College Football Bowl Projections 2019, Week 11: NY6 race intensifies

December 20

Bahamas Bowl: Florida Atlantic vs. Central Michigan
2 p.m. ET, ESPN – Nassau, Bahamas

Frisco Bowl: SMU vs. FIU*
7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2 – Frisco, Texas

December 21

New Mexico Bowl: Wyoming vs. Marshall
2 p.m. ET, ESPN – Albuquerque, N.M.

Cure Bowl: Temple vs. Georgia State
2:30 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network – Orlando, Fla.

Boca Raton Bowl: Tulane vs. Ohio
3:30 p.m. ET, ABC – Boca Raton, Fla.

Camellia Bowl: Miami (OH) vs. Georgia Southern
5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN – Montgomery, Ala.

Las Vegas Bowl: Boise State vs. Stanford
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

The Group of Five race is currently wide open, and with SMU’s loss to Memphis, Appalachian State had a perfect opportunity to state its case as the top team with the only unblemished record among the contenders. Instead, for the second season in a row, the Mountaineers laid an egg against Georgia Southern. The Eagles limited the possessions and racked up 335 rushing yards en route to a surprising 24-21 road win over App State, ending the Sun Belt’s hopes of producing a team in the New Year’s Six for the first time.

SMU’s loss does not knock them out of the Group of Five race, but it no longer controls its own destiny. The Mustangs showed plenty of fight in a tough environment, and if they can navigate through a road trip to Navy later this month, there’s a good chance they’ll finish 11-1 in the regular season. Memphis still has road trips to Houston and USF before finishing the regular season at home — in a potential AAC Championship preview — against Cincinnati.