{"id":283370,"date":"2025-11-10T14:39:57","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T14:39:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/283370\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T14:39:57","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T14:39:57","slug":"college-football-week-12-bowl-projections-rivalry-games-loom-large-for-postseason-hopefuls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/283370\/","title":{"rendered":"College football Week 12 bowl projections: Rivalry games loom large for postseason hopefuls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you want to share your predictions, analysis or thoughts on Saturday\u2019s Notre Dame-Pitt or Texas-Georgia games? Get involved with our coverage at live@theathletic.com.<\/p>\n

With three more weekends left in the regular season, 59 teams have become bowl-eligible, and another 19 can qualify with one more victory. With 82 spots, it\u2019s unlikely a team with a losing record will slide into the postseason this year. Of course, that could change.<\/p>\n

There are a few four- and even three-win squads that still have a path to a bowl based on their upcoming schedules, while a few five-win teams are far from assured a postseason trip. Penn State (3-6) nearly upset No. 2 Indiana on Saturday and now needs to sweep its remaining games \u2014 at Michigan State, home against Nebraska, at Rutgers \u2014 to pick up a postseason invitation, but it\u2019s not far-fetched. Rutgers (5-5) closes out its season at No. 1 Ohio State before hosting Penn State. It\u2019s possible that the season finale could become a winner-take-all matchup for a bowl bid.<\/p>\n

For several teams, rivalry games will determine whether they earn a postseason nod. Kentucky (4-5) faces Tennessee Tech this week before traveling to Vanderbilt and Louisville to close out the season. Clemson (4-5) will need to beat either Louisville or South Carolina on the road, coupled with a home win against Furman, to land a bowl berth. Florida State (4-5) could need to beat Florida in the season finale, while it\u2019s possible that only the winner between NC State (5-4) and North Carolina (4-5) goes bowling.<\/p>\n

For teams already eligible, now it\u2019s about moving up in their conferences\u2019 pecking order. For instance, the Iowa-Nebraska game on Black Friday could determine which team heads to Tampa or Las Vegas. The Miami-Pittsburgh game on the final weekend could determine which of the two teams heads to the ACC\u2019s top bowl tier (Pop Tarts, Gator, Holiday) and second tier (Pinstripe, Sun, Duke\u2019s Mayo). A Citrus Bowl spot could be at stake in Vanderbilt-Tennessee if neither qualifies for the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n

A few evergreen notes:<\/p>\n

This is the second season of the 12-team College Football Playoff. The highest-ranked five conference champions plus the top seven at-large teams qualify for the field.<\/p>\n

The four highest-ranked teams earn first-round byes. Those teams will play in the Cotton (Dec. 31), Orange (Jan. 1), Rose (Jan. 1) and Sugar (Dec. 31) bowls on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. Teams seeded 5-8 will host seeds 9-12 in first-round games on Dec. 19-20. Should the Big Ten and SEC champions earn byes, they will play in the Rose and Sugar bowls, respectively.<\/p>\n

The former Pac-12 schools still are under the conference\u2019s old bowl agreements, which are set to expire after the season. Depending on CFP negotiations, those deals could extend by another year. In the meantime, it will be possible to see in-conference matchups in the Alamo, Vegas, Holiday or Sun bowls.<\/p>\n

ESPN Events owns the Bahamas Bowl, but the game will move to an undetermined location next month.<\/p>\n

Missouri State (6-3) and Delaware (5-4) are in the first year of their transition from the Football Championship Subdivision and are ineligible for a bowl game unless there aren\u2019t enough bowl-eligible teams. Transitional teams receive priority ahead of 5-7 squads with a high Academic Progress Rate (APR).<\/p>\n

BowlMatchup<\/p>\n

Playoff
\n Dec. 19, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

7 Texas Tech<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

10 Texas<\/p>\n

Playoff
\n Dec. 20, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

5 Georgia<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

12 South Florida<\/p>\n

Playoff
\n Dec. 20, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

6 Ole Miss<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

11 Georgia Tech<\/p>\n

Playoff
\n Dec. 20, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

8 Oregon<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

9 Notre Dame<\/p>\n

Cotton
\n Dec. 31, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

3 Indiana<\/p>\n

Ole Miss\/GT winner<\/p>\n

Orange
\n Jan. 1, 2026<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

4 Alabama<\/p>\n

UGA\/USF winner<\/p>\n

Rose
\n Jan. 1, 2026<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

1 Ohio State<\/p>\n

Oregon\/ND winner<\/p>\n

Sugar
\n Jan. 1, 2026<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

2 Texas A&M<\/p>\n

TxTech\/Texas winner<\/p>\n

Fiesta
\n Jan. 8, 2026<\/p>\n

QF winner<\/p>\n

QF winner<\/p>\n

Peach
\n Jan. 9, 2026<\/p>\n

QF winner<\/p>\n

QF winner<\/p>\n

Championship
\n Jan. 19, 2026<\/p>\n

SF winner<\/p>\n

SF winner<\/p>\n

BowlMatchup<\/p>\n

LA
\n Dec. 13, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Pac-12 6 Arizona<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

MWC 1 San Diego State<\/p>\n

Salute to Veterans
\n Dec. 16, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Sun Belt Coastal Carolina<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

MAC Buffalo<\/p>\n

Cure
\n Dec. 17, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Sun Belt James Madison<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

G5\/Open Miami (OH)<\/p>\n

68 Ventures
\n Dec. 17, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Sun Belt Troy<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Open Kennesaw State<\/p>\n

Myrtle Beach
\n Dec. 19, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Sun Belt Old Dominion<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Open UConn<\/p>\n

Gasparilla
\n Dec. 19, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

SEC\/ACC\/AAC Florida State<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Open Memphis<\/p>\n

