College football is going to look different this season, with only three out of the five Power Five conferences scheduled to play its season in the fall. The Big 12 is joined by the ACC and SEC in playing football, beginning in September.
If the regular season is going to be different, so is bowl season. Right now, there will be 54 fewer FBS teams to choose from at the end of the season. 26 of those are from the Big Ten and Pac-12.
247Sports has tried to predict what bowl games will look like, even during a crazy season.
We’re trying something out of the ordinary at 247Sports and imagining an unprecedented 2020 bowl season with wholesale changes, including but not limited to tie-in alterations and a couple of games being moved to the spring. No one is college football right now how bowl season will play out this fall, so we’ll give it a shot:
In 247Sports’ projections, Texas will be heading east to Orlando to face off against the Auburn Tigers in the Citrus Bowl. Formerly known as the Capital One Bowl, the matchup is traditionally between Big Ten and SEC teams. With the Big Ten’s season canceled, the Longhorns will step in as a representative.
Texas and Auburn have played each other eight times with the latest in 1987. Legendary head coaches have faced off against each other, with Darrell K. Royal and Ralph “Shrug” Jordan in 1974 and Fred Akers and Pat Dye in 1983 and 1984.
As for the possible 2020 contest, it would be another coach’s duel between Tom Herman and Guz Malzhan. The two are both in need of a good season to continue the stints at their respective schools.
The quarterback matchup would also raise eyebrows, with senior Sam Ehlinger going against sophomore Bo Nix. Wanting to lead their teams to something greater than the Citrus Bowl, Ehlinger and Nix would provide offensive explosions through the game.
Related: ESPN predicts Longhorns season using win probability
Here is what 247Sports had to say about Texas and Auburn squaring off:
The Big 12’s potential runner-up against a quality opponent from the SEC? Here’s a rarity pitting two respected programs. Ironically, the Longhorns and Tigers have met once before in a Florida-based bowl game, that coming in 1974 (Gator in Jacksonville). This would be an important game for both head coaches, too. There’s some sense of pressure surrounding Tom Herman and Gus Malzahn this fall as preseason contenders.
As for the rest of the Big 12, 247Sports has five other teams making a bowl game.
- TCU vs Florida State in the Holiday Bowl
- Kansas State vs Mississippi State in the Liberty Bowl
- Iowa State vs Virginia Tech in the Camping World Bowl
- Oklahoma State vs Tennessee in the Alamo Bowl
- Oklahoma vs Alabama in the Rose Bowl (College Football semifinal)
The Sooners would once again represent the Big 12 in the College Football playoff. However, Alabama would beat Oklahoma for the second time in three years.
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