Our First Look At The Upcoming Season
Welcome to our first projections of 2025. When we last left you, Ryan Day silenced some critics by leading Ohio State to the National Championship. Their next goal is to win back-to-back titles, which would be the first for an original Big Ten member since Michigan State in 1965-66. Nebraska did it in 1994-95, but they weren’t members of the league then. In addition, USC won in 2003-04, but the last one was vacated, and they weren’t members yet either. Can the Buckeyes repeat? Let’s take a look at our Early 2025 Bowl Projections.
How The Process Works
If you hadn’t heard, things are different from last season. There are 12 teams in the playoff, and the top four still get a first-round bye. However, the winners of the Power Four conferences don’t automatically get slots 1-4. In addition, the highest-ranked Group of Five team gets a bid. That leaves seven at-large teams.
Once again, seeds 5-8 host first-round games on campus. The New Year’s Six bowls are introduced for the next round and the semi-finals. Miami, Florida, hosts the title game on January 19th. With the formalities out of the way, let’s get to our Early 2025 Bowl Projections.
College Football Playoff First Round
Friday, December 19th- (12)- Boise State vs. (5)- Penn State- As it is every year, the battle for the Group of Five bid is one of the most interesting to watch. However, in our first projections, we are going with Boise to run it back just ahead of Navy.
Saturday, December 20th- (11)- Oregon vs. (6)- Georgia- Last season’s top-seeded Ducks sneak in again in 2025. On the other side of the ball, Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs land just outside of the top four.
Saturday, December 20th- (10)- LSU at (7)- Notre Dame- An interesting fact of the “new” playoff is the Fighting Irish could end up in the top four. That wasn’t possible before because they couldn’t win the ACC. In addition, we get the Brian Kelly versus Notre Dame matchup.
Saturday, December 20th- (9)- Miami (Florida) at (8) Alabama- Cam Ward is off to the Tennessee Titans, and Carson Beck is in. We think the Hurricanes make it this year after falling short in 2024. Is making the playoffs and an eight seed good enough to silence the critics of Kalen DeBoer?
As we head into the next round of picks for our purposes today, we are keeping the Power Four conference winners as 1-4.
College Football Playoff Quarterfinals-
Goodyear Cotton Bowl- Wednesday, December 31st- (5) Penn State vs. (4) Kansas State- In addition to the Group of Five team who wins the Big 12 may be the biggest toss-up. In the pre-season, we’ll go with the Wildcats.
Capital One Orange Bowl- Thursday, January 1st- (6) Georgia vs. (3) Clemson- These two teams met in the season opener last year with the Bulldogs winning 34-3.
Rose Bowl Game- Thursday, January 1st– (8) Alabama vs. (1) Ohio State– One of the biggest talking points for this one is not only a classic marquee matchup, but the fact that the game moved up an hour to 4:00 pm Eastern time.
Allstate Sugar Bowl- Thursday, January 1st- (7) Notre Dame vs. (2) Texas- The Arch Manning era is fully underway in Austin. However, they’ll have to earn their way to the two seed. They start the season at Ohio State and head to Georgia on November 15th.
Semi-Finals and Final-
VRBO Fiesta Bowl- Thursday, January 8th- (3) Clemson vs. (2) Texas- A rematch of last year’s first-round game.
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl- Friday, January 9th- (5) Penn State vs. (1) Ohio State- Can Drew Allar and the Nittany Lions get past OSU when it counts the most?
College Football National Championship- Monday, January 19th- (2) Texas vs. (1) Ohio State- We’re going chalk in our first championship projection.
That’s a lot to digest; however, there’s still plenty more to come. Continuing with our Early 2025 Bowl Projections, let’s move to the games around the New Year.
Filling The Void
Once again, this season, legacy Pac-12 teams can be slotted to games featuring that league. That goes away next year when the conference starts fresh with new teams. As always, we’ll try not to match them up with teams they already played. Furthermore, with it being 2025, the SEC plays in the Mayo Bowl while the Big Ten goes to the Las Vegas Bowl.
Two more things: the Holiday Bowl’s date hasn’t been announced yet. Usually it’s right after Christmas. Finally, it was announced this past week that the Bahamas Bowl won’t be played in the island paradise. That’s the second time in the last three years.
Games Around The New Year
TransPerfect Music City Bowl- December 30th Big Ten vs. SEC- Nebraska vs. Ole Miss
Valero Alamo Bowl- December 30th- Big 12 vs. Pac-12- Iowa State vs. USC+- The Trojans go to San Antonio as a legacy Pac-12 school.
Radience Technologies Independence Bowl- December 30th- Big 12 vs. Conference USA- Colorado vs. Jacksonville State- One of the big questions for 2025 is how Coach Deion Sanders will fare without Heisman winner Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders. At least in the pre-season, we think they’ll do just enough to make a bowl.
Reliaquest Bowl- December 31st- SEC vs. Big Ten- Indiana vs. South Carolina- The Gamecocks just missed the playoff last year, and we have them barely outside the top 12 again. Curt Cignetti’s club comes down a bit from last year’s playoff club.
Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl- December 31st- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Pac-12- Pittsburgh vs. Utah+- The Utes go to El Paso as a legacy Pac-12 member.
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl- December 31st- Big Ten vs. SEC- Florida vs. Michigan- The Gators are many folks’ sleeper playoff team for 2025. However, we have them sitting just outside at the start of the year.
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl- December 31st- Big Ten vs. Pac-12- Illinois vs. Arizona State+- The Sun Devils go to Vegas as a legacy Pac-12 team.
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl- January 2nd- Big 12 vs. American/Conference USA/Sun Belt- Texas- San Antonio vs. Wisconsin+- We are sending the Badgers as a replacement school.
Autozone Liberty Bowl- January 2nd- Big 12 vs. SEC- Kansas vs. Missouri
Duke’s Mayo Bowl- January 2nd- ACC/Notre Dame vs. SEC- Oklahoma vs. Georgia Tech- Sooners’ Fans are looking for a big step up under Brent Venables. On the other side of the ball, the Yellow Jackets could be a sleeper team in the ACC.
Moving on with our Early 2025 Bowl Projections, let’s move to the season’s initial games.
First Week Bowl Games
Cricket Celebration Bowl- December 13th- MEAC vs. SWAC- North Carolina Central vs. Jackson State
LA Bowl Hosted By Gronk December 13th- Mountain West vs. Pac-12- UNLV vs. Oregon State- Normally, the MWC winner heads to LA. However, with Boise State in the playoff, we’re sending Barry Odom’s Rebels for a second straight year.
IS4S Salute To Veterans Bowl- December 16th- Mid-American vs. Sun Belt- Central Michigan vs. Arkansas State
StaffDNA Cure Bowl- December 17th- American/Conference USA/Sun Belt- Tulane vs. Toledo
68 Ventures Bowl- December 17th- Conference USA/MAC/Sun Belt- South Alabama vs. Connecticut+- The Huskies head south for the winter as a replacement team.
Myrtle Beach Bowl- December 19th- Conference USA/MAC/Sun Belt- Georgia Southern vs. Syracuse+- The Orange also head south for the holidays.
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl- December 19th- American/ACC/Notre Dame/SEC- Auburn vs. Virginia Tech
Bowls Right Before Christmas
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl- December 22nd- Mountain West vs. MAC- Colorado State vs. Ohio
Boca Raton Bowl- December 23rd- American/Conference USA/MAC/Mountain West/Sun Belt- Memphis vs. James Madison
New Orleans Bowl- December 23rd- Conference USA vs. Sun Belt– Western Kentucky vs. Louisiana– For the first time in 19 years, this game needs a sponsor. The contract with R+L Carriers expired.
Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl- December 23rd- AAC/CUSA/MAC/MWC/SBC- North Texas vs. Old Dominion
Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl- December 24th- American vs. Mountain West- East Carolina vs. Hawai’i
Post-Christmas Games
Game Above Sports Bowl- December 26th- Big Ten vs. MAC- Minnesota vs. Buffalo
Rate Bowl- December 26th- Big Ten vs. Big 12- Rutgers vs. Baylor
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl- December 26th- AAC/ACC/Big 12- TCU vs. Vanderbilt+- The Commodores go as another replacement team.
Go Bowling Military Bowl- December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. American- North Carolina vs. Navy- Few teams will be as heavily watched as Bill Belichick and the Tar Heels. For our first projections, we have them matching up with the Midshipmen.
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl- December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big Ten- North Carolina State vs. Iowa
Wasabi Fenway Bowl- December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. American- Duke vs. Army
Pop-Tarts Bowl- December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big 12- SMU vs. Texas Tech- The Red Raiders reportedly spent over 10 million dollars bringing in one of the best transfer classes in college football. Is that enough to win the Big 12? We will see as the year progresses.
Snoop Dog Arizona Bowl- December 27th- MAC vs. Mountain West- Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State
Isleta New Mexico Bowl- December 27th- Mountain West vs. American/Conference USA/MAC/Sun Belt- San Jose State vs. Texas State
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl- December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. SEC- Louisville vs. Tennessee- The Nico Iamaleava saga is now over, and Joey Aguilar is the new man under center for the Vols. We’ll see who won the “trade” by the time bowl season comes around.
Kinder’s Texas Bowl- December 27th- Big 12 vs. SEC- Texas A&M vs. BYU
Birmingham Bowl- December 29th- American/ACC/SEC- Arkansas vs. South Florida
To Be Announced Bowl Games-
DIRECTV Holiday Bowl- ACC vs. Pac-12- Florida State vs. Washington +- The Seminoles would like to forget 2024 ever happened. We think they’ll return to the postseason this year in a pretty good destination. On the other side of the ball, the Huskies go to San Diego as a legacy Pac-12 squad.
Former Bahamas Bowl- Conference USA vs. MAC- UTEP vs. Miami (Ohio)- We don’t know the title or where the game will be played, but we have a matchup.
There you have them, our first picks of the 2025 season. Don’t see your favorite team? Don’t worry, it’s early, and this will change many times between now and December. Thanks for checking out our Early 2025 Bowl Projections. We’ll update them every week once the season gets underway.
Main Image: Syndication: USA TODAY
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