The college football season is not even a week over and the focus has already begun to turn toward the 2016 season. And so, we turn our attention to 2017.
Funny how that works out, right?
Just about every college football web site takes a stab at a top 25 in January. Well before Signing Day, well before spring practice, well before the first kickoff of the season.
But before you know it, college football will be starting again and Orlando residents will have bowl games to prepare for.
SBNation put together their compilation of the way-too-early Top 25s and came up with something that should resemble the preseason Top 25. The top four is very similar to the top four from the end of this season. And there will be a lot of changes too — two of the College Football Playoff were in the top four at the beginning of last season with Clemson moving up from No. 12 and Oklahoma up from No. 19.
So none of this is written stone. But what the hell, why not get an early glimpse of the two major Orlando bowl games.
Like during our bowl projections during the season, we are merely looking at the current polls and not making any predictions.
The preseason rankings will likely have some incongruities — Florida State and Clemson are in the top four and they will play against each other. But if things go according to plan — which they never do — we have a small picture of what the bowl games will look like.
College Football Playoff
Peach Bowl (National Semifinal): Clemson vs. Oklahoma
Fiesta Bowl (National Semifinal): Alabama vs. Florida State
Sugar Bowl: Baylor vs. LSU
Orange Bowl: Notre Dame vs. Tennessee
Rose Bowl: Michigan vs. Stanford
Cotton Bowl: Ohio State vs. Houston
Pretty nice looking New Years Six, right?
Hard to find anything to disagree with in this grouping. Maybe Clemson takes a step back. Why would Alabama? Oklahoma could too. It is a lot of carry over from the last year’s College Football Playoff.
That is to be expected. Much of the preseason rankings are just carry over form the previous year.
So where does that leave the Citrus Bowl?
Citrus Bowl: Michigan State vs. Georgia
With those teams in the mix, the Citrus Bowl is likely looking at Michigan State out of the Big Ten if Michigan and Ohio State reach the New Years Six.
The Spartans have built themselves a strong program that is consistently near the top of the conference. They have not been to Orlando for a few years and even with losing Connor Cook, Michigan State has found a consistent basis for the program.
It is very possible the Iowa Hawkeyes match their incredible season last year and make a run to Orlando too.
On the SEC side, things get a little more complicated.
Florida and Ole Miss would likely be in the running for this bowl selection again, but both have had plenty of time in Orlando. The Gators played in the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1 and the Rebels will open the season against the Seminoles on Labor Day in the kickoff classic at the Orlando Citrus Bowl.
That leaves some interesting options. Georgia will have a new coach in Kirby Smart and some crushing expectations again.
And, of course, should Tennessee falter some, maybe the Volunteers make a return trip to Orlando, their first since 2001.
Russell Athletic Bowl: Louisville vs. TCU
The TCU Horned Frogs got into the Alamo Bowl last year with Baylor’s injuries. They would still be a strong candidate for the Russell Athletic Bowl committee with the work Gary Patterson has put in to build his program. They rarely take too many step backs.
Any option seemingly coming from the Big 12 would be an exciting one. This just might be TCU’s turn depending on how the season goes.
The ACC side will be the interesting one to watch. North Carolina could be in line to head to the Russell Athletic Bowl again, which would probably not be ideal. It is possible Florida State falls to the bowl game too as the first selection outside the New Years Six.
After the three big programs from last year, there is a drop off.
Louisville is expected to take a step up in the way-too-early polls. So for now, they would be the team to slot into the Russell Athletic Bowl for now.
As always, college football is extremely fluid. Especially at this point . . . where it is January . . . a week after the season ended.
