There’s always a point in the college football season where the preseason expectations get completely thrown out the window and you fully focus on the results on the field when it comes to projecting out the rest of the year.
We sure seem to have arrived at that point on the calendar after a wild Week 3 saw Notre Dame and Clemson take themselves out of the playoff race, USF pass the Group of 5 baton back to Tulane and a slew of upsets from coast to coast that further shook up how bowl season might play out.
We could be in store for some juicy matchups this winter, from Arch Manning and Texas facing off against another hotshot quarterback in Bryce Underwood and Michigan, a high-flying Hawai’i Bowl full of offense, the Irish and Baylor settling some denomination differences in Florida and a few new names projected to hit that magical 6–6 mark (or better) from New Mexico to Florida International and everywhere in between.
Here is how Sports Illustrated sees the 35 bowl game matchups coming together to form the postseason picture and which 70 FBS teams will wind up going bowling in 2025–26.
More College Football on Sports Illustrated
Listen to SI’s new college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bowl Projections After Week 3: Arch Manning vs. Bryce Underwood on New Year’s Eve.
