Early Bowl Picks

As the bowl season gets started in about two weeks, the early picks show that Oklahoma will play Michigan State for the National Title with their wins in the National semi-finals on New Year’s Eve.  I will update games later in the month to take into count injuries, dismissals due to grades, and other items that can and will cause for change of prediction.

College Football Playoff

Capital One Orange Bowl

Clemson vs. Oklahoma — Dec. 31, 4 p.m. (ESPN)  OU 37-31

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic

Alabama vs. Michigan State — Dec. 31, 8 p.m. (ESPN)  Michigan State 20-18

College Football Playoff National Championship

Clemson-Oklahoma winner vs. Alabama-Michigan State winner — Jan. 11, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)  OU vs Michigan State:  OU 27-20

Remaining New Year’s Six games

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

Houston vs. Florida State — Dec. 31, 12 p.m. (ESPN)  Houston 30-28

Fiesta Bowl

Notre Dame vs. Ohio State — Jan. 1, 1 p.m. (ESPN)  Notre Dame 24-14

Rose Bowl

Stanford vs. Iowa — Jan. 1, 5 p.m. (ESPN)  Iowa 23-21

Sugar Bowl

Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss — Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)  Mississippi 40-34

Other games

Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl

Alcorn State vs. North Carolina A&T — Dec. 19, noon (ABC)  Alcorn State 43-31

Cure Bowl

San Jose State vs. Georgia State — Dec. 19, noon (CBS Sports Network)  San Jose State 31-28

Gildan New Mexico Bowl

Arizona vs. New Mexico — Dec. 19, 2 p.m. (ESPN)  Arizona 37-30

Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl

BYU vs. Utah — Dec. 19, 3:30 p.m. (ABC)  Utah 24-20

Raycom Media Camellia Bowl

Ohio vs. Appalachian State — Dec. 19, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN)  Appalachian State 28-17

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl

Arkansas State vs. Louisiana Tech — Dec. 19, 9 p.m. (ESPN)  Louisiana Tech 42-27

Miami Beach Bowl

USF vs. Western Kentucky — Dec. 21, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)  USF 45-40

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

Akron vs. Utah State — Dec. 22, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)  Utah State 29-21

Marmot Boca Raton Bowl

Temple vs. Toledo — Dec. 22, 7 p.m. (ESPN)  Temple 24-17

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl

Boise State vs. Northern Illinois — Dec. 23, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)  Boise State 27-24

GoDaddy Bowl

Bowling Green vs. Georgia Southern — Dec. 23, 8 p.m. (ESPN)  Georgia Southern 30-13

Popeyes Bahamas Bowl

Middle Tennessee vs. Western Michigan — Dec. 24, noon (ESPN)  Western Michigan 26-14

Hawaii Bowl

Cincinnati vs. San Diego State — Dec. 24, 8 p.m. (ESPN)  San Diego State 30-27

St. Petersburg Bowl

Marshall vs. Connecticut — Dec. 26, 11 a.m. (ESPN)  Connecticut 15-14

Hyundai Sun Bowl

Miami vs. Washington State — Dec. 26, 2 p.m. (CBS)  Washington State 46-31

Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl

Washington vs. Southern Miss — Dec. 26, 2:20 p.m. (ESPN)  Washington 31-24

New Era Pinstripe Bowl

Duke vs. Indiana — Dec. 26, 3:30 p.m. (ABC)  Indiana 38-21

Camping World Independence Bowl

Virginia Tech vs. Tulsa — Dec. 26, 5:45 p.m. (ESPN)  Virginia Tech 35-28

Foster Farms Bowl

Nebraska vs. UCLA — Dec. 26, 9:15 p.m. (ESPN) UCLA 27-21

Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman

Pittsburgh vs. Navy — Dec. 28,  2:30 p.m. (ESPN)  Navy 26-17

Quick Lane Bowl

Central Michigan vs. Minnesota — Dec. 28, 5 p.m. (ESPN2)  Central Michigan 23-20

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

Air Force vs. California — Dec. 29, 2 p.m. (ESPN)  California 34-30

Russell Athletic Bowl

North Carolina vs. Baylor — Dec. 29, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN)  Baylor 46-29

NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl

Colorado State vs. Nevada — Dec. 29, 7:30 p.m. (American Sports Network)  Colorado State 28-17

AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl

Texas Tech vs. LSU — Dec. 29, 9 p.m. (ESPN)  LSU 31-28

Birmingham Bowl

Memphis vs. Auburn — Dec. 30, noon (ESPN)  Memphis 34-38

Belk Bowl

North Carolina State vs. Mississippi State — Dec. 30, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)  Miss. State 38-35

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl

Louisville vs. Texas A&M — Dec. 30, 7 p.m. (ESPN)  Texas A&M 27-14

National University Holiday Bowl

Wisconsin vs. USC — Dec. 30, 10:30 p.m. (ESPN)  USC 21-17

Outback Bowl

Northwestern vs. Tennessee — Jan. 1, noon (ESPN2)  Northwestern 24-20

Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl

Michigan vs. Florida — Jan. 1, 1 p.m. (ESPN)  Michigan 27-9

​TaxSlayer Bowl

Georgia vs. Penn State — Jan. 2, noon (ESPN)  Georgia 17-10

AutoZone Liberty Bowl

Kansas State vs. Arkansas — Jan. 2, 3:20 p.m. (ESPN)  Kansas State 31-22

Valero Alamo Bowl

TCU vs. Oregon — Jan. 2, 6:45 p.m. (ESPN)  TCU 35-23

Cactus Bowl

West Virginia vs. Arizona State — Jan. 2, 10:15 p.m. (ESPN)  Arizona State 39-28