While some conferences preferred to stay somewhat geographically close, the ACC went to the other extreme, bringing in schools from California and Texas to complete its conference realignment. As the conference has shifted, how have the bowl game tie-ins been affected?
What Bowls Are Tied In With the ACC?
- Fenway Bowl (vs. AAC)
- Pinstripe Liberty Bowl (vs. Big Ten)
- Pop-Tarts Bowl (vs. Big 12)
- Military Bowl presented by GoBowling.com Bowl (vs. AAC)
- Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl (vs. TBD, formerly Pac-12)
- TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (vs. SEC)
- Duke’s Mayo Bowl (vs. Big Ten)
- Holiday Bowl (vs. TBD, formerly Pac-12)
Alternate Tie-ins, if available:
- Gasparilla Bowl (vs. AAC or SEC)
- Birmingham Bowl (vs. AAC or SEC)
Bowl Selection Process
The bowl selection process for the ACC is simultaneously simpler and more chaotic than it is for the other power conferences.
There’s no real pecking order to how the remaining bowl-eligible teams are selected. Since ESPN owns more of the ACC-affiliated bowl games, the matchups could be based on intrigue, geography, or something else entirely. No non-CFP bowl game is more important than another in the ACC pecking order.
According to the Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, Pac-12 schools “likely will still play in Pac-12-affiliated bowls … and not in bowl tie-ins with their new conferences” for at least the next two seasons.
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This means that Stanford and California — if bowl eligible — would likely go to a Pac-12-affiliated bowl game rather than one of the ones listed above tied to the ACC.
If there are still teams available after filling the main affiliated bowls, the ACC could fill the Birmingham and/or Gasparilla Bowls. That scenario likely won’t happen if the ACC gets multiple College Football Playoff teams. The bowls will fill until the ACC is out of bowl-eligible teams.
College Football Playoff and the ACC
But first, the College Football Playoff has to be sorted out. The ACC Champion will almost certainly have a top-four seed, assuming there’s not some sort of major upset in the title game that causes one of the Group of Five champions to be ranked higher in the final College Football Playoff poll.
Then, there’s a possibility that one or more other ACC teams get an at-large bid to the dance. If that happens, those teams will not participate in traditional one-off bowl games.
The number of at-large bids the ACC gets will have a direct effect on how many lesser bowl slots will be filled and which teams will fill them.
The former New Year’s Six bowls will rotate as quarterfinal and semifinal games over the life of the 12-team playoff. While those bowls may still follow loose affiliations, there are no rules about which teams will play in which bowls.
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