College bowl predictions: Teams to watch
Nick Aldrich, Staff Writer
With all of the college bowls coming up, it’s natural to wonder which teams have the best chance. Only the best of the best get to play in these prestigious games, and the teams that are selected usually have a strong season with very positive records. While there are dozens of bowls, the main focus is usually on the big six: The Cotton, Orange, Rose, Fiesta, Peach and Sugar Bowls.
The top four teams each year will play in two playoff bowls, and the winner of those games will go on to compete in a championship game to determine who is the college football playoff National Champion.
The two bowls that get to be semifinal playoff games rotate each year, and this year the number one and four teams will compete in the Cotton Bowl, while the number two and three teams will compete in the Orange Bowl. Here are some predictions for which teams will have the honor of competing in these games.
Cotton Bowl: No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Michigan
While it’s obviously a no-brainer that Alabama will hold the top seed considering the dominance that they have in the NCAA over the past couple of years, selecting the fourth seed is a little trickier. Only three teams in the Big 10, Pac-12, SEC, and Big 12 conferences have perfect records up to this point. This leaves a plethora of teams with only one loss to choose from.
While you could make a case for both LSU and Ohio State getting to compete in Michigan’s place, after OSU’s embarrassing loss to Perdue and LSU’s generally weak performance throughout the season, Michigan edges out its competitors to take a spot in the playoffs.
Orange Bowl: No. 2 Notre Dame vs. No. 3 Clemson
It’s hard to deny that both of these teams have a very strong chance of clinching places in a playoff bowl due to their perfect record. But one question remains: which team will take No. 2 seed? While both teams have had incredible seasons, Notre Dame barely ups Clemson due to the harder path the team took to get where they are today. With wins in tough matchups against teams like Stanford and Michigan, Notre Dame has had a slightly tougher road to the playoffs, giving them a slight advantage over Clemson.
Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs. Washington
As the No. 2 team in the Big 10 conference, it’s clear to say that OSU still has a shot at the Rose Bowl, even if they blew their chances of making a playoff bowl. There’s a considerable distance in record between them and the rest of the Big 10. On the other hand, Washington has a less stellar record and less buzz around them, however, being the current leader of the Pac-12 conference should be enough to get them a trip to the Rose Bowl.
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma vs. LSU; Peach Bowl: UCF vs. Texas; Sugar Bowl: Georgia vs. Kentucky
These bowls are considerably less serious than the Cotton, Orange and Rose Bowls, but the teams competing are still very strong competitors with a lot of hype behind them. All of these teams are near the top of the current rankings, with UCF being notable for having a perfect record up to this point. Regardless of the outcome of these games, high-level competition like this is sure to make for some interesting games.
