College football bowl projections 2019, Week 7: New Year’s Six takes shape
December 20
Bahamas Bowl: Florida Atlantic vs. Toledo
2 p.m. ET, ESPN – Nassau, Bahamas
Frisco Bowl: SMU vs. MTSU*
7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2 – Frisco, Texas
December 21
New Mexico Bowl: UAB vs. Wyoming
2 p.m. ET, ESPN – Albuquerque, NM
Cure Bowl: Temple vs. Georgia State
2:30 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network – Orlando, Fla.
Boca Raton Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Western Michigan
3:30 p.m. ET, ABC – Boca Raton, Fla.
Camellia Bowl: Louisiana vs. Central Michigan
5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN – Montgomery, Ala.
Las Vegas Bowl: Hawaii vs. Cal
7:30 p.m. ET, ABC – Las Vegas, Nev.
New Orleans Bowl: Appalachian State vs. Louisiana Tech
9 p.m. ET, ESPN – New Orleans, La.
The Skinny
Cincinnati looked dead and buried in the group-of-five race for the New Year’s Six a few weeks ago when the Bearcats were thoroughly overmatched by Ohio State in Columbus. That 42-0 drubbing seems to speak more to the strength of the Buckeyes than any Cincinnati weakness. Luke Fickell’s Bearcats finally got over the UCF hump, and by doing so have set themselves up in the driver’s seat in the AAC East race. The win also prompted the best tweet of the college football season so far.
SMU flirted with disaster on Saturday night, but the Mustangs moved to 6-0 for the first time since 1982 with a come-from-behind win over Tulsa. SMU trailed 30-9 going into the fourth quarter, but Sonny Dykes’ crew battled all the way back with three fourth quarter touchdowns to force overtime. In the third overtime frame, Shane Buechele hit James Proche for a 25-yard game-winning touchdown to keep SMU unbeaten.