James Madison’s Sun Belt title coupled with Duke’s win in Charlotte could wreak havox on the ACC’s bowl lineup. Hannah Foslien / Getty Images
Duke’s overtime win against Virginia forced all ACC-affiliated bowls to conduct a new batch of projections this morning.
It now appears the ACC champion will not qualify for the College Football Playoff, which means the league’s 11 bowl-eligible teams will spill over into several different bowls. But there are a few things to know about the ACC’s lineup:
- There are three tiers. The first consists of the Pop-Tarts Bowl, the Gator Bowl and the Holiday Bowl. The second includes the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, the Pinstripe Bowl and the Sun Bowl. Then comes the Military Bowl and the bowls owned by ESPN Events (Fenway, Gasparilla and Birmingham).
- Miami played in the Pop-Tarts Bowl last year, so it cannot play in it this year.
- The SEC’s shortfall of non-CFP bowl teams could lead to at least one ACC team filling one of those spots.
A couple of the projections that seem to work include the Hurricanes facing Tennessee in an exciting Gator Bowl clash. Instead of nudging Missouri to accept a second straight Music City Bowl nod, the SEC could have the Tigers play Clemson in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. That would open the Music City Bowl to an ACC team. Georgia Tech would be a strong candidate against Illinois.
As we’ve written here a few times, the Big Ten lineup has been set since last weekend. Michigan will compete in the Citrus Bowl; Iowa heads to Tampa for the seventh time under Kirk Ferentz; Nebraska’s fan reputation helps secure the Huskers a spot in the Vegas Bowl.
Kansas State reportedly will not accept a bowl invitation, but that decision is not finalized. That would create an opening for a 5-7 team to join the CFP field, and qualification is based on the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate. Among 5-7 teams, Auburn (990) has the highest APR with Rice (988) and UCF (986) next in line.
Evergreen notes:
The highest-ranked five conference champions plus the top seven at-large teams qualify for the 12-team College Football Playoff. The four highest-ranked teams earn first-round byes. Those teams will play in the Cotton (Dec. 31), Orange (Jan. 1), Rose (Jan. 1) and Sugar (Dec. 31) bowls. Teams seeded 5-8 host seeds 9-12 on Dec. 19-20. Should the Big Ten and SEC champions earn byes, they will play in the Rose and Sugar bowls, respectively. The next-highest ranked squad heads to the closest remaining bowl site to its campus.
The former Pac-12 schools still fall under the conference’s old agreements. It’s possible to see current in-conference matchups in the Alamo, Vegas, Holiday or Sun bowls.
BowlMatchup
LA
Dec. 13, 2025
Pac-12 6 Washington
MWC 1 Boise State
Salute to Veterans
Dec. 16, 2025
Sun Belt Louisiana
MAC Central Michigan
Cure
Dec. 17, 2025
Sun Belt Old Dominion
G5/Open South Florida
68 Ventures
Dec. 17, 2025
Sun Belt Southern Miss
Open Miami (OH)
XBox
Dec. 18, 2025
G5 Missouri State
G5 Arkansas State
Myrtle Beach
Dec. 19, 2025
Sun Belt Georgia Southern
Open Delaware
Gasparilla
Dec. 19, 2025
SEC/ACC/AAC NC State
Open UConn
Famous Idaho Potato
Dec. 22, 2025
MWC Utah State
Open Washington State
Boca Raton
Dec. 23, 2025
Open Coastal Carolina
Open Florida International
New Orleans
Dec. 23, 2025
Sun Belt Troy
CUSA Jacksonville State
Frisco
Dec. 23, 2025
G5 Texas State
G5 Fresno State
Hawai’i
Dec. 24, 2025
MWC Hawaii
American/Other California
GameAbove Sports
Dec. 26, 2025
Big Ten 8 Northwestern
MAC Ohio
Rate
Dec. 26, 2025
Big Ten 7 Minnesota
Big 12 6 Iowa State
First Responder
Dec. 26, 2025
Open Western Kentucky
Open UTSA
Military
Dec. 27, 2025
American Memphis
ACC 8 Louisville
Pinstripe
Dec. 27, 2025
Big Ten 6 Penn State
ACC 5-7 Pittsburgh
Fenway
Dec. 27, 2025
ACC 9 Wake Forest
American Army
Arizona
Dec. 27, 2025
MWC San Diego State
MAC 2 Western Michigan
Pop-Tarts
Dec. 27, 2025
Big 12 3 TCU
ACC 2-4 Duke
New Mexico
Dec. 27, 2025
MWC New Mexico
Open Toledo
Gator
Dec. 27, 2025
ACC 2-4 Miami (Fla.)
SEC 3-8 Tennessee
Texas
Dec. 27, 2025
Big 12 4 Houston
SEC 3-8 LSU
Birmingham
Dec. 29, 2025
ACC/SEC/Open East Carolina
SEC/ACC/Open Kennesaw State
Independence
Dec. 30, 2025
Big 12 7 Kansas State
CUSA/Sun Belt Louisiana Tech
Music City
Dec. 30, 2025
Big Ten 5 Illinois
SEC replacement Georgia Tech
Alamo
Dec. 30, 2025
Big 12 2 BYU
Pac-12 2 USC
ReliaQuest
Dec. 31, 2025
Big Ten 3 Iowa
SEC 3-8 Vanderbilt
Sun
Dec. 31, 2025
ACC 5-7 SMU
Pac-12 5 Arizona State
Citrus
Dec. 31, 2025
Big Ten 2 Michigan
SEC 2 Texas
Las Vegas
Dec. 31, 2025
Pac-12 3 Utah
Big Ten 4 Nebraska
Armed Forces
Jan. 2, 2026
Open UNLV
American North Texas
Liberty
Jan. 2, 2026
Big 12 5 Cincinnati
AAC replacement Navy
Duke’s Mayo
Jan. 2, 2026
SEC replacement Missouri
ACC 5-7 Clemson
Holiday
Jan. 3, 2026
ACC 2-4 Virginia
Pac-12 4 Arizona
BowlMatchup
Playoff
Dec. 19, 2025
7 Texas A&M
10 Alabama
Playoff
Dec. 20, 2025
6 Ole Miss
11 Tulane
Playoff
Dec. 20, 2025
5 Oregon
12 James Madison
Playoff
Dec. 20, 2025
8 Oklahoma
9 Notre Dame
Cotton
Dec. 31, 2025
3 Ohio State
Miss/Tulane winner
Orange
Jan. 1, 2026
4 Texas Tech
Oregon/JMU winner
Rose
Jan. 1, 2026
1 Indiana
ND/OU winner
Sugar
Jan. 1, 2026
2 Georgia
A&M/Bama winner
Fiesta
Jan. 8, 2026
QF winner
QF winner
Peach
Jan. 9, 2026
QF winner
QF winner
Championship
Jan. 19, 2026
SF winner
SF winner
Dec 7, 2025
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