College Football Predictions: LSU-Notre Dame at Tampa, USC-Clemson at San Diego?

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LSU and Brian Kelly vs. Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman at Tampa. USC vs. Clemson in San Diego. Dennis Erickson bowls in El Paso. Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss offense vs. Iowa’s defense in Orlando.

These will be overshadowed by the New Year’s Six, but for college football fans, these are the games that make bowl season the most wonderful time of the year.

All 82 spots have been filled for the upcoming dishes, which will be revealed on Sunday. After Hawaii’s upset of Colorado State, 79 teams are eligible to play. James Madison and Jacksonville State were next in line as sophomore transfer teams. Minnesota rounded out the list as the 5-7 team with the best Academic Progress Report (APR).

A few points:

• Our College Football Playoff prediction remains unchanged as No. 1 Georgia takes on No. 4 Florida State in the Sugar Bowl and No. 2 Michigan takes on No. 3 Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

• The Orange Bowl automatically hosts either the ACC champion or the highest-ranked ACC team available, which could be Louisville in either case. The opponent is the highest ranked non-champion from the Big Ten or SEC, which appears to be Ohio State. If the Big Ten appears in the Orange Bowl, it loses its spot in ReliaQuest to ACC/Notre Dame.

• As for the six tournaments remaining for the new year, we have Tulane back as top five champion to face Penn State, the final game overall, in the Peach Bowl. The Cotton Bowl boasts a former Big 12 and future SEC matchup between Texas and Missouri. As for the Fiesta Bowl, Alabama and Washington may have the most appeal outside of the CFP.

• A single pair of disturbances can radically change these forecasts. If Oklahoma State and Louisville beat Texas State and Florida State, respectively, Ohio State could jump into the CFP as the No. 4 team and send Alabama to the Orange Bowl, which could knock Penn State into the Citrus Bowl and open the ReliaQuest Bowl for Iowa.

Friendly reminder: Bowls rarely select teams in conference standings. When you see USC listed as “Pac-12 No. 4,” it doesn’t mean the Trojans are the fourth-place Pac-12 team, but rather the Holiday Bowl is using its No. 4 pick to identify them.

Another note: If ESPN is listed after a team, that means ESPN Events has an option for that ballgame. ESPN Events owns and operates 18 bowls, choosing from a pool of mostly 5-team pools. All times are Eastern Time.

Fine print:

* Substitution for a conference that does not include a sufficient number of qualified teams
** Expected 5-7 teams

(Brian Kelly photo: Butch Dale/USA Today)