Your 1-stop college postseason guide

As bustle goes, the Christmas rush has nothing on college roster movement this time of year. The transfer portal is percolating, and projected draft candidates already are diverting their energies from classwork to combine preparation.

Bowl games, meantime, suffer the brunt of the collateral damage.

These days, some rosters are so diminished by late December that a few prominent teams enter their respective bowl games a shell of their former selves (such as 2023 FSU). In several cases, bowl matchups that initially seemed intriguing become irrelevant.

“People need to see what happened tonight, and they need to fix this,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said immediately after his team’s 63-3 embarrassment of a depleted FSU team in last season’s Orange Bowl. “It needs to be fixed.”

Maybe — just maybe — the problem is fixing itself.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders recently insisted his two marquee players — quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy favorite Travis Hunter — will play in the Alamo Bowl against BYU.

“We have a plethora of seniors that are pro-bound, and guess what? Every last one of them are going to play,” Sanders told reporters. “We don’t tap out. We don’t sit out.”

At Syracuse, coach Fran Brown said he’s confident prolific senior quarterback Kyle McCord will play in the Holiday Bowl against Washington State. Even Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said he doesn’t expect many opt-outs from his team — rife with draft prospects — for the ReliaQuest Bowl against Michigan in Tampa. On Thursday, Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe said he’ll play in the game.

“These guys are committed to this place,” DeBoer said. “And there’s been a streak of … 10-win seasons and they got a lot of pride in the program and want to continue to move forward, and want to play and spend one more game with their brothers here on this football team.”

Considering the copycat nature of football at all levels, perhaps such sentiments will grow more prevalent with time. Or maybe, as revenue sharing becomes reality, or if student-athletes ultimately enter into employment contracts with their universities, bowl participation will become part of the agreement.

Or maybe we’re just being naive. At any rate, the bowl season must bear the attrition for now. The games will go on, and we’ll watch, because it’s steeped in our culture. We’ll still revel in the Pop-Tarts and potato mascots, the mesmerizing finishes and mayonnaise baths.

It all kicks off Saturday, and spills well into January. To get you ready, we offer our comprehensive bowl/playoff guide, complete with schedules, story lines and a few predictions.

Bowl slateUSF coach Alex Golesh holds the trophy after his team’s 45-0 rout of Syracuse in last season’s Boca Raton Bowl. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) [ LYNNE SLADKY | AP ]Stay updated on Tampa Bay’s sports scene

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SATURDAY

Celebration Bowl: Jackson State vs. South Carolina State, noon, ABC

Veterans Bowl: South Alabama vs. Western Michigan, 9, ESPN

TUESDAY

Frisco Bowl: Memphis vs. West Virginia, 9, ESPN

WEDNESDAY

Boca Raton Bowl: Western Kentucky vs. James Madison, 5:30, ESPN

LA Bowl: Cal vs. UNLV, 9, ESPN

DEC. 19

New Orleans Bowl: Georgia Southern vs. Sam Houston, 7, ESPN2

DEC. 20

Cure Bowl: Ohio vs. Jacksonville State, noon, ESPN

Gasparilla Bowl: Tulane vs. Florida, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, 3:30, ESPN

DEC. 23

Myrtle Beach Bowl: Coastal Carolina vs. UTSA, 11 a.m., ESPN

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State, 2:30, ESPN

DEC. 24

Hawaii Bowl: USF vs. San Jose State, 8, ESPN

DEC. 26

GameAbove Sports Bowl: Pittsburgh vs. Toledo, 2, ESPN

Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Rutgers vs. Kansas State, 5:30, ESPN

68 Ventures Bowl: Arkansas State vs. Bowling Green, 9, ESPN

DEC. 27

Armed Forces Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Navy, noon, ESPN

Birmingham Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt, 3:30, ESPN

Liberty Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Arkansas, 7, ESPN

Holiday Bowl: Syracuse vs. Washington State, 8, Fox

Las Vegas Bowl: Texas A&M vs. USC, 10:30, ESPN

DEC. 28

Fenway Bowl: North Carolina vs. UConn, 11 a.m., ESPN

Pinstripe Bowl: Boston College vs. Nebraska, noon, ABC

New Mexico Bowl: Louisiana vs. TCU, 2:15, ESPN

Pop-Tarts Bowl: Iowa State vs. Miami, 3:30, ABC

Arizona Bowl: Miami (Ohio) vs. Colorado State, 4:30, CW

Military Bowl: East Carolina vs. N.C. State, 5:45, ESPN

Alamo Bowl: BYU vs. Colorado, 7:30, ABC

Independence Bowl: Marshall vs. Army, 9:15, ESPN

DEC. 30

Music City Bowl: Iowa vs. Missouri, 2:30, ESPN

DEC. 31

ReliaQuest Bowl: Michigan vs. Alabama, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, noon, ESPN

Sun Bowl: Louisville vs. Washington, 2, CBS

Citrus Bowl: South Carolina vs. Illinois, 3, ABC

Texas Bowl: Baylor vs. LSU, 3:30, ESPN

JAN. 2

Gator Bowl: Duke vs. Mississippi, 7:30, ESPN

JAN. 3

First Responder Bowl: North Texas vs. Texas State, 4, ESPN

Duke’s Mayo Bowl: Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech, 7:30, ESPN

JAN. 4

Bahamas Bowl: Buffalo vs. Liberty, 11 a.m., ESPN2

Our playoff predictions

First round (at on-campus sites)

Ohio State coach Ryan Day is overseeing some changes on his roster for the 2025 season. [ DAVID PETKIEWICZ | cleveland.com ]

Texas 31, Clemson 21

Tennessee 24, Ohio State 21

Notre Dame 24, Indiana 20

Penn State 41, SMU 21

Overview: Ryan Day is so embattled these days, he and his team might have been better served playing outside Columbus. The tension will be palpable inside Ohio Stadium, and we’ve seen how the Buckeyes perform when they’re tight. The battle of Indiana intrigues us; Notre Dame has the nation’s best pass-efficiency defense (94.10), while Indiana possesses the country’s top run defense (70.8 yards per game).

