Latest news with #KyleBonagura
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Nebraska football faces unique opponent in latest bowl projections
The college football season is almost upon us, and bowl projections are rolling out. ESPN released its list on Friday, and Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach have the Huskers going to the SRS Distribution Bowl on December 31 to face the Utah Utes. This would be a unique matchup. The two teams have not faced each other since 1992, when the Huskers won by a 49-22 margin. All four matchups between the two programs have taken place in Lincoln, with the Huskers winning each of them. The first matchup came in 1968, when the Huskers shut out Utah by a 31-0 margin. Utah finished the 2024 season with a 5-7 record, while the Huskers finished 7-6 with a win over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl. Las Vegas would certainly not be a bad location to view a bowl game. Husker fans always seem to show out wherever their teams play. Allegiant Stadium is certainly not a bad venue. Nebraska will open the 2025 college football season on Thursday, August 28, when the Huskers face the Cincinnati Bearcats at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. The kickoff is set for 8:00 p.m. CT. Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes, and opinions. This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: Nebraska football to travel to Las Vegas in bowl game projections
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Where does OU land in ESPN's preseason bowl projections?
The Oklahoma Sooners are two weeks away from kicking off their 2025 season. OU's first game will come at home against Illinois State on August 30th. The Sooners are looking to keep their 26-season streak of making a bowl game alive this year, but they hope to achieve much more than just another bowl game in 2025. Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach cover college football for ESPN, and they released their preseason bowl projections on Friday morning. Both believe that Oklahoma will make it to a 27th-straight bowl game, but will fall short of the College Football Playoff. Bonagura has the Sooners slated to play in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl, which will be played in Nashville, Tennessee, on December 30th. Oklahoma's projected opponent in that game is Minnesota, out of the Big Ten. The Sooners are undefeated all-time against the Golden Gophers, with both wins coming in the late-Barry Switzer era. OU won a close 13-7 contest on the road in 1985 on its way to a national title, then dominated Minnesota 63-0 at home in 1986. Missouri beat Iowa in the 2024 edition of the Music City Bowl. Meanwhile, Schlabach has Oklahoma renewing an old conference rivalry with Baylor. He has the Sooners and the Bears facing off in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, which will be played in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 2nd. The two teams have faced off 33 total times. OU owns a 28-5 advantage in the series, but Baylor has won the last two matchups, which came in 2021 and 2022. The two teams played two thrillers in 2019, with Oklahoma ruining Baylor's undefeated season by coming back from a 28-3 deficit in Waco in the regular season to win 34-31. The rematch came in the Big 12 Championship Game, where the Sooners won in overtime 30-23, bumping the Bears out of the College Football Playoff race and securing a spot themselves. Arkansas beat Texas Tech in the 2024 edition of the Liberty Bowl. A berth in the Music City Bowl or the Liberty Bowl certainly isn't where Sooner Nation hopes this season will end up. However, the opportunity to play a historic team from the Big Ten or get some revenge against an old league foe would, at least, be a fun consolation prize if that's how 2025 turns out. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @Aaron_Gelvin.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Auburn earns bowl nod in ESPN's preseason projections
After missing out on bowl season last year, the Auburn Tigers are poised to make another run at postseason play. What is a realistic expectation for the Tigers postseason fate? ESPN experts Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach expect Auburn to meet up with an ACC team at season's end, but in two different destinations. Bonagura and Schlabach project the Tigers to face Boston College in postseason play, however, Bonagura has the Tigers and Eagles facing off in the Gasparilla Bowl on Friday, Dec. 19 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, while Schlabach forecasts Auburn facing Boston College closer to home in the Birmingham Bowl on Monday, Dec. 29. If this forecasted matchup were to take place, it would be a game against teams that are projected to barely cross the threshold into bowl eligibility. According to ESPN's Football Power Index, Auburn is projected to win 6.9 games while Boston College sits at 5.9. However, the two teams are on opposite paths in terms of postseason forecasts. Auburn