Thanksgiving weekend in college football brought plenty of turkey, gravy and an extra dose of chaos as the postseason picture in the sport was shaken up from coast-to-coast. No matter if you were looking at the College Football Playoff or trying to figure out the various conference races, chances are you saw a surprise outcome or two in Week 13 given the number of results that ranged from eye-opening to downright shocking.
With all that in mind, CFTalk decided to peer into our crystal ball and take a look at the postseason picture -- figuring out which teams wind up in certain bowl games prior to the official announcement. Running through all the scenarios, here’s how the bowl picture could play out from the final four to the very first one on December 16th:
College Football Playoff
| Bowl | Teams | |
|---|---|---|
| Rose Bowl | No. 2 Oklahoma | No. 3 Auburn |
| Sugar Bowl | No. 1 Clemson | No. 4 Alabama |
New Year’s Six
| Bowl | Teams | |
|---|---|---|
| Peach Bowl | UCF | Wisconsin |
| Fiesta Bowl | USC | Ohio State |
| Orange Bowl | Miami | Georgia |
| Cotton Bowl | Notre Dame | Penn State |
2016 FBS Bowl Games
| Bowl | Teams | |
|---|---|---|
| New Orleans Bowl | Troy | North Texas |
| Cure Bowl | Western Kentucky | Georgia State |
| Las Vegas Bowl | Arizona State | Boise State |
| New Mexico Bowl | Colorado State | Marshall |
| Camellia Bowl | Akron | Arkansas State |
| Boca Raton Bowl | South Florida | Florida Atlantic |
| Frisco Bowl | Houston | Northern Illinois |
| Gasparilla Bowl | Memphis | Florida International |
| Bahamas Bowl | UAB* | Ohio* |
| Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Wyoming | Central Michigan |
| Birmingham Bowl | Duke | SMU |
| Armed Forces Bowl | Army* | Southern Miss |
| Dollar General Bowl | Toledo | App. State |
| Hawaii Bowl | Fresno State | Navy |
| Cactus Bowl | Kansas State | Oregon |
| Quick Lane Bowl | Western Michigan | West Virginia |
| Heart of Dallas Bowl | Texas Tech | UCLA |
| Independence Bowl | Louisiana Tech | Wake Forest |
| Pinstripe Bowl | Boston College | Iowa |
| Texas Bowl | Texas | Missouri |
| Foster Farms Bowl | San Diego State | Washington State |
| Military Bowl | Virginia | Temple |
| Camping World Bowl | Virginia Tech | Oklahoma State |
| Alamo Bowl | TCU | Washington |
| Holiday Bowl | Northwestern | Stanford |
| Belk Bowl | Texas A&M | N.C. State |
| Sun Bowl | Louisville | Arizona |
| Music City Bowl | Kentucky | Purdue |
| TaxSlayer Bowl | Florida State | Mississippi State |
| Liberty Bowl | Iowa State | Utah |
| Arizona Bowl | Utah State | N.M. State |
| Outback Bowl | South Carolina | Michigan |
| Citrus Bowl | Michigan State | LSU |
*Accepted bowl invite
+ Buffalo, Middle Tennessee and UTSA also qualified for a bowl