College Football Bowl Projections – Week 16
The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns are on their way to a third-consecutive bowl game, including their 8th in the last 10 years; but which one?
Louisiana, currently sporting an impressive 9-1 record, has guaranteed itself a winning record, as well as a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game for the third consecutive year.
Projecting the 2020-2021 bowl season has been almost an impossible task most of the year.
Really, because of the uncertainty, the cancellations, the uneven games, and just all the craziness, it's incredibly difficult to project bowl games.
11 bowl games, including the Bahamas Bowl, Fenway Bowl, Hawaii Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl, Pinstripe Bowl, Quick Lane Bowl, Redbox Bowl, the LA Bowl, the Frisco Bowl, and Sun Bowl have all been canceled, which kind of makes things even a little more uncertain.
That being said, the bowl season is now right around the corner, so let's take a look at some projections, but first let's begin with the six bowl match-ups that have already been announced, along with one of the participants in two more bowls, all of which are listed below:
Montgomery Bowl: Memphis vs. FAU
Myrtle Beach Bowl: North Texas vs. Appalachian St.
LendingTree Bowl: Georgia St. vs. WKU
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Tulane vs. Nevada
New Mexico Bowl: Hawaii vs. Houston
Boca Raton Bowl: UCF vs. TBA
Independence Bowl: Army vs. Pac-12
New Orleans Bowl: Georgia Southern vs. Louisiana Tech
So, where are the Cajuns going to go bowling?
Brad Crawford of 247Sports and Carter Hill of fifthquarter.net both project UL to play Buffalo in the Camellia Bowl, which is scheduled for Christmas Day in Montgomery, Alabama.
Jeff Hanisch of College Football News projects the Cajuns to play in the Cure Bowl, which is scheduled for Saturday, December 26 in Orlando, Florida, against Ball St.
Finally, ESPN has a split projection for Louisiana, with Kyle Bonagura projecting them to face UAB in the New Orleans Bowl, while Mark Schlabach projects a UL/UTSA match-up in the Cure Bowl.
Louisiana is currently ranked number 17 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll while also sitting at number 18 in the Coaches Poll.
UL, who has won six consecutive games, is currently 9-1, overall, and 7-1 in Sun Belt Conference play.
The Cajuns return to action on Saturday, December 19 when they travel to Conway, South Carolina to take on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in the Sun Belt Conference Football Championship.
Louisiana went 7-7 in 2018, their first under head coach Billy Napier, including a spot in the inaugural Sun Belt Conference Championship Game, a 30-19 setback to Appalachian St., as well as a 41-24 loss to Tulane in the Cure Bowl.
Last season, UL won a school-record 11 games, finishing 11-3 on the year. They did lose to Appalachian St. in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game, 45-38, but captured a 27-17 win over Miami (Ohio) in the LendingTree Bowl.
The projected 4-team College Football Playoff Field by ESPN includes Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio St., and Clemson.