Week 15 College Football Bowl Projections

With just the conference championship games remaining, our Bowl Projections look at how all teams currently stand in the bowl picture.

2019-2020 Bowl Games

Bahamas Bowl Fri, Dec 20, 2:00 PM Charlotte vs Buffalo
Frisco Bowl Fri, Dec 20, 7:30 PM Temple vs UAB
New Mexico Bowl Sat, Dec 21, 2:00 PM FIU vs Nevada
Cure Bowl Sat, Dec 21, 2:30 PM Liberty vs Georgia Southern
Boca Raton Bowl Sat, Dec 21, 3:30 PM Ohio vs Marshall
Camellia Bowl Sat, Dec 21, 5:30 PM Western Michigan vs Georgia State
Las Vegas Bowl Sat, Dec 21, 7:30 PM Washington vs Boise State
New Orleans Bowl Sat, Dec 21, 9:00 PM Louisiana Tech vs Appalachian State
Gasparilla Bowl Mon, Dec 23, 2:30 PM FAU vs UCF
Hawai’i Bowl Tue, Dec 24, 8:00 PM BYU vs Hawaii
Independence Bowl Thu, Dec 26, 4:00 PM Western Kentucky vs North Carolina
Military Bowl Fri, Dec 27, Noon Navy vs North Carolina
Texas Bowl Fri, Dec 27, 6:45 PM Iowa State vs Tennessee
Cheez-It Bowl Fri, Dec 27, 10:15 PM Texas vs Washington State
Camping World Bowl Sat, Dec 28, Noon Kansas State vs Virginia Tech
First Responder Bowl Mon, Dec 30, 12:30 PM Kent State vs Southern Miss
Music City Bowl Mon, Dec 30, 12:30 PM Texas A&M vs Pittsburgh
Belk Bowl Tue, Dec 31, Noon Mississippi State vs Louisville
Sun Bowl Tue, Dec 31, 2:00 PM California vs Wake Forest
Liberty Bowl Tue, Dec 31, 3:45 PM Texas vs Cincinnati
Arizona Bowl Tue, Dec 31, 4:30 PM Wyoming vs Tulane
Alamo Bowl Tue, Dec 31, 7:30 PM Oregon vs Oklahoma State
Citrus Bowl Wed, Jan 1, 1:00 PM Notre Dame vs Alabama
Birmingham Bowl Thu, Jan 2, 3:00 PM Toledo vs SMU
Idaho Potato Bowl Fri, Jan 3, 3:30 PM Miami (OH) vs Utah State
Armed Forces Bowl Sat, Jan 4, 11;30 AM Air Force vs Arkansas State
LendingTree Bowl Mon, Jan 6, 7:30 PM Miami (OH) vs Louisiana

One of the toughest things with this bowl lineup is that BYU took over the Mountain West’s Hawaii Bowl slot. That means that Hawaii will have to travel to the mainland to compete in its bowl game. For that to happen, Hawaii will need a decently high-profile game. Because there aren’t any great options for that, I’m leaving Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl, and the AAC gets a team in the Liberty Bowl to compensate for that. There are a dozen ways that the Hawaii mess can be resolved, but this is the best one for now.

I do have to point out another important item. ESPN has the right to shuffle around bowl teams between games that ESPN owns. The network has done this before, though it is relatively rare. It might make sense to do so in order to facilitate a better game for Hawaii, or maybe keep Hawaii on the Islands.

A great example where this might occur is with Boise State. The Mountain West and ESPN would love to see a 12-1 Boise State team get a better matchup than a middle-of-the-pack Pac 12 team. I have a feeling that an Armed Forces Bowl matchup with Appalachian State might be a good option there, as it would also allow the New Orleans Bowl to get a coveted Louisiana vs Louisiana Tech matchup. Still, I think that a Boise State vs Washington matchup for Chris Petersen’s (potentially) final game would be an equally acceptable matchup, and it’s much simpler to set up.

Next… What are the bowl pools?