The season is counting down and it’s time for the annual TCI Bowl Watch.  Each week we will look at the best possibilities for where the Tigers will play this year.

Crystal Ball

Right now there are three likely destinations for the Tigers.  They will play in the Capital One Orange Bowl, the Russell Athletic Bowl or one of the other “New Year’s Bowls”, most likely the Peach Bowl.

The path to the Capital One Orange Bowl is clear.  If Florida State makes the College Playoff and the Tigers are the highest ranked ACC team (other than FSU) then Clemson would head back to the Orange Bowl for the third time in four years.  The opponent in the Orange Bowl would be the highest ranked team not in the playoff from the SEC, Big Ten or Notre Dame.

If Florida State is left out of the College Football Playoff then there is still hope that the Tigers could land in one of the six “New Year’s Bowls”.  The six bowls include the Rose and Sugar that will be used for the College Playoff along with the Fiesta, Cotton and Peach.  There will be several at-large spots in the other three New Year’s Bowls.  One spot will be filled by the highest ranked team from the five mid-major conferences.  Other spots will be filled by misplaced champions from teams that would normally play in the Rose or Sugar.  That would include champions from the PAC 12, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC that don’t make the College Playoff.

The Selection Committee will decide who will play in the Fiesta, Cotton and Peach Bowls.  They will look to:

– Create competitive matchups

– Attempt to avoid repeats of regular season games and recent appearances

– Consider georgraphy

The College Football Playoff rankings will be critical if the Tigers hope to land in the Peach, Fiesta or Cotton.  They will likely need to move up near the top ten in the CFP poll by the time the selections are made.

If the Tigers miss out on the Capital One Orange Bowl or one of the other New Year’s Bowls they will likely end up in the Russell Athletic Bowl.  The Russell Athletic Bowl gets the first pick of the ACC after the Orange Bowl.

Participants in New Years Bowls

Both participants in the Orange, Rose and Sugar Bowls are contracted outside the playoff arrangement (Big Ten and Pac-12 to Rose Bowl; SEC and Big 12 to Sugar Bowl; ACC to Orange Bowl against the highest ranked available team from the SEC, Big Ten and Notre Dame). If a conference champion qualifies for the playoff, then the bowl will choose a replacement from that conference. When those bowls host the semifinals and their contracted conference champions do not qualify, then the dis­placed champion(s) will play in the other New Year’s bowls.

The Fiesta, Cotton and Peach Bowls will host displaced conference champions and the top-ranked champion from a non-contract conference. The highest-ranked available teams will fill any other berths. The Selection Committee will make the pairings.

ACC Bowls

Capital One Orange Bowl

The champion of the ACC or the next highest ranked ACC team if the Champion is picked as one of the four college playoff teams.  The opponent will be the highest ranked team from the SEC, Big Ten or Notre Dame.  There are other limitations based on how many times a conference or Notre Dame can appear over the contract term, but that is not applicable this year as it is the first year.

The Capital One Orange Bowl will be played on December 31.

Russell Athletic Bowl

The Russell Athletic Bow will have the first pick for the ACC after the Orange Bowl.  The opponent will be the third-place team from the Big 12.  The Russell Athletic Bowl is played December 29 in Orlando.

Latest College Football Playoff Poll

October 28 Poll