Action Network bowl projections slot Texas in the Valero Alamo Bowl
On Wednesday, Brett McMurphy of the Action Network released his early (perhaps too early) projections for the bowl games at the end of the 2023 season. McMurphy predicted that Texas would finish behind Texas Tech in its final year as a member of the Big 12 Conference and out of a spot in both the College Football Playoff and a New Year’s Six Bowl.
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McMurphy slots the Longhorns for a repeat performance in the Valero Alamo Bowl against USC as a 6.5-point favorite vs. the Trojans. He predicts Texas Tech to win the conference and to play Alabama in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, with the Red Raiders as a 4-point underdog to the Crimson Tide in Arlington.
McMurphy’s projected CFP semifinal taps Michigan to play Florida State in one game and Georgia and Washington in the other, with Georgia and Michigan playing in the national championship game in Houston with the Bulldogs as a 1.5-point favorite to win their third straight title.
If Texas and USC meet as predicted, it will be the first time they’ve played in a bowl game since the 2006 BCS title game in the Rose Bowl won by the Longhorns as led by Vince Young. The Longhorns and Trojans had a home-and-home series in 2017 and 2018, with the home team winning in each matchup.
Texas has played in the Valero Alamo Bowl six times since 2006 and in its past three bowl appearances (2019, 2020 and 2022). The Longhorns are 4-2 all-time in the bowl game in San Antonio after losing to Washington at the end of last season.
Other Big 12 teams predicted to play in bowl games include:
- Kansas State to play North Carolina in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando
- Oklahoma to play Mississippi State in the TaxAct Texas Bowl in Houston
- TCU to face Kentucky in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis
- Baylor to square off against Maryland in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix
- UCF to play Missouri in the Birmingham Bowl in Birmingham
- Oklahoma State to battle Michigan State in the First Responder Bowl in Dallas
- Kansas to play South Carolina in the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa
- BYU to play Washington State in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport
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That’s 10 of the conference’s 14 team slotted for the postseason, with only Cincinnati, Houston, West Virginia and Iowa State predicted to miss bowls this season.
