2015-16 Just In Time Bowl Predictions

[jbcarol]

 Brett McMurphy @McMurphyESPN  ·  4h 4 hours ago

If it's Cinco de Mayo then it's time for my Way Too Early bowl projections w/@Mark_Schlabach http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/12816910/bowl-projections-2015-college-football-season ...

AutoZone Liberty Bowl

MS: Kansas State vs. Mississippi State
BM: Kansas State vs. Arkansas

TaxSlayer Bowl

MS: Arkansas vs. Nebraska
BM: Ole Miss vs. Louisville

[jbcarol]

Record 42 bowls approved for 2015-16 season

Brett McMurphy – the Bob Woodward of the bowl industry – reported Tuesday night the NCAA had rubber-stamped three new bowls into existence for this season.

My math tells me 42 multiplied by two equals 84 teams, which means more than 65 percent of FBS will be bowling after this season.

For those of you who believe 42 is too many bowl games: rejoice. The number could have been higher. McMurphy reported last month that Little Rock, Ark., was also considering applying for a bowl game.

Brett McMurphy
✔ @McMurphyESPN

NCAA certifies new bowls in Tucson (MW-CUSA), Austin (AAC-SB), Orlando (AAC-SB), sources tell @ESPN; record 42 bowls in 2015
8:59 PM - 5 May 2015

[jbcarol]

 Suzanne Halliburton @suzhalliburton  ·  35m 35 minutes ago

No firm decision yet on whether Austin gets bowl game in 2015 http://collegesports.blog.statesman.com/2015/05/06/no-firm-decision-yet-on-whether-austin-gets-bowl-game-in-2015/ ... @statesman

[jbcarol]

 Brett McMurphy @McMurphyESPN  ·  3h 3 hours ago

Australia Bowl in 2016 b/w Pac-12 & MWC? Organizer waiting for leagues to OK http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/12840247/organizer-wants-host-bowl-game-australia-featuring-teams-pac-12-mountain-west ...

[jbcarol]

ESPN bowl projection has Texas facing Texas A&M in Texas Bowl

[jbcarol]

 Josh Bean @jbeanpoll  ·  28m 28 minutes ago

Are there really too many bowl games? Tell @Natalie_Pierre what you think in Live@9: http://ow.ly/MNFAd  #alpreps

Getting a bowl invite just ain't what it used to be. 

With 42 bowl games on deck for the 2015 season, 84 teams will see a postseason this year. That is, 84 of the 127 programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision -- 66 percent.

By comparison, 30 year ago there were 18 bowl games -- just 36 teams that got to celebrate the accomplishment of extending their seasons.

Now, not getting a bowl invite says a lot more than actually receiving one.

Last season, 14 six-win teams went bowling. And lucky for us, the addition of three more bowl games in 2015-16 likely means even more .500 teams will see a postseason.

I have never been a fan of everyone getting a trophy, so I do think there are entirely too many bowl games. But my colleague Kevin Scarbinsky says there is no such thing.

TV ratings during an otherwise dead period are driving demand.

[jbcarol]

Brett McMurphy @McMurphyESPN  ·  May 12

ESPN has purchased Bahamas Bowl. ESPN now owns 12 of the 42 FBS bowls

[jbcarol]

AutoZone Liberty Bowl (Big 12 vs. SEC): Jan. 2, 3:20 p.m. ET, ESPN

Brett McMurphy's "too early projection": Kansas State vs. Arkansas

[jbcarol]

The Belk Bowl will be played on December 30 in Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. It will also be given a mid-afternoon time, with kickoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN.

The Belk Bowl was first played in 2002, meaning this year will be the 14th edition of the postseason bowl game. The game has tie-ins with the ACC and SEC through 2019. Last year's game saw Georgia put away Louisville, 37-14.

[Dwight_K_Shrute]

Great stuff JBC.  I for one say you can't have too much of a good thing.  The bowl games I want to watch I will watch, and the one's I don't I won't.  If someone is willing to pay two teams to play in their fair city why not.    There is a 2-3 week period where lots of people are off work, not much is going on and even if you are working it's usually slow.  Why not have on as much CFB as possible.  So what if it's a reward for a 6-6 or God forbid a 5-7 season, most of the kids even on these teams worked their a**es off and gave their blood sweat and tears to their school and program who does it hurt to let them have some fun.  Just seeing how excited these guys get on selection Sunday is worth it.

Besides in the dog days of spring and summer we can't wait for football any football to get here so why not have as much as possible while we can.   

[jbcarol]

ESPN networks claim they are getting fantastic ratings given the matchups and ROI is off the charts.  Some schools lose money through their participation but those extra weeks of practice can pay off.

[jbcarol]

 Brett McMurphy @McMurphyESPN  ·  5h 5 hours ago

Austin, Texas will not start new bowl this fall, so "only" 41 bowls. Still 63% of FBS teams will go to bowl this year

[jbcarol]

Matt Zenitz ‏@mzenitz 13h13 hours ago

Nick Saban says comments regarding bowl games were 'taken wrong' http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2015/05/nick_saban_says_comments_regar.html ...

"I hope, which I think this was taken wrong, that in my statement about playoff and bowl games and how the playoff affected the bowl games, my issue with all that is that the bowl games need to be held in high standard and esteem because that creates a lot of positive reinforcement for a lot of college football players," Saban said. "It always has. So to watch games and people aren't interested in going to those games concerns me — for the players."

Attendance was down four percent at the 34 bowl games last year that were also in existence during the 2013 season.

"I think it's natural that the focus is on the [three] playoff games, absolutely," College Football Playoff chairman and Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long said Wednesday. "But I think as an athletic director I look at it and — while we may see some situations where there's a little bit of a declining attendance — I think we saw viewership of those games have gone up. So in my view, my opinion, I hope that we can keep the bowl system healthy because I think it's a wonderful reward for those programs, those teams and those student-athletes who don't make it into the Final Four. ...

"So we can vary on the opinions of whether one hurts the other. But from an athletic director standpoint, we want to keep both healthy. We want to keep that bowl system healthy for those other teams that don't make the top four."

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports ‏@aldotcomSports  2h2 hours ago
Date, kickoff time set for 10th Birmingham Bowl | http://ow.ly/NTo5i

The 10th Birmingham Bowl will take place Dec. 30 at Legion Field, the bowl announced Thursday.

This year's game will kick off at 11 a.m. Central as part of a bowl tripleheader on ESPN. It will once again pair teams from the SEC and American Athletic Conference.

The Birmingham Bowl had been played in early January the last six years. The first three editions of the game, previously known as the PapaJohns.com Bowl and the BBVA Compass Bowl, were played in December.

[jbcarol]

2015-16 bowl schedule

[jbcarol]

Ralph D. Russo ‏@ralphDrussoAP 1h1 hour ago Brooklyn, NY

Ralph D. Russo retweeted AP Top 25

The bowl schedule was released yesterday so I made some bowl projections. Locks. Every. Single. One.

AP Top 25Verified account ‏@AP_Top25

Ohio St vs Auburn for the CFP title and the rest of our way too early bowl projections for 2015-16: http://apne.ws/1FHTLTN  (@ralphdrussoAP)

Outback Bowl

Nebraska vs. Arkansas

[jbcarol]

Implications of AP's too early 2015-16 bowl projections

Sugar Bowl

Georgia vs. TCU

UGa being slotted in the Sugar Bowl implies that either UGa won the SEC-E by sufficient margin and lost to Auburn in the SEC Championship game or the Bulldawgs finished a close second in the SEC-E and Auburn clobbered the first place team.

TCU lost the Big 12 CFP spot to Baylor and this is their consolation prize.

[jbcarol]

Implications of AP's too early 2015-16 bowl projections

Peach Bowl

Alabama vs. Clemson

Clear implication is that Bama finished a close second in the SEC-W to Auburn most definitely losing Nick-Gus Iron Bowl III.  Notre Dame's arrangement with the ACC for other sports is as close as the conference gets to having a CFP representative.  Clemson is the ACC's top dog in this projection.

[jbcarol]

Implications of AP's early 2015-16 bowl projections

Outback Bowl

Nebraska vs. Arkansas


While placing no better than third in the SEC-W, Arkansas leap-frogged the geographically advantaged SEC-E teams to land the Outback bid.  Tennessee, Mizzou, and Florida were placed in lower rungs on the SEC bowl hierarchy.

[jbcarol]

I'm not sure how they can project both Alabama and Auburn to make the play-offs? One of them isn't even going to make it to the SECCG and the way the play-off committee selects 4 teams, is that even possible? Does that mean that they expect the Eastern Div SEC team to have 2 losses after the SECCG? And they are going to split 2 play off spots among the other four P-5 conferences?

They have Arkansas going to the Outback.

Anyway, here it is.

Well-respected college football outlet Athlon Sports says Alabama and Auburn will represent the SEC in this season's College Football Playoff with Ohio State winning its second straight title over the Crimson Tide in a rematch of last year's semifinal, according to its 2015 bowl projections.

http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-football/two-sec-teams-will-reach-playoff-per-athlons-bowl-projections/

The full article at Athlon.

http://athlonsports.com/college-football/college-football-bowl-projections-2015

[jbcarol]

Jerry Palm ‏@jppalmCBS  1h1 hour ago
You know the season is approaching when it's time for bowl projections, so here they are... http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jerry-palm/25267298/2015-bowl-projections-sec-big-12-and-acc-in-pac-12-out-of-playoff ...

Belk Bowl   Dec. 30   Charlotte, N.C.   ACC vs. SEC   Duke vs. Tennessee
Birmingham Bowl   Dec. 30   Birmingham, Ala.   American vs. SEC   Cincinnati vs. Arkansas  (Coach Tuberville to B'ham)

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/MikeBBonner/status/631920570620207105

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/SECNetwork/status/636198340141707265

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/MrsTylerKSR/status/636705027013406720

That would qualify

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/slmandel/status/637272988723843072

Dec. 30    Belk    Charlotte, N.C.    Arkansas (SEC Nos. 3-8) vs. Georgia Tech (ACC Nos. 3-6)

[jbcarol]

40 preseason bowl projections:

Jan. 1      Sugar   New Orleans   Alabama (SEC) vs. Baylor (Big 12)

Jan. 2   TaxSlayer   Jacksonville, Fla.   LSU (SEC Nos. 3-8) vs. Louisville (ACC Nos. 3-6)

[jbcarol]

In the Herald-Leader's College Football Preview 2015, columnist Mark Story predicts that Mark Stoops will celebrate year three as the UK coach by taking the Cats to their first bowl game since 2010.

[jbcarol]

Bruce Feldman ‏@BruceFeldmanCFB 29m29 minutes ago

#Gators offense has 17 freshmen/sophomores listed on its two-deep. Mercy.

[jbcarol]

Brett McMurphy ‏@McMurphyESPN 2h2 hours ago

ESPN's bowl projections from @Mark_Schlabach & myself (I was one that had 3 of 4 in playoff last year, he only had 2) http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/13572277/college-football-bowl-projections-2015-season-preview ...

TaxSlayer Bowl

EverBank Field, Jacksonville, Florida
Sat., Jan. 2, noon (ESPN)

Schlabach: Florida State vs. Arkansas


AutoZone Liberty Bowl

Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee
Sat., Jan. 2, 3:20 p.m. (ESPN)

McMurphy: Kansas State vs. Arkansas

[jbcarol]

SEC bowl projection

(Remember: there's no set bowl order anymore. The SEC can move teams around to create matchups.)

Outback Bowl: Arkansas

Citrus Bowl: Tennessee

TaxSlayer Bowl: Ole Miss

Texas Bowl: LSU

Belk Bowl: Auburn

[jbcarol]

ESPN SEC ‏@ESPN_SEC 29m29 minutes ago

SEC Weak 1 bowl projections: Alabama back in the CFB Playoff http://es.pn/1hTI1Iw

AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Ole Miss

TaxSlayer Bowl: Arkansas

Outback Bowl: LSU

Camping World Independence Bowl: Florida

MFA:  Kentucky, Vandy

[jbcarol]

Brett McMurphy ‏@McMurphyESPN 3h3 hours ago

.@Mark_Schlabach & my bowl projections that are guaranteed to somehow upset all 128 fan bases http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/13610570/college-football-bowl-projections-week-1 ...

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl

Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee
Wed., Dec. 30, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

McMurphy: Arkansas vs. Nebraska

AutoZone Liberty Bowl

Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee
Sat., Jan. 2, 3:20 p.m. (ESPN)

Schlabach: Kansas State vs. Arkansas

[jbcarol]

ESPN SEC ‏@ESPN_SEC 2h2 hours ago

SEC Week 2 bowl projections: Ole Miss, Texas A&M move up list http://es.pn/1KjOaZE

AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Arkansas

Only South Carolina, Vandy are shut out of bowl bids in this projection

[jbcarol]

The four-team College Football Playoff enters its second season with everyone nipping on the heels of Ohio State

Cotton Bowl    Dec. 31    Arlington, Tex.    TCU vs. Auburn

Sugar Bowl    Jan. 1    New Orleans, La.    Baylor vs. Alabama

Birmingham Bowl    Dec. 30    Birmingham, Ala.    Cincinnati vs. Arkansas

[jbcarol]

Brett McMurphy ‏@McMurphyESPN  8h8 hours ago
.@Mark_Schlabach & my bowl projections (before you ask: yes I still have Auburn in title game & will until AU loses) http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/13647669/college-football-bowl-projections-week-2 ...

AutoZone Liberty Bowl

Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tennessee
Sat., Jan. 2, 3:20 p.m. (ESPN)
McMurphy: Kansas State vs. Arkansas

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl

Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee
Wed., Dec. 30, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Schlabach: Arkansas vs. Michigan

[jbcarol]

CBS Bowl Predictions

Sugar Bowl    Jan. 1    New Orleans, La.    Big 12 vs SEC    Baylor vs. LSU

Fiesta Bowl    Jan. 1    Glendale, Ariz.    At-Large vs. At-Large    Ole Miss vs. Boise St

[jbcarol]

ESPN SEC ‏@ESPN_SEC 17m17 minutes ago

SEC Week 3 bowl projections: Ole Miss makes push for playoff http://es.pn/1KCQDhV

College Football Playoff semifinal (Cotton Bowl): Ole Miss

Allstate Sugar Bowl: Georgia

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: LSU

Camping World Independence Bowl: Arkansas

[jbcarol]

We're three weeks in and we have some movement in our (still ludicrously early) Big Ten bowl projections.

No, we're not ready to move Ohio State out of the College Football Playoff, even after two very subpar weeks by the Buckeyes.

Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl: Wisconsin

Outback Bowl: Northwestern

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl: Michigan

[jbcarol]

Chris Low ‏@ClowESPN 10h10 hours ago

Kentucky beats Mizzou to get 2nd SEC win. Cats look like a bowl team. Who thought you could say that about Kentucky, but not Auburn?

[jbcarol]

ESPN Bowl projections: Looking ahead after Week 4

College Football Playoff at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic

AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Thurs., Dec. 31, 4 or 8 p.m. (ESPN)

Schlabach: Ole Miss vs. UCLA
McMurphy: Michigan State vs. Ole Miss

Birmingham Bowl

Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama
Wed., Dec. 30, noon (ESPN)

Schlabach: Auburn vs. Cincinnati

[jbcarol]

Brett McMurphy ‏@McMurphyESPN 9h9 hours ago

Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl is newest bowl, on Dec. 29, source told @ESPN. Meaning record 41 bowls this year or 63% of FBS teams in a bowl

[jbcarol]

CBS Bowl Predictions

Liberty Bowl Jan. 2 Memphis, Tenn. Big 12 vs. SEC Kansas State vs. Tennessee
TaxSlayer Bowl Jan. 2 Jacksonville, Fla. ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC No. Carolina vs. MSSt
Citrus Bowl Jan. 1 Orlando, Fla. ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC Michigan vs. Ole Miss
Outback Bowl Jan. 1 Tampa, Fla. Big Ten vs. SEC Northwestern vs. Texas A&M

[jbcarol]

ESPN SEC ‏@ESPN_SEC Oct 4

SEC Week 5 bowl projections: Alabama's rout pushes Tide up list http://es.pn/1iWv1lP

College Football Playoff semifinal (Cotton Bowl): LSU

AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl: Tennessee

Birmingham Bowl: Auburn

Camping World Independence Bowl: Arkansas

Outside looking in: South Carolina, Vanderbilt

[jbcarol]

Perks of the SEC-East:

Matt Jones ‏@KySportsRadio 12h12 hours ago

The latest UK Bowl Projections are all over the place and have the Cats playing everyone, including potentially Duke http://kentuckysportsradio.com/football-2/uk-fans-of-the-day-want-the-latest-bowl-projections/ ...

ESPN's Brett McMurphy: Belk Bowl vs. Duke (Wednesday, December 30, 3:30 p.m., ESPN, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC)

CBS Sports' Jerry Palm: Texas Bowl vs. Oklahoma State (Tuesday, December 29, 8:00 p.m., Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX)

[jbcarol]

Brett McMurphy ‏@McMurphyESPN 19m19 minutes ago

Marmot Boca Raton Bowl is new name for Dec. 22 bowl (American vs. MAC), industry source told @ESPN

[jbcarol]

Mark Schlabach ‏@Mark_Schlabach Oct 4

This week's bowl projections from @McMurphyESPN and me. Mine, of course, are far better and more accurate http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/13805884/college-football-bowl-projections-week-5 ...

Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl

Cotton Bowl, Dallas
Sat., Dec. 26, 2:20 p.m. (ESPN)

Schlabach: Washington vs. Louisiana Tech
McMurphy: Louisiana Tech vs. Arkansas

AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl

NRG Stadium, Houston
Tues., Dec. 29, 9 p.m. (ESPN)

Schlabach: West Virginia vs. Arkansas
McMurphy: Ole Miss vs. Kansas State

[DeltaBoy]

Memphis is always happy to have the Hogs .

[Inhogswetrust]

ESPN bowl projection has Texas facing Texas A&M in Texas Bowl

Unfortunately I would root for the aggies.....................

[jbcarol]

ESPN SEC ‏@ESPN_SEC 52m52 minutes ago

SEC Week 6 bowl projections: Florida closing in on New Year's Six bowl  http://es.pn/1VMsEPb

Birmingham Bowl: Arkansas

Camping World Independence Bowl: Auburn

Outside looking in: South Carolina, Vanderbilt

[jbcarol]

Jerry Palm ‏@jppalmCBS  1h1 hour ago
This week's bowl projections.  http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/bowls/predictions ...

Cotton Bowl   Dec. 31   Arlington, Tex.   Semifinal   TCU vs. Alabama

Sugar Bowl   Jan. 1   New Orleans, La.   Big 12 vs SEC   Baylor vs. LSU

Liberty Bowl   Jan. 2   Memphis, Tenn.   Big 12 vs. SEC   Kansas State vs. Tennessee