The college football regular season is over, and with the bowl pairings being named later today, it's time for the final VICE Sports College Football Bowl Predictions of 2015, our best educated guesses as to where schools will end up this postseason.
A few things to remember:●The Playoff committee selects the top four seeds and places the top seed in the semifinal game closest to their campus. This year, the Orange Bowl and the Cotton Bowl host semifinals.
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●The committee also places teams in the Fiesta and Peach bowls. The Rose and Sugar bowls technically choose their own replacements this year, but they will rely heavily on the rankings.●Outside the New Year's Six, bowls sometimes have to pick schools based on conference standings, but largely are allowed to put together their favorite matchups so long as the participants fit within the event's tier. For instance, in the past, the Citrus Bowl got the second Big Ten pick and the Outback Bowl got the third. Now the Citrus, Outback, and Holiday are all equal in the Big Ten 2-4 tier.●If a bowl runs out of eligible teams for its conference tie-in, it can look elsewhere.●This will be the first year there aren't enough bowl-eligible teams (finishing with at least a 6-6 record) to fill out the total bowl lineup. If that happens, teams that finish 5-7 can be chosen. What a time to be alive!
Yep. -Photo by Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
With that out of the way, our predictions:BowlDateMatchupTie-insNational ChampionshipJanuary 11No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 4 OklahomaPlayoffOrange (Playoff)December 31No. 1 Clemson vs. No. 4 OklahomaPlayoffCotton (Playoff)December 31No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 3 Michigan StatePlayoffFiesta (New Year's Six)January 1Notre Dame vs. Ohio StateAt-large vs. At-largeRose (NY 6)January 1Iowa vs. StanfordBig Ten 1 vs. Pac-12 1Sugar (NY 6)January 1Oklahoma State vs. Ole MissBig 12 1 vs. SEC 1Peach (NY 6)December 31Houston vs. Florida State
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At-large vs. At-largeAlamoJanuary 2TCU vs. OregonBig 12 2 vs. Pac-12 2CactusJanuary 2Kansas State vs. CalBig 12 6 vs. Pac-12 7LibertyJanuary 2West Virginia vs. Texas A&MBig 12 5 vs. SEC 3-8TaxSlayerJanuary 2Miami vs. ArkansasACC 3-6/Big Ten 5-7 vs. SEC 3-8CitrusJanuary 1Michigan vs. FloridaBig Ten 2-4 vs. SEC 2OutbackJanuary 1Northwestern vs. TennesseeBig Ten 2-4 vs. SEC 3-8BelkDecember 30Louisville vs. Mississippi StateACC 3-6 vs. SEC 3-8BirminghamDecember 30Memphis vs. AuburnAAC vs. SEC 9HolidayDecember 30Wisconsin vs. Washington StateBig Ten 2-4 vs. Pac-12 3Music CityDecember 30Penn State vs. GeorgiaACC 3-6/Big Ten 5-7 vs. SEC 3-8ArizonaDecember 29Arizona vs. Boise StateC-USA vs. MWCArmed ForcesDecember 29Arizona State vs. Air ForceBig Ten vs. MWCRussell AthleticDecember 29North Carolina vs. BaylorACC 2 vs. Big 12 3TexasDecember 29Texas Tech vs. LSUBig 12 4 vs. SEC 3-8MilitaryDecember 28NC State vs. NavyACC vs. AACQuick LaneDecember 28Central Michigan vs. MinnesotaACC vs. Big TenFoster FarmsDecember 26Nebraska vs. UCLABig Ten 5-7 vs. Pac-12 4Heart of DallasDecember 26Nevada vs. MarshallBig 12 7 vs. C-USAIndependenceDecember 26Duke vs. AkronACC vs. SECPinstripeDecember 26Pitt vs. IndianaACC 3-6 vs. Big Ten 5-7St. PetersburgDecember 26Temple vs. San Jose StateAAC vs. C-USASunDecember 26Virginia Tech vs. USCACC 3-6 vs. Pac-12 5BahamasDecember 24Middle Tennessee vs. Western Michigan
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C-USA vs. MAC 4/5HawaiiDecember 24Cincinnati vs. Colorado StateAAC vs. MWC/BYUGoDaddyDecember 23Bowling Green vs. Georgia SouthernMAC 1 vs. Sun Belt 2PoinsettiaDecember 23Utah State vs. WashingtonMWC vs. ArmyBoca RatonDecember 22Tulsa vs. OhioAAC vs. MACPotatoDecember 22Northern Illinois vs. San Diego StateMAC 2 vs. MWCMiami BeachDecember 21South Florida vs. Western KentuckyAAC vs. C-USACameliaDecember 19Toledo vs. Appalachian StateMAC 3 vs. Sun Belt 3CureDecember 19UConn vs. Georgia StateAAC vs. Sun BeltLas VegasDecember 19BYU vs. UtahMWC 1/BYU vs. Pac-12 6New MexicoDecember 19Louisiana Tech vs. New MexicoC-USA vs. MWCNew OrleansDecember 19Arkansas State vs. Southern MissSun Belt 1 vs. C-USA
TFW you're No.1, and also super hungry for a Creamsicle. -Photo by Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
Some takeaways:● Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma and Michigan State will be in the Playoff. I'm guessing Michigan State jumps Oklahoma for winning a 13th game, and because the committee won't want to make Alabama play Oklahoma in Dallas.● The Rose Bowl says it will pick the highest-ranked team between Iowa and Ohio State. After such a close loss in the Big Ten Championship Game, I don't think the committee will punish Iowa for playing an extra game and will keep the Hawkeyes ahead of the Buckeyes. I wouldn't be surprised to see OSU ahead, but I'm 60-40 on Iowa going to the Rose.● A number of other bowls are decided based on contracts. Ole Miss and Oklahoma State are pretty much locked into the Sugar Bowl, while Stanford is locked into the Rose Bowl. I see the committee matching the next two highest-ranked at-large teams, Notre Dame and Ohio State, in one game and the other two, Florida State and Houston, in the other.● Nebraska, Minnesota and San Jose State will be the three 5-7 teams to make bowl games, based on their APR scores.● My favorite non-New Year's Six matchups: TCU-Oregon, Wisconsin-Washington State, Bowling Green-Georgia Southern, Miami-Arkansas and Memphis-Auburn.
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