Not many college football things happen in July, but here’s one: Each conference releases its official preseason poll, assembling the opinions of its media days participants (the exception is the Big Ten, where Cleveland.com handles it.)
2017 bowl projections: How the postseason will go if the media’s somehow totally right
Now that each conference’s preseason polls are out, let’s use those to plan out bowl and Playoff games.
Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images
So here are bowl season projections based almost entirely on those polls. For the New Year’s Six games, I used a guesstimate of what the preseason AP Poll will look like based on presumed updates to the way-too-early polls from back in January (they’re rarely all that different.)
For these predictions, I didn’t go out of the way to ensure bigger and more prestigious teams got better bowls, which is a factor in the actual bowl selection process. This time around, just for fun, I largely slotted teams according to predicted standings. Let’s pretend things are fair! I also let each conference entirely fill its spots, even though IRL, some will fill spots others can’t.
These aren’t my picks yet, so your friends don’t have to email me about any parts they might not like. Tell them to save that for the season.
2017 bowl projections, based on media predictions
Bowl | Team | Team | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Championship (Atlanta) | Alabama | Ohio State | Rose winner vs. Sugar winner |
| Sugar (New Orleans) | Alabama | USC | Playoff semifinals |
| Rose (Pasadena, CA) | Ohio State | Florida State | Playoff semifinals |
| Peach (Atlanta) | USF | Auburn | CFP at-large |
| Orange (Miami) | Clemson | Penn State | ACC vs. Big Ten/SEC/ND |
| Fiesta (Glendale, AZ) | Washington | Oklahoma State | CFP at-large |
| Cotton (Arlington, TX) | Oklahoma | Michigan | CFP at-large |
| Citrus (Orlando) | Miami | Georgia | Big Ten 2-4/ACC vs. SEC 2 |
| Outback (Tampa) | Wisconsin | Florida | Big Ten 2-4 vs. SEC 3-8 |
| Liberty (Memphis) | West Virginia | Kentucky | Big 12 5 vs. SEC 3-8 |
| TaxSlayer (Jacksonville) | Virginia Tech | LSU | ACC 3-6/Big Ten 5-7 vs. SEC 3-8 |
| Arizona (Tucson) | Wyoming | UL Lafayette | MWC vs. Sun Belt |
| Music City (Nashville) | Nebraska | Tennessee | ACC 3-6/Big Ten 5-7 vs. SEC 3-8 |
| Sun (El Paso, TX) | Pitt | Washington State | ACC 3-6 vs. Pac-12 5 |
| Belk (Charlotte) | Georgia Tech | South Carolina | ACC 3-6 vs. SEC 3-8 |
| Alamo (San Antonio) | Kansas State | Stanford | Big 12 2 vs. Pac-12 2 |
| Camping World (Orlando) | Louisville | Texas | ACC 2 vs. Big 12 3 |
| Military (Annapolis, MD) | NC State | Memphis | ACC vs. AAC |
| Texas (Houston) | TCU | Texas A&M | Big 12 4 vs. SEC 3-8 |
| Pinstripe (New York City) | Notre Dame | Iowa | ACC 3-6 vs. Big Ten 5-7 |
| Independence (Shreveport, LA) | North Carolina | Mississippi State | ACC vs. SEC |
| Cactus (Tempe, AZ) | Baylor | Oregon | Big 12 6 vs. Pac-12 7 |
| Heart of Dallas | Texas Tech | WKU | Big 12 vs. C-USA |
| Quick Lane (Detroit, MI) | Wake Forest | Michigan State | ACC vs. Big Ten |
| Holiday (San Diego) | Northwestern | Utah | Big Ten 2-4 vs. Pac-12 3 |
| Foster Farms (Santa Clara, CA) | Minnesota | UCLA | Big Ten 5-7 vs. Pac-12 4 |
| Hawaii (Honolulu) | UCF | Hawaii | AAC vs. MWC |
| Dollar General (Mobile, AL) | Toledo | Troy | MAC 1 vs. Sun Belt 2 |
| Armed Forces (Fort Worth, TX) | Army | Indiana | Army vs. Big Ten |
| Birmingham | Houston | Arkansas | AAC vs. SEC 9 |
| Potato (Boise, ID) | Ohio | Colorado State | MAC 2 vs. MWC |
| Bahamas (Nassau) | Southern Miss | WMU | C-USA vs. MAC |
| St. Petersburg | Navy | ODU | AAC vs. C-USA |
| Frisco (TX) | Tulsa | BYU | AAC vs. At-large |
| Boca Raton | Temple | MTSU | AAC vs. C-USA |
| Camellia (Montgomery, AL) | Miami (OH) | Arkansas State | MAC 3 vs. Sun Belt 3 |
| New Mexico (Albuquerque) | UTSA | Boise State | C-USA vs. MWC |
| Las Vegas | San Diego State | Colorado | MWC 1 vs. Pac-12 6 |
| Cure (Orlando) | Cincinnati | South Alabama | AAC vs. Sun Belt |
| New Orleans | Appalachian State | Louisiana Tech | Sun Belt 1 vs. C-USA |
The one tricky team, based on this method: BYU. The independents obviously aren’t part of any conference polls, but Army has a designated spot this year, and Notre Dame gets an ACC spot (I just threw it somewhere in the middle for now.) But this year, BYU’s going to have to wait and see what’s available, assuming the Cougars don’t make the NY6. The new Frisco Bowl only has one conference tie-in at the moment, though, sooo I guess that’s better than nothing.
Anyway, I think this turned out fine. What do you think?
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