparilla BowlDec. 22 •Tampa, FLUCF-3JMUBoca Raton BowlDec. 21 •Boca Raton, FLCoastal Carolina-1South FloridaFrisco BowlDec. 19 •Frisco, TXWKU-2ODUMyrtle Beach BowlDec. 18 •Conway, SCMarshallBoise State-10.5Independence BowlDec. 16 •Shreveport, LATexas Tech-2CaliforniaLA BowlDec. 16 •Inglewood, CAUCLA-10.5UNLVNew Mexico BowlDec. 16 •Albuquerque, NMNew Mexico St.Texas State-1Cure BowlDec. 16 •Orlando, FLApp State-2.5ToledoNew Orleans BowlDec. 16 •New Orleans, LAArkansas St.Jacksonville St.-1.5Famous Toastery BowlDec. 18 •Charlotte, NCNIU-1.5Georgia Southern*The highest-rated champion from the Group of Five conferences (American, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West and Sun Belt) will be selected to play in either the Peach or Fiesta Bowl if it does not qualify for the College Football Playoff.**James Madison and Jacksonville State are in their second year transitioning from FCS to FBS. They received a bid because there were not enough teams with at least six wins to fill all of the bowls.
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