College Football Bowl First Thought Predictions, Analysis For All 41 Games, National Championship – Page 16

Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl

UCLA vs Pitt
Friday, December 30, 2022
2:00, CBS

No Research Instant Analysis: UCLA had to bail on its Holiday Bowl invite at the final moment last year because of illness issues. This time around it might be missing a slew of key parts to the NFL. Pitt will be missing pieces, too, but the offense should go off enough to make this interesting, and the pass rush will be its normal killer self. However, for the moment, I’m assuming UCLA QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson plays, so …

No Research Bowl Prediction: UCLA 37, Pitt 34
Early Bowl Line Guess: UCLA -6
Actual Line: UCLA -3.5

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl

Notre Dame vs South Carolina
Friday, December 30, 2022
3:30, ESPN

No Research Instant Analysis: Who wants to deal with South Carolina now? Will it cool off a month after doing that to Tennessee and Clemson? On the other side, Notre Dame looked the part late in the year, but the defense has to be ready for Spencer Rattler and the offense that was so amazing late.

It’s always easy – and sort of wrong – to assume that winning a bowl game does anything for the following season, but South Carolina’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl victory over North Carolina last year set a tone for the Shane Beamer era, and Notre Dame’s collapse in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma State chilled out the excitement under Marcus Freeman. It’ll be a much more fun offseason for the Irish as they start the preparations now for Navy.

No Research Bowl Prediction: Notre Dame 34, South Carolina 26
Early Bowl Line Guess: Notre Dame -4
Actual Line: Notre Dame -4.5

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