Bowl Projections: The last week of the regular season will break some bowl hopes
Welcome to the final week of the 2017 college football regular season. Where has the time gone?
The weekend’s most pivotal game is the Iron Bowl between Auburn and Alabama. The winner wins the SEC West and will be facing a win-and-in game in the SEC Championship Game for the College Football Playoff.
If Auburn pulls off the upset, chaos could happen. A one-loss Alabama team could be like Ohio State a year ago and get into the playoff at 11-1. We’ll spend much more time worrying about that scenario if it happens on Saturday.
There are a handful of games between 5-6 teams that will decide who gets to go to a bowl and who doesn’t. In the Big Ten, the winner of Indiana and Purdue is bowling. Same for Colorado and Utah and Cal vs. UCLA in the Pac-12. And the victor of the Conference-USA matchup between Middle Tennessee State and Old Dominion gets to go to a bowl.
All of those games are good for the bowl picture. The odds are pretty good that all bowl slots will be filled by teams 6-6 or better.
New Orleans Bowl, Dec. 16
Southern Miss vs. Troy
Cure Bowl, Dec. 16
Louisiana vs. Western Kentucky
Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 16
Boise State vs. Oregon
New Mexico Bowl, Dec. 16
UTSA vs. Fresno State
Camellia Bowl, Dec. 16
Akron vs. Appalachian State
Boca Raton Bowl, Dec. 19
South Florida vs. Florida Atlantic
Frisco Bowl, Dec. 20
SMU vs. Louisiana Tech
St. Petersburg Bowl, Dec. 21
Houston vs. Marshall
Bahamas Bowl, Dec. 22
North Texas vs. Northern Illinois
Potato Bowl, Dec. 22
Ohio vs. Wyoming
Birmingham Bowl, Dec. 23
Florida International vs. Temple
Armed Forces Bowl, Dec. 23
Army vs. UAB
Dollar General Bowl, Dec. 23
Toledo vs. Arkansas State
Hawaii Bowl, Dec. 24
Memphis vs. San Diego State
Quick Lane Bowl, Dec. 26
UNLV vs. Central Michigan
Heart of Dallas Bowl, Dec. 26
Kansas State vs. Cal
Cactus Bowl, Dec. 26
Colorado State vs. Arizona State
Independence Bowl, Dec. 27
Florida State vs. Middle Tennessee State
Pinstripe Bowl, Dec. 27
Boston College vs. Purdue
Foster Farms Bowl, Dec. 27
Northwestern vs. Stanford
Texas Bowl, Dec. 27
West Virginia vs. Utah
Holiday Bowl, Dec. 28
Michigan vs. Washington
Military Bowl, Dec. 28
Navy vs. Virginia
Camping World Bowl, Dec. 28
Virginia Tech vs. Texas
Alamo Bowl, Dec. 28
USC vs. Oklahoma State
Belk Bowl, Dec. 29
Wake Forest vs. Kentucky
Sun Bowl, Dec. 29
NC State vs. Arizona
Music City Bowl, Dec. 29
Iowa vs. Texas A&M
Cotton Bowl, Dec. 29
TCU vs. Auburn
Arizona Bowl, Dec. 30
Utah State vs. Georgia State
TaxSlayer Bowl, Dec. 30
Louisville vs. Mississippi State
Liberty Bowl, Dec. 30
Iowa State vs. Missouri
Fiesta Bowl, Dec. 30
Notre Dame vs. Washington State
Orange Bowl, Dec. 30
Miami vs. Georgia
Outback Bowl, Jan. 1
Michigan State vs. LSU
Peach Bowl, Jan. 1
Central Florida vs. Ohio State
Citrus Bowl, Jan. 1
Penn State vs. South Carolina
Rose Bowl, Jan. 1 [College Football Playoff Semifinal]
Clemson vs. Oklahoma
Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1 [College Football Playoff Semifinal]
Alabama vs. Wisconsin
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
