Tag: New Year’s Six

247Sports predicts College Football Playoff and New Years Six games

247Sports likes the ‘Horns to advance to the national championship.

We are almost to the beginning of the New Year’s Six slate of games. The Texas Longhorns are at the apex of the games capping New Year’s Day in the primetime game of the College Football Playoff.

No. 3 Texas (12-1) takes on the No. 2 Washington Huskies (13-0) in what should be an epic shootout between two great offenses. Washington quarterback Michael Penix has three outstanding receivers at his disposal. Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers has four great receiving targets as well.

On the other end of the playoff bracket stand the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines and the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide. The game is one of the more polarizing matchups of the college football postseason. Some believe Alabama will roll past No. 1 seeded Michigan while others see the Wolverines holding their own.

Several other high profile matchups complete the six game showcase. Here’s how 247Sports analysts Brad Crawford and Chris Hummer see the games unfolding.

Longhorns Wire’s College Football Playoff, New Years Six predictions

Longhorns Wire predicts the New Year’s Six slate of games.

The New Year’s Six slate is just over two weeks away. The set of games begins with the Ohio State Buckeyes and Missouri Tigers in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 29.

Several interesting matchups comprise the list of games. One of those matchups involve one of the biggest David and Goliath comparable clashes in the history of the New Year’s Six. Undefeated, and perhaps untested Liberty, takes on an Oregon team that has coasted past lesser competition.

The College Football Playoff, however, takes center stage on New Year’s Day. In the first game, smash mouth teams in Michigan and Alabama are primed for a physical matchup.

Texas and Washington follow in what could be a scheme-off between Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian and Huskies head coach Kalin DeBour. The talent that pervades both rosters will make the coaching of that much greater importance.

Here’s how Longhorns Wire sees the games taking place.

One advantage could swing Sugar Bowl in Texas’ favor

This advantage for Texas could create a sizable advantage over Washington.

For several reasons, there’s no telling how the Washington matchup will go for Texas. That said, one tried and true component of football could swing the game in the Longhorns favor.

The Washington Huskies are a great football team. They are 13-0, conference champions and have an argument that their quarterback Michael Penix should have won the Heisman. But Penix has one fatal flaw: he doesn’t protect the football.

Penix has thrown nine interceptions on the season, but if you watched much of Washington’s games you’re aware he’s thrown more passes than that up for grabs. In just the last two games, you probably saw the Washington quarterback luck out of critical mistakes that fell harmlessly to the ground.

Contrast the Huskies’ signal caller and his lackadaisical protection of the football with Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers. The Longhorns quarterback is the opposite of Penix in that regard. Ewers rarely turns the ball over or even puts the ball in harm’s way. The Texas quarterback has six interceptions on the season.

Some would describe Ewers as the college version of what San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is in the pros. Head coach Steve Sarkisian schemes up easy passes and Ewers simply completes what is already wide open. That sort of playing style is an advantage for Texas who will likely be able to find ways to attack Washington over the next couple of weeks.

The turnover battle can swing a game. If both quarterbacks continue to play like they have so far this season, Texas could increase its margin for error and win off protecting the football.

Texas favored by four points in recent Sugar Bowl odds

One sportsbook favors Texas over Washington by four points.

The Texas Longhorns are solid favorites to win their first playoff game. One sportsbook has Texas favored by four points over the Washington Huskies.

It’s hard to know what to expect from the matchup. Texas and Washington are among the more unpredictable teams in the country. The Longhorns are 7-5 against the spread. The Huskies are 6-6 against the spread according to some sites.

Many believe this year’s matchup will be a high-scoring contest, but that wasn’t the case when the two teams met last season. Texas slowed Washington’s elite passing attack while the Huskies’ stingy defense limited the Longhorns. Washington won 27-20.

Among other New Year’s Six lines, Oregon is favored by 16 points over Liberty in the Fiesta Bowl. Penn State is a 3.5-point favorite over Ole Miss. Florida State is a two touchdown underdog against Georgia, and Missouri is a 2.5-point favorite against Ohio State.

The Michigan Wolverines are a surprising 1.5-point favorite over the Alabama Crimson Tide in the other College Football Playoff semifinal. Facing Michigan would likely bode better for Texas than having to beat Alabama twice in one season. The Longhorns will need to get past Washington for that to matter.

The New Year’s Six will kick off on Dec. 29 between Missouri and Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.

BREAKING: Texas makes the College Football Playoff

Texas is going to the College Football Playoff.

For the first time in school history, the Texas Longhorns (12-1) are going to the College Football Playoff. A dominant Big 12 championship effort put the Longhorns into the tournament.

Texas defeated Oklahoma State to win a Big 12 championship, 49-21. The win put the team in position to reach the playoff, but the Longhorns needed help to get in. Texas got help in the form of an Alabama upset over Georgia after Friday’s elimination of Oregon.

The dramatic move from No. 7 to the playoff should not have been necessary. The Longhorns should have ranked ahead of Oregon and Ohio State in the last poll, but the final rankings brought the desired result for Texas.

What seems evident is that Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian should get a raise and a contract extension. Sarkisian has lifted the program to heights it hasn’t seen in the 14 seasons since the Longhorns last won the Big 12.

Texas has lived up to expectations and more in 2023. Now the team will spend New Years Day competing for a spot in the national championship.

Another sign of how quickly Lincoln Riley has elevated USC football

Heading into the 2023 season, is there a single Alamo Bowl or Holiday Bowl projection for #USC? Doesn’t seem like it.

