Arkansas football bowl projections: Here's where Razorbacks could land
With Thanksgiving behind us, the regular season finished and No. 25 Arkansas sitting at 8-4, it's the most wonderful time of the year: Bowl projection season.
Arkansas reached bowl eligibility with six wins after beating Mississippi State in early November. This season marks the first time the Razorbacks will play in a bowl since 2016. Last season, Arkansas finished 3-7 and was supposed to play in the Texas Bowl against TCU, but the game was canceled due to COVID-19 cases on the opposing team.
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A lot hinges on the SEC Championship game between No. 2 Alabama and No. 1 Georgia on Saturday(3 p.m. CT, CBS). If Alabama wins, both teams are in the College Football Playoff. If it loses, the committee could still put Alabama in, but it could also fall out of the top four. Arkansas could see a New Year's Six bowl bid, though it's unlikely.
There are three New Year's Six games in which SEC teams can play: the Sugar Bowl, the Peach Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl.
The Sugar Bowl gets the SEC's No. 2 team, so let's assume Alabama plays in New Orleans. The Peach and Fiesta Bowls each select two at-large teams. At 10-2, Ole Miss should make a New Year's Six bowl, let's say the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.
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That would leave 9-3 Kentucky, 8-4 Texas A&M and Arkansas in contention for the Fiesta Bowl. But the Fiesta Bowl isn't likely to take a 9-3 or 8-4 team. That leaves the SEC out of that game.
So, say Arkansas misses out on a New Year's Six bowl. The next tier of SEC postseason possibilities are the Outback, Citrus, Texas, Gator, Music City, Duke's Mayo and Liberty bowls. With 13 of the SEC's 14 teams bowl eligible, there are a lot of ways this could go.
Based on record, location and history, I'm putting Arkansas in the Gator Bowl on New Year's Eve in Jacksonville, Florida.
Arkansas hasn't played in the Gator Bowl since 1981, when it lost a close game to North Carolina. Florida bowls will like that Arkansas is trending up and its fans are excited about the program and its bowl destination. The Gator Bowl makes its selection after the other two Florida games, the Citrus and Outback bowls.
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The Gator Bowl pits an ACC opponent against its SEC selection. The ACC champion, which will be Pittsburgh or Wake Forest, goes to a New Year's Six. Then, the Cheez-It Bowl makes its selection, followed by the Gator Bowl.
CBS, which also has Arkansas going to Jacksonville, has the Razorbacks playing Wake Forest (10-2). I think the Cheez-It Bowl would choose an ACC runner-up over a 9-3 team, so I'm putting the loser of Pitt vs. Wake Forest in Orlando for that game.
That leaves 9-3 ACC teams NC State and Clemson for the Gator Bowl. NC State played in the Gator Bowl in 2018 and 2021. That doesn't preclude them from another trip to Jacksonville, but it doesn't help their case. So, I'll choose Clemson as Arkansas' Gator Bowl opponent.
A year ago, Clemson vs. Arkansas in the postseason would have sounded insane. But this college football season has been anything but sane, so I'm suspending my disbelief.
Christina Long covers the Arkansas Razorbacks. You can email her at clong@swtimes.com or follow her on Twitter @christinalong00.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Arkansas football bowl projections: Here's where Razorbacks could land
