College Football Bowl Projections 2018: Wolverines rise in Week 7
December 21
Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl: Houston vs. FIU
12:30 pm ET, ESPN – Nassau, Bahamas
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Boise State vs. Buffalo
4 pm ET, ESPN – Boise, Idaho
December 22
Birmingham Bowl: Cincinnati vs. South Carolina
Noon ET, ESPN – Birmingham, Alabama
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: Army vs. Ohio
3:30 pm ET, ESPN – Fort Worth, Texas
Dollar General Bowl: Troy vs. Miami (OH)
7 pm ET, ESPN – Mobile, Alabama
Hawai’i Bowl: Hawai’i vs. UAB
10:30 pm ET, ESPN – Honolulu, Hawai’i
December 26
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl: Minnesota vs. Marshall
1:30 pm ET, ESPN – Dallas, Texas
Quick Lane Bowl: Purdue vs. Utah State
5:15 pm ET, ESPN – Detroit, Michigan
Cheez-It Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Arizona State
9 pm ET, ESPN – Phoenix, Arizona
The skinny
Boise State entered the season with New Year’s Six aspirations, and many projected them to be a real threat to be the top team from the Group of Five. Instead, the Broncos have dropped games at Oklahoma State and at home against San Diego State to most likely end their chances of making it to a more prestigious bowl game, and putting their chances of winning the Mountain West in serious doubt. The Potato Bowl will have to do as a consolation.
South Carolina’s bowl hopes are in serious doubt with a 3-3 mark and their inability to reschedule their canceled game against Marshall earlier in the season. In order to get there, the Gamecocks will need to win a road game against Ole Miss, Florida, or Clemson as well as taking down a suddenly competent Tennessee team at home.
Cincinnati has New Year’s Six aspirations and the Bearcats seem to be the biggest threat to UCF’s return trip to the New Year’s Six. They will have to go on the road and take down the Golden Knights in order to make that happen, though. If not, I hear Birmingham is nice in December…
The Armed Forces Bowl has to grab two at-large’s here because the Big 12 and AAC aren’t likely going to be able to fill their bowl slots.
Bill Clark is on the precipice of leading UAB to a second consecutive bowl game after the program’s one year shutdown, and will get to take them to an exotic location for the second year in a row as well.