The Forgotten 5 Are Going Bowling – Here’s Where I Think They’ll Go; Yeah, I Predicted Power 5 Too Because Whatever
Bowl season is almost here everyone, you know what that means, bowl projections. Everyone loves looking at tie-ins and choosing what four-win teams are capable of winning out to just sneak into a bowl. No? Only me? Ok then.
I think this is a given at this point, but UCF is the Forgotten 5’s representative in the New Year Six Bowls. The Knights have put some space between them and every other F5 team. Putting up nearly 50 points each game and only giving up 20, is more than impressive. I have them facing off with the Georgia Bulldogs in the Peach Bowl, a home game for the Dawgs.
Another match-up that I really would like to see is the St. Petersburg Bowl with USF and the Fighting Lane Kiffin’s of FAU. One team on the rise in Florida and all of the F5 and the other has everyone catching up to them and UCF. These two high powered offenses would be amazing to watch in a bowl game, it would be pure excitement.
New Mexico State is at four wins but if they can win two of their last three, they would reach a bowl game for the first time since 1960. This would be a huge storyline going into bowl season if they were to make it in.
An even bigger story is the UAB Blazers. Their program was dead for the past two years and they came right back and have shocked everyone sitting at 7-3. It is truly incredible what Bill Clark has been able to do with this team, he should easily win Coach of the Year.
I will update these projections each week until the bowl season has officially arrived
Here are the projections:
| COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF | ||||
| BOWL | DATE | LOCATION | MATCHUP | PREDICTION |
| Championship Bowl | Jan. 8 | Atlanta, Ga. | Semifinal winners | Alabama vs. Miami |
| Rose Bowl | Jan. 1 | Pasadena, Calif. | CFP Semifinal | Miami vs. Oklahoma |
| Sugar Bowl | Jan. 1 | New Orleans, La. | CFP Semifinal | Alabama vs. Wisconsin |
| NEW YEAR SIX BOWL GAMES | ||||
| BOWL | DATE | LOCATION | MATCHUP | PREDICTION |
| Peach Bowl | Jan. 1 | Atlanta, Ga. | at-large vs. at-large | Georgia vs. UCF |
| Orange Bowl | Dec. 30 | Miami, Fla. | ACC vs. Big Ten/SEC/ND | Clemson vs. Auburn |
| Fiesta Bowl | Dec. 30 | Glendale, Ariz. | at-large vs. at-large | USC vs. Penn State |
| Cotton Bowl | Dec. 29 | Arlington, Tex. | At-large vs. At-large | Ohio State vs. TCU |
| OTHER BOWL GAMES | ||||
| BOWL | DATE | LOCATION | MATCHUP | PREDICTION |
| Citrus Bowl | Jan. 1 | Orlando, Fla. | ACC/B1G
vs. SEC |
Notre Dame
vs. Miss. St. |
| Outback Bowl | Jan. 1 | Tampa, Fla. | B1G
vs. SEC |
Michigan State
vs. LSU |
| Liberty Bowl | Dec. 30 | Memphis, Tenn. | B12
vs. SEC |
Texas
vs. Kentucky |
| TaxSlayer Bowl | Dec. 30 | Jacksonville, Fla. | ACC/B1G
vs. SEC |
Virginia Tech
vs. South Carolina |
| Arizona Bowl | Dec. 29 | Tucson, Ariz. | MW
vs. SBC |
Fresno State
vs. NMSU |
| Music City Bowl | Dec. 29 | Nashville, Tenn. | ACC/B1G
vs. SEC |
Louisville
vs. Missouri |
| Sun Bowl | Dec. 29 | El Paso, Tex. | ACC
vs. Pac-12 |
BC
vs. Wash State |
| Belk Bowl | Dec. 29 | Charlotte, N.C. | ACC
vs. SEC |
Wake Forest
vs. TAMU |
| Holiday Bowl | Dec. 28 | San Diego, Calif. | B1G
vs. Pac-12 |
Northwestern
vs. Arizona |
| Alamo Bowl | Dec. 28 | San Antonio, Tex. | B1G
vs. Pac-12 |
Okie State
vs. UW |
| Camping World Bowl | Dec. 28 | Orlando, Fla. | ACC
vs. Big 12 |
N.C. State
vs. Iowa State |
| Military Bowl | Dec. 28 | Annapolis, Md. | ACC
vs. AAC |
Virginia
vs. Navy |
| Texas Bowl | Dec. 27 | Houston, Tex. | B12
vs. SEC |
West Virginia
vs. Utah |
| Foster Farms Bowl | Dec. 27 | Santa Clara, Calif. | B1G
vs. Pac-12 |
Minnesota
vs. Stanford |
| Pinstripe Bowl | Dec. 27 | New York, N.Y. | ACC
vs. B1G |
UNLV
vs. Michigan |
| Independence Bowl | Dec. 27 | Shreveport, La. | SEC
vs. ACC |
Georgia State
vs. Ariz State |
| Cactus Bowl | Dec. 26 | Tempe, Ariz. | B12
vs. Pac-12 |
Utah State
vs. Oregon |
| Quick Lane Bowl | Dec. 26 | Detroit, Mich. | ACC
vs. B1G |
Georgia Tech
vs. Iowa |
| Heart of Dallas Bowl | Dec. 26 | Dallas, Tex. | B12
vs. CUSA |
Miami (OH)
vs. Marshall |
| Hawaii Bowl | Dec. 24 | Honolulu, Hawaii | AAC
vs. MWC |
SMU
vs. CSU |
| Dollar General Bowl | Dec. 23 | Mobile, Ala. | MAC
vs. SBC |
Toledo
vs. Ark. State |
| Armed Forces Bowl | Dec. 23 | Fort Worth, Tex. | B1G
vs. Army |
Southern Miss
vs. Army |
| Birmingham Bowl | Dec. 23 | Birmingham, Ala. | AAC
vs. SEC |
Memphis
vs. La Tech |
| Idaho Potato Bowl | Dec. 22 | Boise, Idaho | MAC
vs. MWC |
N. Illinois
vs. Wyoming |
| Bahamas Bowl | Dec. 22 | Nassau, Bahamas | CUSA
vs. MAC |
WKU
vs. CMU |
| St. Petersburg Bowl | Dec. 21 | St. Petersburg, Fla. | AAC
vs CUSA |
USF
vs. FAU |
| Frisco Bowl | Dec. 20 | Dallas, Tex. | AAC
vs. G5 |
Houston
vs. Ohio |
| Boca Raton Bowl | Dec. 19 | Boca Raton, Fla. | AAC
vs. CUSA |
Akron
vs. FIU |
| Camellia Bowl | Dec. 16 | Montgomery, Ala. | MAC
vs. SBC |
W. Michigan
vs. Troy |
| New Mexico Bowl | Dec. 16 | Albuquerque, N.M. | CUSA
vs. MWC |
UNT
vs. SDSU |
| Las Vegas Bowl | Dec. 16 | Las Vegas, Nev. | MWC
vs. Pac-12 |
Boise State
vs. UCLA |
| Cure Bowl | Dec. 16 | Orlando, Fla. | AAC
vs. SBC |
MTSU
vs. App State |
| New Orleans Bowl | Dec. 16 | New Orleans, La. | CUSA
vs. SBC |
UAB
vs. Louisiana |
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