College Bowl Projections: An Early Look at Big Bowl Games
Usual Suspects Figure in Playoff Hunt

Odds for 2023 College Bowls
There are 43 college football bowl games on the schedule this season. Some of them won’t draw a lot of attention outside of the two fanbases of the teams playing.
Others will attract football fans across the country. We’ll take an early look at some college bowl projections for the bigger bowl games in this article.
There’s plenty that can go wrong with college bowl projections at this time of the year. Injuries and suspensions happen. There are always several surprise teams, both for the good and the bad. But it’s always fun to make your early forecasts and then look in December to see how your opinions fared.
Sometimes the NCAAF scores go your way and you correctly pick a bowl. Other times, your college football picks leave a lot to be desired and you’re completely off base.
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Dec. 30: LSU vs Clemson
The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl is one of the games featuring New Year’s Six teams and LSU and Clemson have as good of a shot as anybody.
LSU will be a very good football team but appear to be a step below Georgia/Alabama. Clemson should return to its old ways but probably isn’t quite good enough to make the CFP.
Transperfect Music City Bowl, Dec. 30: Arkansas vs Maryland
The Transperfect Music City Bowl has bowl tie-ins with the SEC and the Big Ten. Arkansas and Maryland are teams that should be pretty good, but not good enough to capture the conference championship game.
Capital One Orange Bowl, Dec. 30: Penn State vs Florida State
The Capital One Orange Bowl is another of the New Year’s Six games. The conference tie-ins include one team from the ACC with the other from the SEC or Big Ten.
Having the Seminoles in their home state would be big for the Orange Bowl committee.
Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Dec. 30: Notre Dame vs Washington
The Vrbo Fiesta Bowl is one of the New Year’s Six games. But it doesn’t have any conference tie-ins, so they’re free to pick any teams they choose. Notre Dame should field a pretty solid team and is still a name attraction.
The Huskies are going to be good, but USC will be tough to keep from winning the PAC-12 Conference.
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic Bowl, Jan. 1: Texas vs Oregon
The Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic Bowl is another New Year’s Six game without any conference affiliations. Having the Longhorns play in Dallas would be an ideal situation for the school and the game.
ReliaQuest Bowl, Jan. 1: Florida vs Minnesota
The ReliaQuest Bowl will be played in Tampa, Florida, and has pretty loose tie-ins with the SEC/ACC/Big Ten. Landing the Gators to play in the game would guarantee solid attendance and Florida vs Minnesota would be an entertaining game.
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, Jan. 1: Tennessee vs Wisconsin
The Cheez-It Citrus Bowl has tie-ins with the Big Ten and SEC. So the key to making your college bowl projections for this one is to find good, but not great teams from those two conferences.
Tennessee and Wisconsin both fit that bill. While the game is played on New Year’s Day, it’s not one of the New Year’s Six games. But you have to think players from both teams would love a trip to Miami in late December.
Rose Bowl, Jan. 1: Alabama vs Ohio State
Now things get serious, with the Rose Bowl one of the two college playoff games played on New Year’s Day. Alabama will again be very good and it’s hard-pressed to go against them after they were defeated in last year’s title game.
Ohio State will again be one of the best teams in the country and out to prove something after not making the playoff field last year. Ohio State is -125 to make the playoffs. Alabama is +135, which is the fourth-lowest odds of any team.
Allstate Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1: Michigan vs Georgia
The Allstate Sugar Bowl serves as the second of the college football playoff games. Both Georgia and Michigan are among the favorites to earn a berth in the college football playoffs.
The Bulldogs are -250 to get into the playoffs, while the Wolverines are +105.
CFP Championship Game, Jan. 8: Georgia vs Ohio State
These are the two teams that have some of the lowest odds to win the national championship. There’s a good reason for that, as both are going to be very good.
The Bulldogs are the favorite to win the title at +225. The Buckeyes were No. 2 in the odds, but Alabama has slipped in front of them.
The Crimson Tide is +550 to win the championship game. Ohio State is +600. But the Bulldogs have an excellent chance to defend their title. They may not get it done on the field, but that is the way to bet.