Georgia Tech-BYU Pop Tarts Bowl Matchup Ranked as One Of the Best Non-Playoff Bowl Games To Watch

Georgia Tech and BYU will face each other in the Pop Tarts Bowl and it should be one of the top bowl games of the season

Nov 22, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King (10) reacts after a touchdown pass against the Pittsburgh Panthers in the second quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Georgia Tech is going to be playing in one of the best bowl games of the postseason. The Yellow Jackets were selected to play in this year's Pop Tarts Bowl and their opponent is going to be No. 12 BYU. BYU was the runner-up in the Big 12 this season, and the only team that they have lost to is No. 4 Texas Tech. The Cougars were nearly a playoff team and are going to be a huge challenge for the Yellow Jackets.

Best non-playoff matchup?

Nov 28, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King (10) runs the ball against the Georgia Bulldogs in the first quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Ranked bowl game matchups are almost always fun and because the playoff has expanded to 12 games, you don't get as many of them anymore. This year, Georgia Tech and BYU are one of three ranked non-playoff matchups in the post season, with the other two being Iowa vs Vanderbilt and Michigan vs Texas.

As a result, this game was ranked as one of the top bowl games to watch this season, coming in at No. 9 on CBS Sports ranking of every bowl game:

9. Pop-Tarts Bowl: BYU vs. Georgia Tech
Saturday, Dec. 27 | 3:30 p.m. -- "Anyone else imagining Haynes King scooping a handful of Pop-Tarts goo in Orlando after a win? It. would be the Yellow Jackets' best of the season, by far, given BYU's placement just outside the playoff rankings. The 11-win Cougars' only two losses came to Texas Tech, the 4-seed in the final bracket. In a game that could've featured BYU vs. Notre Dame, organizers had to scramble Sunday afternoon for another rep from the ACC after the Fighting Irish declined a bid, a bowl source told CBS Sports."

Not only is BYU the projected favorite by the sportsbooks, but ESPN's Adam Rittenberg is also picking the Cougars. Rittenberg gave an early prediction for every bowl game, and he chose the Cougars to win the Pop Tarts Bowl:

"America's favorite newer bowl game features a really fun matchup for line-of-scrimmage enthusiasts. Will motivation be a concern? BYU felt it had a playoff-worthy profile, while Georgia Tech seemingly had a CFP path before losing three of its final four regular-season games. Coaches Kalani Sitake (BYU) and Brent Key (Georgia Tech) are true believers in physical play and out-toughing your opponent. Both teams feature talented running quarterbacks in Haynes King, who is playing his final college game, and Bear Bachmeier, a true freshman with 11 rushing touchdowns. BYU has a pretty significant advantage on defense, though. Star linebacker Jack Kelly and his teammates get it done."

Prediction: BYU 29, Georgia Tech 21

The bowl appearance is Georgia Tech’s third-straight and 48th all-time. The Yellow Jackets’ 48 bowl appearances are the 14th-most in college football history. Tech is making a third-consecutive bowl appearance for the first time since 2012-14. The Jackets are also tied for 13th all-time with 26 bowl/playoff victories and are 12th in NCAA Division I FBS history with a .553 postseason winning percentage (26-21).

Georgia Tech (9-3, 6-2 ACC) brings its best regular-season record since 2014 into the Pop-Tarts Bowl. The nine-win regular season is only the 16th in Tech’s 133-year football history.

BYU is 11-2 overall, with both of its defeats coming at the hands of No. 4 Texas Tech (once in the regular season and once in Saturday’s Big XII championship game).

The matchup is Georgia Tech’s first ranked-vs.-ranked bowl showdown since the No. 10/9 Yellow Jackets defeated No. 8 Mississippi State, 49-34, in the 2014 Orange Bowl.

Georgia Tech is making its third appearance in the game now known as the Pop-Tarts Bowl. The Yellow Jackets are 2-0 in the bowl, having defeated West Virginia, 35-30, in 1997 when it was known as the Carquest Bowl in Miami Gardens, Fla., and routed Syracuse, 51-14, when it was known as the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando.

It will be the Jackets’ third all-time bowl appearance in the stadium now known as Camping World Stadium, as they topped Nebraska, 45-21, in the Florida Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1, 1991, to clinch the 1990 national championship, when the stadium was called the Florida Citrus Bowl.