Quarterfinals

Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, center, looks to pass during the first half of Saturday night’s Big Ten championship game against Penn State in Indianapolis. [ DARRON CUMMINGS | AP ]

Texas 40, Arizona State 34 (at Peach Bowl)

Oregon 35, Tennessee 20 (at Rose Bowl)

Penn State 31, Boise State 17 (at Fiesta Bowl)

Notre Dame 30, Georgia 24 (at Sugar Bowl)

Overview: In a previous life, Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel and Vols coach Josh Heupel engineered a pretty sleek offense at UCF. We see pupil prevailing over the mentor in this reunion. While we doubt anyone can shut down Boise State force of nature Ashton Jeanty, we see Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen (who once ran a pretty sound USF defense) devising a scheme to contain him. Notre Dame’s pass defense is outstanding and Georgia quarterback Carson Beck is banged up. Neither bodes well for the Bulldogs.

Semifinals

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard runs during the second half of his team’s Nov. 30 game against rival USC in Los Angeles. [ RYAN SUN | AP ]

Texas 35, Oregon 31 (at Cotton Bowl)

Notre Dame 27, Penn State 24 (at Orange Bowl)

Overview: We just have a hunch the Longhorns will find a way against the Ducks in what could be the playoff’s most exciting game. Penn State and Notre Dame rank sixth and ninth, respectively, in total defense, which tells us this matchup could be determined by which quarterback has the cleanest game. In this case, we trust the Irish’s Riley Leonard a bit more than Drew Allar.

Championship

Notre Dame 31, Texas 28 (at Atlanta)

Overview: Elite matchups typically are determined by which team makes the fewest mistakes. Notre Dame has committed only 12 turnovers all year. Texas has 22. That’ll be the difference.

Best bowl matchup

BYU vs. Colorado

Alamo Bowl, Dec. 28, 7:30 p.m., ABC

If Colorado’s Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders play in this game (as their coach assures), it becomes the marquee contest on the non-playoff slate. Why a Big 12 matchup in a bowl game? Because the Alamo was contractually obligated to pit a Big 12 team against a Pac-12 legacy team (in this case, Colorado).

Best first-round playoff matchup

Tennessee at Ohio State

Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson recently was named Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson is The Associated Press’ offensive player of the year in the SEC. [ WADE PAYNE | AP ]

Dec. 21, 8 p.m., ESPN

We’ve heard the babble about northern schools having a meteorological edge over their southern counterparts when hosting these wintertime playoff games, but guess what? It’s pretty darn cold in Knoxville now too. The Vols possess the nation’s ninth-ranked rushing offense (232.0 yards per game), while the Buckeyes — seventh nationally versus the run (96.8 yards per game — were gashed pretty good in their stunning loss to Michigan. Honestly, we’re intrigued by the chaos that would ensue in Columbus if Ohio State were to lose this game.

Most intriguing bowl story linesGeorgia Tech dual-threat quarterback Haynes King leads his team into the Dec. 27 Birmingham Bowl against Vanderbilt. [ JASON GETZ / JASON.GETZ@AJC.COM | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ]

• We’re hoping Georgia Tech’s Haynes King and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia decide to play in the Birmingham Bowl, which would represent arguably the most intriguing QB duel of the postseason.

• Arguably no bowl game tape will be more valuable than the Military’s. East Carolina and N.C. State square off again in the 2025 season opener.

• So if Heisman Trophy finalist Cam Ward opts out of the Pop-Tarts Bowl and Iowa State tops Miami, that would make three consecutive years in which the Hurricanes have lost three of their last four games.

• Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck can improve to 6-0 in bowl games in the Mayo Bowl, and we absolutely can see him taking a mayo bath for his team.

• Indiana and North Texas both have lost six consecutive bowl games, believed to be the nation’s longest current streak of such futility.

Longest bowl journey

USF to Hawaii Bowl: 4,682 miles

Shortest bowl journey

Coastal Carolina to Myrtle Beach Bowl: 0 miles

(Brooks Stadium is the Chanticleers’ home field)

Locals to watchIowa State quarterback Rocco Becht (3) warms up before the Big 12 Conference championship against Arizona State. [ LM OTERO | AP ]

LB Wade Woodaz, Clemson (Plant)

Tigers’ No. 2 tackler leads team with nine QB hurries

WR Mario Williams, Tulane (Plant City)

Green Wave’s leading receiver (54 catches)

QB Rocco Becht, Iowa State (Wiregrass Ranch)

Has thrown TD pass in school-record 17 consecutive games

WR Jerjuan Newton, Toledo (Clearwater Central Catholic)

Team-high 11 TD receptions

LB Dylan Rosiek (East Lake)

Was shining (63 tackles) before season-ending injury

QB Jordan McCloud (Plant)

Program-record 36 TDs responsible for

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