A year ago, lots of pundits and publications had Alamo Bowl or Holiday Bowl projections for USC. These projections existed before the season, during the season, even into November. Doubts about the Trojans after the Clay Helton reign of error were abundant.

Lincoln Riley changed all that. He guided USC to a New Year’s Six bowl. The program is in better shape than it was a year ago. Now, no one will predict that USC will fall short of the New Year’s Six.

Ducks Wire predicts that USC will make the NY6 at the Fiesta Bowl. Miles Dwyer wrote:

“If USC finishes 11-1 they will almost certainly play in a New Year’s Six Bowl game. Whether it is the Fiesta Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, or something else altogether, USC’s final game of 2023 should have a fair amount of prestige associated with it — as should their opponent. While we Ducks Wire see them competing in the Fiesta Bowl, they have the potential to challenge for a spot in the College Football Playoff. They would likely need to go undefeated or 11-1 and would certainly need to win the Pac-12 championship, but with the talent level of their team and coaching staff, they have the ability to do so.”

Do check out Ducks Wire’s other Pac-12 team previews:

Arizona — Arizona State — California — Colorado — Oregon State — Stanford — UCLA

Also check out Ducks Wire’s 2023 season storyline pieces on the College Football Playoff, the Heisman Trophy, and much more.

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2022-2023 Pac-12 football bowl schedule

The #Pac12 has seven bowl teams, two of them in the New Year’s Six. Get a look at all the postseason matchups for the Pac. One is against the SEC.

The 2022-2023 bowl schedule is out. There are 42 total games on the slate. The Pac-12 has one-sixth of those 42 games, with seven different teams going bowling this postseason.

Utah heads to the Rose Bowl as the Pac-12 champion. USC is the other New Year’s Six team from the conference. The Pac-12 often fails to get two teams in the New Year’s Six, so this year has surpassed expectations despite the lack of a playoff berth.

Washington would have been in the Rose Bowl had USC beaten Utah, but that did not happen. Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, and Washington State round out the Pac-12 bowl lineup.

See where all seven Pac-12 bowl teams landed:

LSU’s New Year’s Six chances rest on Georgia game

The Tigers went from being a playoff hopeful to needing a win in the SEC Championship to make it to the New Year’s Six after the loss to Texas A&M.

Ranked No. 5 in the country in the regular season’s final week, LSU had a path to the playoff. A New Year’s Six appearance was probable — whether it be Sugar, Cotton or Orange.

LSU’s loss to Texas A&M has shifted the outlook.

The top of the SEC is crowded. Georgia is a playoff lock and Tennessee and Alabama sit in the top 10 as well. Alabama and Tennessee are well positioned at 10-2, a mark better than LSU’s 9-3 record.

The odds of the SEC getting four teams in the NY6 aren’t great. With Georgia headed to the playoff, Alabama will likely head to the Sugar Bowl as the SEC’s highest-ranked non-playoff team.

That would result in Tennessee being sent to Miami for the Orange Bowl, leaving the Cotton Bowl as LSU’s last hope.

This year’s Cotton Bowl will feature two at-large teams, one of which will be the Group of Five representative.

The latest projections have a 10-2 Penn State team assuming the other spot. An SEC team hoping for that bid would also need to fend off any Pac-12 team creeping up the rankings.

A 9-3 Florida State team with a head-to-head win over LSU could get it, too.

For now, LSU looks destined for the Citrus Bowl. LSU’s most recent Citrus Bowl appearance came in 2017, where they lost to Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame.

LSU won the Citrus Bowl the year prior with a strong defensive performance against Lamar Jackson and Louisville.

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Tigers heading to the New Year’s Six in these latest bowl projections

The Tigers draw a familiar foe in the Sugar Bowl in these projections from Jerry Palm.

Sitting at 8-2 on the season with a division title in hand a shot at Georgia in the SEC Championship, LSU is thinking about the College Football Playoff right now.

The Tigers need to win out to have a shot at making the final four, and even then, it’s not necessarily a given that they make the field. Still, this team seems well poised to reach the New Year’s Six in Brian Kelly’s first season for the first time since 2019.

That’s exactly where the latest bowl projections from CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm send LSU. Palm has this team staying within the state of Louisiana to take on Kansas State in the Sugar Bowl in what would be a rematch of January’s Texas Bowl.

The Tigers entered that one extremely shorthanded and had to start a receiver at quarterback in Jontre Kirklin. The Wildcats took down an LSU teamed helmed by interim coach [autotag]Brad Davis[/autotag] 42-20. Both teams have improved this fall, as KSU sits at 7-3 and has a good chance of reaching the Big 12 title game.

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Why USC New Year’s Six bowl odds are rising heading into UCLA, Notre Dame games

If #USC doesn’t win the #Pac12, the big goal is to get the Cotton Bowl slot and the NY6. We explain why the Trojans’ chances are improving.

The goal at USC is always to win the conference championship (in the future, it won’t be the Pac-12, but the Big Ten). The Trojans are fully intent on winning the Pac-12 title and creating a situation where they either make the College Football Playoff and face Georgia in the Peach Bowl, or go to the Rose Bowl, where Michigan would be the likely opponent.

That’s the top-line goal for the Trojans. If they don’t reach that goal, however, it’s important that their Plan B for the postseason leads them to the New Year’s Six.

It’s certainly significant to play in a top-tier bowl game in Year 1 — partly as a reward for a good season, partly to show to recruits and commentators that this program really did make substantial progress.

It would feel empty to some degree to settle for the Alamo or Holiday Bowl after being 9-1 through 10 games. Let’s walk through the details of USC’s posteason picture and explain why the odds of a New Year’s Six bowl are getting better for the Men of Troy: