Bowl Predictions 2023: Full Projections For CFP Final and More Top Games
Washington's victory over Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship Game Friday night provided a little bit of clarity for the College Football Playoffs, with the Huskies essentially solidifying their spot in the dance.
Who will join them, though, and which teams will compete in the New Year's Six bowl games, each extremely valuable and significant in their own right?
Find out with this preview of the upcoming bowl season, as well as projections and predictions for the College Football Playoffs National Championship Game.
Non-Playoff New Year's Six
1 of 3
The projected New Year's Six bowl games are:
- Cotton Bowl: Texas vs. Missouri (December 29)
- Peach Bowl: Penn State vs. Tulane (December 30)
- Orange Bowl: Louisville vs. Ohio State (December 30)
- Fiesta Bowl: Oregon vs. Alabama (January 1)
CFP Semifinals
2 of 3
Sugar Bowl (January 1)
The Georgia Bulldogs will narrowly defeat the Alabama Crimson Tide to hoist the SEC Championship and advance to the semifinals and Sugar Bowl, with an opportunity to become the first team since Minnesota from 1934-36 to win three straight national titles.
Awaiting them will be a gutsy Florida State Seminoles team that may very well be down to their third quarterback by the time the game kicks off.
A good, hard-fought game featuring two top 20 defenses, it will be a great test for a Bulldogs team that will need to be firing on all cylinders ahead of the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
Talent wins out in this one as the best team in college football cruises past Florida State in the fourth quarter to set up a monumental title clash.
Rose Bowl (January 1)
"Defense wins championships" is a phrase that will be tested in the Rose Bowl when the No. 2 ranked Michigan Wolverines battle the No. 3 Washington Huskies.
On paper, Michigan is the better team.
They have the second-ranked defense in the country and should be able to overwhelm the Huskies by smothering them and limiting their scoring. As the Pac-12 champs have proven on 12 different occasions this season, they are a gritty team that finds ways to win.
Heisman candidate, perhaps even a favorite following Friday's win over Oregon, Michael Penix Jr. is a baller who can find ways to make the most miraculous plays happen. He will have opportunities to get the ball to his playmakers and make some things happen.
Unfortunately, it will be for naught.
The Wolverines are too good defensively, will have head coach Jim Harbaugh on the sidelines and that means quarterback JJ McCarthy will play to his potential.
Michigan wins here and returns to the national title game for the first time since 1997.
National Championship Game: Georgia vs. Michigan
3 of 3
If you had asked anyone what the national title game would be at the beginning of this 2023 season, they would likely have predicted Georgia vs. Michigan.
They were the two best teams a season ago and they were the two best teams entering this year.
It is only fitting they match up on the grandest stage in college football, with history on the line for one of them.
A smothering defensive match-up, the game would test each offense's ability to make the absolute most of their opportunities.
Georgia has, for two seasons now, proven it can do just that.
Even when it looks and feels like they have met their match, Brock Bowers finds a way to get open or the defense comes up with a big play to seal things for them.
As good as Michigan has been, and as much as they want to change the narrative of their season. Georgia is and has been the best team all season. They pay it off with a third national title and forever etch their names in the history books.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
