Way-too-early Pac-12 bowl projections and College Football Playoff predictions
The 2023 college football will feature the end of the Pac-12 as we know it. With conference realignment on everyone’s mind, it’s a good reminder that this will be the last season that both the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins will be a part of the conference before jetting off east to the Big Ten.
Fortunately, it is also shaping up to be one of the best Pac-12 seasons we’ve seen in a long time, with schools like Oregon, USC, Washington Utah, Oregon State, and UCLA all expected to rank inside the top 25. There’s a good chance that multiple teams will find themselves inside the top 10 at some point in the year, and the Pac-12 will more than likely be able to end their College Football Playoff drought as well.
Already this offseason, we’ve looked at all of the schedules in the conference and tried to predict outcomes for everyone involved, but now we wanted to look a little bit further and predict the bowl game matchups as well.
Keep in mind the scenarios are very complicated with bowl tie-ins and contractual preferences for teams that have not been involved in certain locations, so we do our best to track it all.
Here’s how we see things playing out before spring ball gets going across the Pac-12.
Las Vegas Bowl
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The Way-Too-Early Prediction
Venue | Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada
Bowl Tie-Ins | Big Ten vs. Pac-12
Prediction | Michigan State vs. Oregon State
LA Bowl
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Way-Too-Early Prediction
Venue | Sofi Stadium, Los Angeles, California
Bowl Tie-Ins | Mountain West vs. Pac-12
Prediction | Nevada vs. Washington State
Sun Bowl
Ivan Pierre Aguirre-USA TODAY Sports
The Way-Too-Early Prediction
Venue | Sun Bowl, El Paso, Texas
Bowl Tie-Ins | ACC vs. Pac-12
Prediction | Miami vs. UCLA
Holiday Bowl
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Way-Too-Early Prediction
Venue | SDCCU Stadium, San Diego, California
Bowl Tie-Ins | ACCvs. Pac-12
Prediction | Clemson vs. Utah
Alamo Bowl
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Way-Too-Early Prediction
Venue | Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
Bowl Tie-Ins | Big 12 vs. Pac-12
Prediction | Baylor vs. Washington
Fiesta Bowl (New Years Six Game)
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Way-Too-Early Prediction
Venue | State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona
Bowl Tie-Ins | At-Large vs. At-Large
Prediction | Penn State vs. USC
Rose Bowl (College Football Playoff Semifinal)
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Way-Too-Early Prediction
Venue | Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
Bowl Tie-Ins | At-Large vs. At-Large
Prediction | Ohio State vs. Oregon
Sugar Bowl (College Football Playoff Semifinal)
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
The Way-Too-Early Prediction
Venue | Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, California
Bowl Tie-Ins | At-Large vs. At-Large
Prediction | Alabama vs. Georgia
