Preseason College Football Playoff and NY6 Bowl projections for 2022
Back in the spring, we projected the New Year’s Six Bowl games and the College Football Playoff, and with the 2022 season rapidly approaching, we updated our projections.
The 2022 college football season is literally just weeks away. It’s hard to believe since fall camps seemingly just started, but Week 0 of the college football season is 16 days away.
Of course, most of the major teams won’t be playing until Sept. 3, which is Week 1. But right out of the gate, we have some key matchups with major bowl implications.
Georgia-Oregon, Notre Dame-Ohio State, Texas-Alabama, Texas A&M-Miami, and Utah-Florida — are just a few that come to mind.
The College Football Playoff saw a team from the American Conference make it last season, shattering the idea that only Power-5 teams could make the playoff and in a wide-open year, we’ll see who emerges.
Yet, wide open in a sense of who could be the fourth team. Most expect Georgia, Alabama, and Ohio State to duke it out for the national title. The debate is mostly about who will join them in the College Football Playoff.
But, as we all know, college football has a way of making fools out of us all. Who predicted Michigan and Cincinnati would make it in 2021? No one.
So with that in mind, here are our updated bowl projections for the preseason as the college football season creeps closer.
Orange Bowl (Dec. 30): Miami vs Notre Dame
Notre Dame football will be back in a major bowl, despite a tough 2022 schedule. The Irish aren’t going to beat Ohio State in the opening week and winning 10 games won’t be easy. However, the defense should be stout. A home game against Clemson, as well as a road trip to USC, could decide the bowl fate of the Irish.
But the prediction here is they get 10 wins, which earns them a meeting against Miami, another team with a first-year head coach that will win 10 regular-season games. Mario Cristobal will help the defense improve and Tyler Van Dyke has a chance to be special at QB.
That combination and a schedule that isn’t too difficult outside of road trips to A&M and Clemson have me betting that the Hurricanes advance to the ACC title game and lose again to Clemson, sending them to the Orange Bowl and setting up a classic matchup between big-name programs.