CollegeFootballNews.com bowl projections and College Football Playoff schedule and predictions: 2020 spring version
Oh, why the heck not?
We’re living in absurd times, so let’s just get even weirder.
Will there actually be a 2020 college football season?
Uhhhhh … not sure.
Will there be a full bowl slate if there is some sort of a season?
Uhhhhh …
Are all of the conferences bowl tie-ins locked in yet?
The Power Fives are, but the Group of Five situation is extremely loose.
Who cares? It’s fun offseason stuff that – if this all actually happens – probably isn’t too terribly far from the pin.
There are a whole slew of ground rules and new contracted deals for the 2020-2021 bowl season. Here are the main ones.
– The College Football Playoff will be the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. The Orange Bowl has to take an ACC team – the next-highest ranked ACC team will get in if the champion is in the CFP – and Notre Dame can’t take the league’s spot. Otherwise, the non-CFP New Year’s Six games are wide open.
– As always, every Power Five conference champ will at least be in a New Year’s Six game, and the top-ranked Group of Five champion will be in, too, or in the College Football Playoff.
– Again, most of the Group of Five bowl tie-ins are still up in the air. There are 16 ESPN owned and operated bowls with a whole lot of holes to fill – that’s where the available American Athletic, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, and Sun Belt teams come in. An eligible BYU will take one of them, and then it’ll be all about the top matchups and best geographic possibilities.
Let’s just do this already. If you don’t see your team on here, don’t sweat it. We’ll do this exercise again later this summer, and we’ll adapt and adjust as we go.
CFN in 60: Spring College Football Playoff Projections
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2020-2021 Bowl Projections, College Football Playoff Predictions
– Future College Football Playoff Sites & Dates
– All of the 2020-2021 bowl tie-ins
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
Games listed alphabetically until all the dates are announced
Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl
Date Coming
ESPN
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX
Big 12 vs. SEC
Spring Projection: TCU vs. Tennessee
Last Season: Texas A&M 24, Oklahoma State 21
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Date Coming
ESPN
Liberty Bowl, Memphis, TN
Big 12 vs. SEC
Spring Projection: Baylor vs. Mississippi State
Last Season: Navy 20, Kansas State 17
Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl
Date Coming
ESPN
Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL
SEC vs. ACC (or American Athletic)
Spring Projection: Syracuse vs. Houston
Last Season: UCF 48, Marshall 25
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Bahamas Bowl
Date Coming
ESPN
Thomas Robinson National Stadium, Nassau, Bahamas
Conference USA vs. MAC
Spring Projection: Southern Miss vs. Northern Illinois
Last Season: Buffalo 31, Charlotte 9
Belk Bowl
Date Coming
ESPN
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
ACC vs. SEC
Spring Projection: Virginia vs. South Carolina
Last Season: Kentucky 37, Virginia Tech 30
Camellia Bowl
Date Coming
ESPN
Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, AL
MAC vs. Sun Belt
Spring Projection: Buffalo vs. Louisiana
Last Season: Arkansas State 34, FIU 26
Camping World Bowl
Date Coming
ESPN
Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL
ACC vs. Big 12
Spring Projection: Virginia Tech vs. Oklahoma State
Last Season: Notre Dame 33, Iowa State 9
Cheez-It Bowl
Date Coming
ESPN
Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ
Big Ten vs. Big 12
Spring Projection: Michigan State vs. West Virginia
Last Season: Air Force 31, Washington State 21
Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl
Date Coming
ESPN
Howard Schnellenberger Field at FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, FL
American Athletic or Conference USA or MAC
Spring Projection: Temple vs. Marshall
Last Season: Florida Atlantic 52, SMU 28
Cure Bowl
Saturday, December 19
CBS Sports Network
Exploria Stadium, Orlando, FL
American Athletic or MAC or Sun Belt
Spring Projection: SMU vs. Toledo
Last Season: Liberty 23, Georgia Southern 16
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Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Date Coming
ESPN
Lyle Smith Field at Albertsons Stadium, Boise, ID
MAC vs. Mountain West
Spring Projection: Miami University vs. Air Force
Last Season: Ohio 30, Nevada 21