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College Football Bowl Projections 2018: Texas rises into New Year’s Six

By John Mitchell

AUSTIN, TX - NOVEMBER 17: David Montgomery #32 of the Iowa State Cyclones is stopped at the line of scrimmage by Gary Johnson #33 of the Texas Longhorns and Anthony Wheeler #45 in the third quarter at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TX - NOVEMBER 17: David Montgomery #32 of the Iowa State Cyclones is stopped at the line of scrimmage by Gary Johnson #33 of the Texas Longhorns and Anthony Wheeler #45 in the third quarter at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Michael Shroyer/Getty Images)
(Photo by Michael Shroyer/Getty Images) /

December 21

Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Louisiana Tech
12:30 pm ET, ESPN – Nassau, Bahamas

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Utah State vs. Buffalo
4 pm ET, ESPN – Boise, Idaho

December 22

Birmingham Bowl: Memphis vs. Arizona*
Noon ET, ESPN – Birmingham, Alabama

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: Houston vs. *Army
3:30 pm ET, ESPN – Fort Worth, Texas

Dollar General Bowl: Toledo vs. Georgia Southern
7 pm ET, ESPN – Mobile, Alabama

Hawai’i Bowl: MTSU vs. Hawai’i
10:30 pm ET, ESPN – Honolulu, Hawai’i

December 26

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl: North Texas vs. BYU*
1:30 pm ET, ESPN – Dallas, Texas

Quick Lane Bowl: Miami (FL) vs. Purdue
5:15 pm ET, ESPN – Detroit, Michigan

Cheez-It Bowl: California vs. San Diego State*
9 pm ET, ESPN – Phoenix, Arizona

The skinny

Cincinnati had a shot to pull the upset over UCF and potentially take the lead in the Group-of-Five’s chase for a coveted New Year’s Six berth. Instead, much like last year, the Bearcats couldn’t keep up with the speed of the Knights as they were routed 38-13. Missing out on an AAC title and the potential for a significant jump is a disappointment, but the Bahamas Bowl would be a nice consolation prize.

Arizona had upset on their minds in Pullman this week, but they instead got routed by Mike Leach and company in a 69-28 beatdown. At 5-6, bowl eligibility for Kevin Sumlin in his first season in Tucson would only come if they can beat rival Arizona State at home next week. The Wildcats had played better football as of late, but were humbled on Saturday night.

Miami broke a four game losing streak and finally obtained bowl eligibility by rolling through an equally hapless Virginia Tech team in Blacksburg. Redshirt freshman QB N’Koski Perry is beginning to look comfortable out there, which is big for Mark Richt going forward. Obviously the ‘Canes have been a big disappointment this season, but finally getting that sixth win monkey off of their backs has to feel good.

Purdue and Indiana will be battling for a bowl berth next week in Bloomington as the Boilermakers blew a late lead and ultimately lost in overtime to Wisconsin to put their bowl hopes in doubt. Purdue hasn’t been quite right since knocking off Ohio State — they’ve gone 1-3 since then, including a blowout loss to Minnesota last week. I still think Purdue gets in by beating Indiana next week, but fans have to be somewhat disappointed by this roller coaster 2018 season in West Lafayette.

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