December 28
Cotton Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Cincinnati
12 p.m. ET, ESPN – Dallas, Texas
December 30
Orange Bowl: Notre Dame vs. Syracuse
8 p.m. ET, ESPN – Miami, Fla.
January 1
Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs. Washington
5 p.m. ET, ESPN – Pasadena, Calif.
Sugar Bowl: Georgia vs. Texas
8:45 p.m. ET, ESPN – New Orleans, La.
The Skinny
I still like Cincinnati to earn the Group of Five’s bid to the New Year’s Six this year. The Bearcats already earned a Power Five victory by taking down UCLA at Nippert last Thursday night, and they will have an even bigger opportunity this coming weekend as they travel across the state to Columbus to take on Ohio State.
Wisconsin opened the 2019 season in impressive fashion by blowing out USF 49-0 in Tampa. The Badgers look to be in for a big bounce-back season, and they could easily jump up and grab the Big Ten title.
Notre Dame struggled at times but still ended up pulling out an 18-point win on the road against Louisville in the season opener on Labor Day. A second ACC team is guaranteed a spot in the New Year’s Six as long as Clemson makes the playoff, and currently Syracuse looks to be the second best team in the conference.
The Sugar and Rose Bowls could be in for a couple of rematches. The Sugar Bowl will take the highest ranked SEC and Big 12 teams available. I agree with most pundits that a second SEC team will get into the College Football Playoff, but it’s not Georgia.
Both Ohio State and Washington got off to a great start to the 2019 season with a pair of former Georgia quarterbacks. Justin Fields had an impressive debut, wasting little time putting a lot of points on the board against Florida Atlantic. Jacob Eason was outstanding in his debut against Eastern Washington, and he could provide a new dynamic to the Huskies offense.