Here is a forecast into what college football teams could be playing in New Year's Six Bowls.
For one last college football season, we will be dealing with the College Football Playoff in the four-team format with the New Year's Six rotating in a three-year cycle as national semifinals.
Although the changes that are coming are actually being well-received, we still have one more year of a ton of bickering and pontificating when discussing who the four best teams really are. All nine seasons of the playoff, the Selection Committee has gotten it right. However, we are just not getting as many iconic matchups as we would have liked. Thus, we are going to 12 teams in 2024.
For now, here are the 12 teams that either make the playoff or be playing in a New Year's Six Bowl.
Way too early College Football Playoff and New Year's Six Bowl game predictions
Cotton Bowl: Alabama Crimson Tide vs. USC Trojans
Big brand vs. big brand. Who doesn't love that? While we should expect Alabama to play USC a bit more regularly in future bowl games because of the Trojans switching leagues, we are going to get a doozy at Jerryworld, alright. Alabama may not have won the SEC, but were among the first three out. As for USC, they just couldn't get it done in the Pac-12 Championship game once again…
Although it may not be the Sugar Bowl for Alabama or the Rose Bowl for USC, meeting in Arlington gives both rabid fanbases opportunities to go to a different metroplex than usually expected for a meaningful holiday season bowl game. The good news is I think this meeting will give the winner incredible momentum heading into 2024 to potentially garner a first-round bye.
As far as the matchup is concerned, I will be majorly concerned with the Trojans' defense for as long as Alex Grinch is USC's defensive coordinator. Alabama is certainly beatable, and I expect for it to be a close game. However, I just think the Crimson Tide pass rush will make a play or two late in the game, possibly bringing Caleb Williams to the turf in crucial spots. I mean, will he even play?
I think that is the biggest question: Will Williams have opted out of his Cotton Bowl return trip?
Prediction: Alabama over USC
Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Washington Huskies
Again, as with the Cotton Bowl between Alabama and USC, Ohio State and Washington will enter the season as major College Football Playoff contenders. The good news for Ohio State is that the Buckeyes win 11 games. Unfortunately, that one loss comes against … Michigan. As for U-Dub, the Huskies win the Pac-12 but may have had the one regular season loss they could not afford to.
Still, I think this matchup between the Buckeyes and the Huskies will be compelling enough to draw a rating in The Valley of the Sun. We know that Michael Penix Jr. is the real deal under center for Washington, as he is my pick to win the Heisman Trophy playing for Kalen DeBoer. In time, either Kyle McCord or Devin Brown will have emerged as the next star quarterback for Ohio State.
Where I think this game is won and lost is on defense. It is improving in Columbus, but I think the Huskies' offense proves to be a bit too explosive for the Buckeyes to contain. I am not saying Ohio State head coach Ryan Day deserves to be put on the hot seat, but going 11-2 with back-to-back losses to Michigan and Washington is going to taste even worse than the ending to last season.
As for Washington, we're just going to be kicking ourselves about that awful loss from October…
Prediction: Washington over Ohio State
Orange Bowl: Clemson Tigers vs. Penn State Nittany Lions
To me, I think this is the most compelling matchup that isn't a playoff game. Even though Clemson didn't win the ACC and Penn State came up short in the Big Ten, they would have made the playoff in the four-team format in 2024 had it not expanded to 12. Clemson is about a year away and if Michigan weren't otherworldly, Penn State may have made the playoff instead of the Wolverines.
For now, we've got James Franklin vs. Dabo Swinney and Drew Allar vs. Cade Klubnik. The coaching is outstanding, but these are the two quarterbacks to keep an eye on in the 2025 or 2026 NFL Draft. They played a little bit last year, but we're going to get the equivalent of Caleb Williams vs. Drake Maye in this. There is always that won non-playoff bowl game to watch, and this one is it!
And this game will absolutely live up to the hype. It will be like USC vs. Tulane in the Cotton Bowl last year and Utah vs. Ohio State in the Rose Bowl two years ago. We've been due for a tremendously stellar Orange Bowl, and baby, we're getting it! The big difference in this one is Manny Diaz's defense shows up in clutch moments. He will be a college head coach again soon.
This game is going to be so incredible that we are hoping they meet in the playoff again next year.
Prediction: Penn State over Clemson
Peach Bowl: LSU Tigers vs. Tulane Green Wave
Oh, this will get a number for sure. Yes, one Group of Five team will make the New Year's Six, per usual, but this one will be awesome and worth it for so many reasons. One, Tulane won the Group of Five a year ago and stunned USC in the Cotton Bowl. Two, I mean, they'll be back in the NY6, so that's dope. And three, the Greenies are going to face historic rival LSU Tigers in the Peach Bowl.
