Week 2 Bowl Game Projections for College Football

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Week 2 looked a little boring on its face, but the results were anything but. Alabama almost fell to Texas, which would have really thrown the College Football Playoff picture into chaos, but we got a pair of top-10 upsets anyway as Texas A&M was shocked by App State and Baylor lost to BYU. All have implications for the New Year’s Day batch of bowl games as we try to take stock of the picture early on in the season. The Tide can certainly play their way back in the Playoff just as Utah and Baylor could, too. But for now, our projections are below.
All times are Eastern.
College Football Playoff
Peach Bowl, Atlanta (Dec. 31, 4 or 8 p.m., ESPN)
CFP semifinalist vs. CFP semifinalist
Georgia vs. Ohio State
Fiesta Bowl, Glendale, Ariz. (Dec. 31, 4 or 8 p.m., ESPN)
CFP semifinalist vs. CFP semifinalist
USC vs. Oklahoma
New Year’s Six
Orange Bowl, Miami (Dec. 30, 7:30 or 8 p.m., ESPN)
ACC vs. Big Ten/SEC/Notre Dame
Clemson vs. Penn State
Sugar Bowl, New Orleans (Dec. 31, noon, ESPN)
SEC vs. Big 12
Alabama vs. Oklahoma State
Cotton Bowl, Arlington, Texas (Jan. 2, 1 p.m., ESPN)
At-large vs. at-large
Air Force vs. BYU
Rose Bowl, Pasadena (Jan. 2, 5 p.m., ESPN)
Big Ten vs. Pac-12
Michigan vs. Utah
Other bowls
Dec. 30
Arizona Bowl, Tucson (4:30 p.m., Barstool)
Mountain West vs. MAC
Wyoming vs. Toledo
Dec. 31
Music City Bowl, Nashville (Noon, ABC)
Big Ten vs. SEC
Minnesota vs. Ole Miss
Jan. 2
ReliaQuest Bowl, Tampa (Noon, ESPN2)
Big Ten/ACC vs. SEC
Wake Forest vs. Tennessee
Citrus Bowl, Orlando (1 p.m., ABC)
SEC vs. Big Ten
Kentucky vs. Michigan State
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- SI Top 10: SEC? Big Ten? Nope, All Hail the Sun Belt!

Richard Johnson is known for his college sports expertise. He co-hosts the “Split Zone Duo” podcast and co-authored The Sinful Seven: Sci-fi Western Legends of the NCAA. Richard was the 2022 winner of the Edward Aschoff Rising Star Award, and previously appeared as an analyst on the SEC Network show “Thinking Out Loud.” He established an early career with ESPN and SB Nation before joining Sports Illustrated in 2021 and lives in Brooklyn.
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