has an 83.6% chance to win six games while Boston College has a 58.7% chance. For playoff consideration, Auburn has a 12% chance while Boston College has a less than 1% chance. Auburn football has lost seven games in each of the last four seasons, but the program is even more starved for a bowl win. The last bowl win the Tigers earned was in the 2018 season when Auburn boat raced Purdue in the Music City Bowl, 63-14. Since then, Auburn has lost four-straight postseason games, including its most recent game against Maryland in the 2023 Music City Bowl. The SEC is projected to be well represented in postseason play. ESPN's FPI gives 13 of 16 SEC teams at least 60% odds to reach the six wins needed to earn bowl eligibility, nine teams have 30% or greater odds to make the College Football Playoff, and three teams have at least an 11% chance to win the College Football National Championship. Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: ESPN pairs Auburn with Boston College in preseason bowl forecast
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
ESPN projects these two bowl destinations for Florida football in 2025 postseason
The start of the 2025 college football campaign is just over the horizon and the fanbase is frothing at the mouth for the return of their favorite fall game. With a fresh schedule ahead, hope springs eternal among the schools competing for a national title. However, the reality of the gridiron grind lurks just around the corner, when lofty aspirations are often dashed bringing everyone back to earth. The 12-game regular-season slate becomes a marathon rather than a sprint as each program paces itself for the postseason. Among the goals every team sets ahead of a new campaign is earning a bowl game bid, which requires that a school finish at least with an even .500 mark. While this is one of the lower bars aimed for, it had been a struggle for the Florida Gators to reach up until last year. This year, the Orange and Blue come in amid high expectations, with the possibility of cracking the College Football Playoff field if everything goes right. Of course, nothing ever goes perfectly to plan so there are still some doubts that Billy Napier can earn his first CFP bid. ESPN projects Florida football's bowl games So where will Florida play once the regular-season schedule and conference championships are played? ESPN's Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach both offered up their postseason predictions with the Gators landing in two different bowl games. Bonagura forsees Florida playing in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee, against the Kansas Jayhawks on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. The Gators have never played in this game nor have they ever faced Kansas in a bowl matchup; the Jayhawks have made two prior appearances — in 2022 against the Arkansas Razorbacks (L, 55-53) and in 1973 against the North Carolina State Wolfpack (L, 31-18). Schlabach has Napier and Co. playing on the same day in the Duke's Mayo Bowl held in Charlotte, North Carolina, against the Duke Blue Devils. Again, Florida has never played in this bowl game nor have they ever faced Duke in the postseason; despite the shared name, the Blue Devils have never played in the Mayo matchup either. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
ESPN predicts how Notre Dame will fare in the College Football Playoff
On Friday morning two ESPN analysts, Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach predicted how the College Football Playoff would play out and both of them had much different outlooks for Notre Dame. They do think that the Irish will make the field of 12-teams, but with varying results. Bonagura has Notre Dame having a rematch of its season-opening game against No. 11 Miami as the No. 6 seed while Schlabach has the Irish as the No. 7 seed taking on No. 10 LSU. While Notre Dame is eligible to get a first-round bye, they don't think that will be the case this year. It could be a blessing in disguise, as all four teams that sat out the first-round of the CFP lost its second-round game last year. Schlabach doesn't have Notre Dame moving past the initial game, while Bonagura does. He has them matching up against No. 3 Ohio State, only to fall to the Buckeyes once again. As for the eventual championship game, they both have their No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams facing off, but with different matchups. Bonagura has No. 2 Penn State facing No. 1 Texas, while Schlabach has No. 2 Clemson also taking on the Longhorns. After what we saw last year, it's hard to say that the top-two teams will eventually play for a championship, as neither the Irish or the Buckeyes were one of the top seeds. This isn't how I see it playing out, as I think that the Irish will get a top-4 seed, and an easier path in the CFP. How do you see it playing out? Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions. Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: ESPN predicts Notre Dame's fate with the College Football Playoff