Famous Idaho Potato
\n Dec. 22, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

MWC Utah State<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

MAC Central Michigan<\/p>\n

Boca Raton
\n Dec. 23, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Open Duke<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Open Kansas<\/p>\n

New Orleans
\n Dec. 23, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Sun Belt Southern Miss<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

CUSA Western Kentucky<\/p>\n

Frisco
\n Dec. 23, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

G5 North Texas<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

G5\/Open UNLV<\/p>\n

Hawai’i
\n Dec. 24, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

MWC Hawaii<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

American East Carolina<\/p>\n

GameAbove Sports
\n Dec. 26, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Big Ten 8 Minnesota<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

MAC Western Michigan<\/p>\n

Rate
\n Dec. 26, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Big Ten 7 Northwestern<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Big 12 6 TCU<\/p>\n

First Responder
\n Dec. 26, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Open California<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Open Baylor<\/p>\n

Military
\n Dec. 27, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

American Navy<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

ACC 8 Wake Forest<\/p>\n

Pinstripe
\n Dec. 27, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Big Ten 6 Penn State<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

ACC 5-7 Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

Fenway
\n Dec. 27, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

ACC 9 NC State<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

American Temple<\/p>\n

Arizona
\n Dec. 27, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

MWC Boise State<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

MAC 2 Ohio<\/p>\n

Pop-Tarts
\n Dec. 27, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Big 12 3 BYU<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

ACC 2-4 Virginia<\/p>\n

New Mexico
\n Dec. 27, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

MWC New Mexico<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Open Washington State<\/p>\n

Gator
\n Dec. 27, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

ACC 2-4 Miami<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

SEC 3-8 LSU<\/p>\n

Texas
\n Dec. 27, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Big 12 4 Iowa State<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

SEC 3-8 Missouri<\/p>\n

Birmingham
\n Dec. 29, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

ACC\/SEC\/Open North Carolina<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

SEC\/ACC\/Open Tulane<\/p>\n

Independence
\n Dec. 30, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Big 12 7 Kansas State<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

CUSA\/Sun Belt Arkansas State<\/p>\n

Music City
\n Dec. 30, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Big Ten 5 Illinois<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

SEC 3-8 Vanderbilt<\/p>\n

Alamo
\n Dec. 30, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Big 12 2 Houston<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Pac-12 2 USC<\/p>\n

ReliaQuest
\n Dec. 31, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Big Ten 3 Iowa<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

SEC 3-8 Oklahoma<\/p>\n

Sun
\n Dec. 31, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

ACC 5-7 SMU<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Pac-12 5 Arizona State<\/p>\n

Citrus
\n Dec. 31, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Big Ten 2 Michigan<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

SEC 2 Tennessee<\/p>\n

Las Vegas
\n Dec. 31, 2025<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Pac-12 3 Utah<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Big Ten 4 Nebraska<\/p>\n

Armed Forces
\n Jan. 2, 2026<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Open Fresno State<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

American Army<\/p>\n

Liberty
\n Jan. 2, 2026<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Big 12 5 Cincinnati<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

SEC 3-8 Mississippi State<\/p>\n

Duke’s Mayo
\n Jan. 2, 2026<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

SEC 3-8 Kentucky<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

ACC 5-7 Clemson<\/p>\n

Holiday
\n Jan. 2, 2026<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

ACC 2-4 Louisville<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

Pac-12 4 Washington<\/p>\n

Bahamas\/TBD
\n undefined NaN, NaN<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

MAC Toledo<\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/p>\n

CUSA Jacksonville State<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Do you want to share your predictions, analysis or thoughts on Saturday\u2019s Notre Dame-Pitt or Texas-Georgia games? Get…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[1775,1769,1771,1607,8922,7091,8926,43746,43748,8940,399,8942,3343,13424,6815,13427,13418,1774,13420,43751,8938,149751,8924,7186,1777,13423,1770,398,396,397,12695,8943,7027,43750,13425,149753,1776,6344,43745,5694,8939,149752,13422,5687,8928,43749,99,7559,8921,5690,13419,8927,8925,69306,1773,3679,43747],"class_list":["post-283370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-baylor-bears","tag-cincinnati-bearcats","tag-clemson-tigers","tag-college-football","tag-connecticut-huskies","tag-duke-blue-devils","tag-east-carolina-pirates","tag-fiu-golden-panthers","tag-florida-atlantic-owls","tag-florida-state-seminoles","tag-football","tag-georgia-tech-yellow-jackets","tag-houston-cougars","tag-illinois-fighting-illini","tag-indiana-hoosiers","tag-iowa-hawkeyes","tag-iowa-state-cyclones","tag-kansas-jayhawks","tag-kansas-state-wildcats","tag-louisiana-tech-bulldogs","tag-louisville-cardinals","tag-marshall-thundering-herd","tag-memphis-tigers","tag-miami-hurricanes","tag-michigan-wolverines","tag-minnesota-golden-gophers","tag-navy-midshipmen","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-nebraska-cornhuskers","tag-north-carolina-state-wolfpack","tag-north-carolina-tar-heels","tag-north-texas-mean-green","tag-northwestern-wildcats","tag-notre-dame-fig","tag-ohio-state-buckeyes","tag-oklahoma-sooners","tag-old-dominion-monarchs","tag-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-pittsburgh-panthers","tag-rice-owls","tag-rutgers-scarlet-knights","tag-smu-mustangs","tag-south-florida-bulls","tag-southern-mississippi-golden-eagles","tag-sports","tag-tcu-horned-frogs","tag-temple-owls","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-texas-tech-red-raiders","tag-tulane-green-wave","tag-ucf-knights","tag-utsa-roadrunners","tag-virginia-cavaliers","tag-wake-forest-demon-deacons","tag-western-kentucky-hilltoppers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}