Whether it be the Alabama game or a potential SEC Championship rematch vs. Georgia, LSU came up just shy of making the College Football Playoff once again under Brian Kelly. Then again, I mean, they just like, went to back-to-back New Year's Six bowls and are taking on a historic rival in Atlanta. It may be a bit too local for the casuals, but Greenies vs. Bayou Bengals, sign me up, dawg!
Even though Tulane will give LSU everything the Green Wave has got, we're talking about an SEC team vs. an AAC squad. The talent discrepancy is too vast for the Greenies to overcome. In short, they are not going up against a rebuilding Power Five blue-blood on the defensive side of the ball like USC was last year. Michael Pratt will play out of his mind to keep it close, but Geaux Tigahs!
This game will force the conversation of why these rivals don't play each other annually anymore.
Prediction: LSU over Tulane
Rose Bowl: No. 2 Michigan Wolverines vs. No. 3 Florida State Seminoles
We have arrived at one of the two playoff games. It will be a usual suspect vs. a program that's so happy to be back after a decade that wasn't. Yes, we will have the undefeated Big Ten champion Michigan Wolverines hosting the potentially undefeated ACC champion Florida State Seminoles in the Rose Bowl. Michigan is hoping to win a national semifinal game. Florida State will have a shot.
This is the kind of matchup we are all hoping for. Two traditional powers not only trending up, but thriving. Jim Harbaugh has his alma mater in a spot where anything short of a playoff berth will be seen as a disappointment. Mike Norvell has reclaimed the sunken ship that was Florida State and will have the 'Noles not just competing for conference titles, but for national championships again.
Though Florida State could surprise us, it's time for Michigan. Jordan Travis may have been the Heisman Trophy runner-up to Michael Penix Jr. out of Washington, but J.J. McCarthy has some NFL Draft stock to garner. Win or lose, he will do what C.J. Stroud did vs. Georgia for Ohio State a year ago in the Peach Bowl. Fortunately for McCarthy, his team will bring the lumber defensively to win.
As if we were due for another fantastic Rose Bowl, we are getting yet another great one in a row.
Prediction: Michigan over Florida State
Sugar Bowl: No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs vs. No. 4 Texas Longhorns
And so we meet again. The last time the Georgia Bulldogs took on the Texas Longhorn, some Dawgs didn't want to be there, and it showed. Bevo telling Uga what's up was as frightening as it was telling on the sidelines many years ago. Well, well, well… Oh, how things have changed since the 2018 college football season. Georgia hasn't lost a bowl game, or a playoff game since then.
Texas thought it was back in 2018, but not until winning the Big 12 one last time before heading to the SEC were they really. Georgia is still riding the nation's best multi-year winning streak, whereas an 11-1 Big 12 champion Texas did just enough to edge out a Pac-12 champion Washington and a one-loss, non-champion Alabama for the No. 4 seed. Fate would have it, we are back in NOLA…
For as much as the pundits say Texas will have a chance, well, it won't be as ugly as the TCU beatdown the Lone Star State experience in Los Angeles last year. Yes, there will be moments where Texas looks the part, but this painful loss on such a public stage will be exactly what Steve Sarkisian's program needs to try to become Kirby Smart's in Athens after they join the new league.
This game won't be as compelling as the Rose Bowl counterpart, but the better team still wins big.
Prediction: Georgia over Texas
2023 National Championship: No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs vs. No. 2 Michigan Wolverines
Oh, look at us! For the national championship, we will be getting a rematch of the Orange Bowl from two years ago between Michigan and Georgia. No, I don't anticipate this matchup being as lopsided as the one in Miami Gardens was two years for a right to go to Indianapolis. Michigan will be damn good, and Georgia will be as advertised. Something's got to give in the national title bout.
There will be an absurd amount of pressure on both teams. Will Jim Harbaugh slay the dragon and bring his alma mater its first national title since 1997? Will Kirby Smart do the impossible at his alma mater by doing something we've never seen before in modern college football: An unprecedented three-peat? When I say this, listen. Michigan will be the better team, but that's it.
See, I think in winning time, the Dawgs will come out and the Wolverines will look the other way. It may not be as thrilling of a game as last year's Peach Bowl was when UGA shocked Ohio State in the final minutes, but we will get our money's worth of a national championship after last season's clunker. It will be as gratifying of a win for UGA as it will be painful of a loss for Michigan.
For the last national title in the four-team playoff format, we get what we deserve: A great game.
Prediction: Georgia over Michigan
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