Georgia, TCU, Tulane lead winners and losers from college football bowl season
Bowl games are ripe for overreaction. The final impression teams leave before heading into hibernation contribute to narratives about teams and conferences that last until proven otherwise, exerting a heavy influence on preseason polls.
Several teams are set to see this benefit, including Penn State, Washington, Notre Dame and, of course, Georgia and TCU.
The final pair standing for the 2022 season will meet Monday night in Inglewood, California, to decide the national championship. The Bulldogs will enter the game as prohibitive favorites, which is nothing new for TCU; the Horned Frogs were touchdown underdogs against Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl, and we saw how that turned out.
This also works in reverse: Ugly bowl showings can linger, too. Take Clemson, which came within one win of the College Football Playoff but flopped in an Orange Bowl matchup against Tennessee, or the Wolverines, who for the second year in a row failed to advance out of the semifinals.
With just one game left before the offseason, the Bulldogs, Frogs, Tigers and others lead the list of bowl season’s biggest winners and losers:
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Winners
Georgia and TCU
Well, yeah. Both teams earned shootout wins in what was arguably the most memorable night in Bowl Subdivision postseason history. In coming back to score a late win against Ohio State, the Bulldogs showed the ability to go pass-for-pass with one of the top offenses in the country. By handling Michigan, the Horned Frogs disproved the misguided idea that they lacked the physicality to compete in the playoff environment. It would be very unsurprising to see the championship game follow a similar script in terms of explosive plays and overall offensive production.
UNLIKELY PAIR:Georgia, TCU are intriguing title game matchup
PEFECT DAY:Georgia’s stunning rally capped sensational semifinals
PLUCKY FROGS:TCU again silences doubters with upset of Michigan
HARD TO KILL:Georgia’s Bennett puts on another legendary effort
Tulane
The Green Wave’s memorable 46-45 Cotton Bowl win against Southern California completes the greatest turnaround in FBS history: from two wins in 2021 to 12-2 one year later. There’s also the matter of a historic postseason comeback from down 15 points with under five minutes left in the fourth quarter. Tulane scored the game-winning touchdown pass with nine seconds left to shock the Trojans, who lost despite getting 462 yards and five touchdowns from quarterback Caleb Williams. The Green Wave maximized limited offensive possessions — USC had the ball for just under 40 minutes — by running for 304 yards and averaging 10.4 yards per play.
Penn State
Topping Utah in the Rose Bowl sets up Penn State to become one of the most hyped teams of the upcoming offseason. While the 35-21 win marked the final game for quarterback Sean Clifford, who threw for 279 yards in one of his best performances on the season, the Nittany Lions could have even higher expectations in 2023 behind his successor, rising sophomore Drew Allar, a five-star recruit.
Michigan’s 51-45 loss to TCU feel so much worse? Maybe it’s because of the obvious confidence the Wolverines brought into the Fiesta Bowl, which rubbed the Horned Frogs the wrong way. Maybe it’s because of the defensive collapse or the run of errors that helped TCU build what was ultimately an insurmountable lead. For the second year in a row, the Wolverines were able to put together an outstanding regular season before collapsing in the playoff.