Spring College Football Playoff and NY6 bowl projections

Spring football is starting to wind down across the college football landscape and it seems like a perfect time to reassess some bowl projections. 

The good news for college football fans is that we are less than five months away from Week 0 and the start of the 2022 season.

Truthfully, it will be here before we know. Yet, as soon as spring college football games come to an end, we’ll be back in a state without any football at all.

Of course, there is still recruiting to follow and the transfer portal should get active again soon with the post-spring period always featuring tons of movement.

Yet, this offseason has already seen plenty of player and head-coaching movement, so it seems like a good time to release our projections for the New Year’s Six bowl games and the College Football Playoff in 2022.

We get things started with the New Year’s Six bowl projections.

Orange Bowl (Dec. 30) Michigan State vs Clemson

I don’t see Wake Forest winning the ACC championship or making the College Football Playoff in 2022. Clemson beat Wake Forest last season, despite all of its struggles and I think the Tigers will rule the ACC again this season.

However, a road trip to Notre Dame looms large, as well as difficult conference matchups against Wake, NC State, and Miami.

I don’t think Clemson will be good enough to win at Notre Dame, so I’m predicting the Tigers end up as a two-loss ACC champion which will send them to the Orange Bowl to face Michigan State, who seems headed toward another 10-win season.

Wisconsin is another contender for this spot from the Big Ten but after a blowout loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten title game, the Badgers will drop out of the New Year’s Six, and the Spartans, who will beat the Badgers in their regular-season meeting, but will fall to Michigan and Ohio State, will head to another New Year’s Six bowl game.