College Football Bowl Projections 2018: Big Changes in New Year’s Six after Week 9
December 29
Belk Bowl: Virginia vs. South Carolina
Noon ET, ESPN – Charlotte, North Carolina
December 31
Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman: Duke vs. Toledo
Noon ET, ESPN – Annapolis, Maryland
Hyundai Sun Bowl: Oregon vs. Syracuse
2 pm ET, CBS – El Paso, Texas
Redbox Bowl: Stanford vs. Northwestern
3 pm ET, Fox – Santa Clara, California
AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Missouri
3:45 pm ET, ESPN – Memphis, Tennessee
San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl: Utah vs. Iowa
7 pm ET, FS1 – San Diego, California
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Texas A&M
7:30 pm ET, ESPN – Jacksonville, Florida
January 1
Outback Bowl: Auburn vs. Michigan State
Noon ET, ESPN2 – Tampa, Florida
Citrus Bowl: Florida vs. Penn State
1 pm ET, ABC – Orlando, Florida
The skinny
Virginia now appears to be the favorite in the ACC Coastal following Virginia Tech’s blowout loss at the hands of Georgia Tech. Not much was expected of the Cavaliers this season, but Bronco Mendenhall has continued to prove his mettle as a head coach; he should be garnering coach of the year consideration.
Oregon has fallen far in the last two weeks. They lost a road game at Washington State, which knocked them from a projected Rose Bowl berth following their win over Washington. That loss was defensible, but the Ducks came out completely flat and got routed in Tucson by Arizona in a loss that effectively ends their chances of winning a conference championship.
Utah has reeled off four consecutive wins, all by double-digits, which has the Utes in position to make a run at Pasadena. They have as good a shot as any in a wide open PAC-12; Utah is currently the heavy favorite in the PAC-12 South, and could be looking at a rematch with Washington State for a spot in the Rose Bowl.
Penn State is the first team out of the New Year’s Six this week after pulling out a win over Iowa. The Nittany Lions still have a strong chance of earning an at-large berth if they can win three of their final four games. They head to Ann Arbor this week and then host Wisconsin the next before finishing up with Rutgers and Maryland.