This year’s college football bowl season has wrapped up, with only the two College Football Playoff semifinal matchups and the national championship game remaining. With the transfer portal and an increasing number of player opt-outs, bowl games are not what they once were, but this year’s 34 non-CFP bowl games still provided plenty of memorable moments.
Let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers from the 2025 college football bowl season.
Winners
ACC
For all the criticism the ACC took during the regular season for being a weak conference, it definitely showed up in bowl games. The conference posted an impressive 8-4 record in postseason play, including Miami’s two College Football Playoff wins. Some of the notable ACC bowl game victories include Virginia defeating Missouri, SMU knocking off Arizona, Wake Forest capping off a surprisingly strong season with a win over Mississippi State, and ACC champion Duke defeating Arizona State in a shootout.
Pop-Tarts Bowl
If there’s a case to be made that bowl season isn’t dead, the Pop-Tarts Bowl would be at the forefront of that argument. With all the off-field theatrics and two teams in Georgia Tech and BYU that featured minimal opt-outs and were fully invested, this event had everything that a bowl game should be. The play on the field also lived up to the hype, as Georgia Tech held a two-possession lead for much of the game before BYU scored 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and sealed the win with an interception deep in their own territory. In a world where bowl games are “dying,” the Pop-Tarts Bowl looks like it’s here to stay.
Big Ten
The Big Ten put together another strong showing in bowl season going 6-3 in non-CFP games. Iowa and Illinois helped carry the torch in the Big Ten vs SEC debate with upset victories over Vanderbilt and Tennessee. Minnesota also deserves recognition for their win over New Mexico in the Rate Bowl which improved their record to 7-0 in bowl games under P.J. Fleck. In addition, the conference is guaranteed a spot in the national championship game, as Indiana and Oregon will face off in the semifinal, with the Big Ten looking for its third straight national title.
Losers
SEC
The SEC once again struggled to support the claim that it “just means more” in the South with another poor performance in bowl season. Texas accounted for the conference’s lone win in a non-CFP bowl game, and it has not been the best showing for the SEC in the playoff either. For a league that prides itself on depth, losses by Vanderbilt and Tennessee to “lesser” Big Ten opponents were bad blemishes. In the midst of an otherwise disappointing bowl season for the SEC, credit to Arch Manning for turning his season around after a rough start and capping it with an electric performance in Texas’ bowl game, accounting for 376 total yards and four touchdowns.
Pitt Panthers
There was no bigger or more surprising bowl game result than Pitt’s loss to East Carolina in the Military Bowl as 13.5-point favorites. East Carolina played without its starting quarterback, both offensive and defensive coordinators, and its leading rusher, while Pitt was close to full strength. The loss dropped Pitt to 2-6 in bowl games under head coach Pat Narduzzi and marked their second straight bad bowl game showing against clearly inferior opponents after losing to Toledo last year. To make matters worse, the embarrassing loss has been followed by a rough early offseason for the Panthers with both their roster and coaching staff beginning to fall apart.
Lincoln Riley
No one faced more criticism for a bowl game loss than Lincoln Riley after USC fell to TCU on an improbable catch-and-run by Jeremy Payne to walk it off in overtime. That game, and especially the final play, were a good summary of USC’s four seasons under Riley: an explosive offense paired with a poor defense that ultimately lets the team down. After rumors not too long ago of Riley leaving Southern California in the coaching carousel, this loss led many to call for his job at USC. It also doesn’t help that the Trojans have lost their defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, who had helped create significant improvement on that side of the ball over the past two seasons, as he is leaving to take the same position at Penn State.