The 2020 college football season will be unlike any in recent memory.
Citing concerns over the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), two Power Five conferences, the Big Ten and Pac-12, have postponed their fall campaigns.
The Mid-American and Mountain West, two Group of Five leagues, have done the same.
As of August 23, however, the American Athletic, Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Conference USA, Southeastern, and Sun Belt plan to proceed with fall competition, albeit with modified schedules, which have eliminated most slated non-conference games.
Taking all this into account, 247Sports’ Brad Crawford released his 2020 bowl projections on August 21.
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Crawford points out the Football Bowl Association will attempt to honor the matchup tie-ins for as many of these games as possible.
These projections are high on the Florida Gators’ potential this fall, as the publication has the program squaring off with the Clemson Tigers in the Sugar Bowl, a College Football Playoff Semifinal.
“Who gets the No. 4 seed this season? Isn’t that the question we’re always asking this time of year?” Crawford began.
“You could make the argument no team nationally benefits more from the Big Ten and Pac-12 not playing this fall than the SEC’s runner-up.
“One of the three Power Five conferences will put two teams in the Playoff and we’re expecting that to be the SEC. For the Gators, perhaps a more direct road – and a bit less challenging mountain to scale – in getting to a semifinal setting would be finishing 9-1 overall, but not winning the East.
“How does that happen? Florida wins the front-end of its two-game showdown with LSU and Georgia and the Bulldogs take the division with their only loss coming at Alabama. Another loss in Atlanta makes Georgia 9-2, which would likely knock (Kirby) Smart’s team down a peg in the eyes of the selection committee despite beating the Gators (again, 9-1) head-to-head. Hey, we’re still talking about hypotheticals here, aren’t we?”
247Sports has Dabo Swinney’s Tigers topping Florida and advancing to face Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide, who defeated the Oklahoma Sooners in the Rose Bowl in this exercise, in the National Championship Game.
As for the reigning national champions, Ed Orgeron’s LSU Tigers, the article has them battling Mack Brown’s North Carolina Tar Heels in the Peach Bowl, the game the Gators handled Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines in two years ago.
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Last season, Florida clashed with Bronco Mendenhall’s Virginia Cavaliers in the Orange Bowl, and this time around, 247Sports has Smart’s Bulldogs facing Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Miami Gardens-based game.
Other SEC projections feature Mike Leach’s Mississippi State Bulldogs battling Chris Klieman’s Kansas State Wildcats in the Liberty Bowl, Lane Kiffin and the Mississippi Rebels traveling to Nashville, Tennessee to face Manny Diaz’ Miami Hurricanes, Mark Stoops’ Kentucky Wildcats playing the in-state rival Louisville Cardinals, coached by Scott Satterfield, in the Gator Bowl, and Jeremy Pruitt’s Tennessee Volunteers are penciled-in against Mike Gundy’s Oklahoma State Cowboys in the Alamo Bowl.
Jimbo Fisher’s Texas A&M Aggies are matched up with one of the nation’s top Group of Five programs, Luke Fickell’s Cincinnati Bearcats, in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, and Gus Malzahn’s Auburn Tigers take the field against Tom Herman’s Texas Longhorns in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.
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