2023–24 NCAA football bowl games

Series of college football bowl games following the 2023 season

The 2023–24 NCAA football bowl games were a series of college football bowl games in the United States, primarily played to complete the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Team-competitive bowl games in FBS began on December 16 and concluded with the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship on January 8, 2024, which was won by the Michigan Wolverines. The all-star portion began on January 13 and concluded on February 24.

Schedule

The schedule for the 2023–24 bowl games, announced in May 2023, is below. All times listed using EST (UTC−5).

Division I FBS bowl games

College Football Playoff bowl games

Cotton

Peach

Orange

Fiesta

Rose

Sugar

National Championship

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Locations of 2023–24 CFP bowls
– National Championship, – Semifinal Bowl, – Non-semifinal bowl

The College Football Playoff system is used to determine a national championship of Division I FBS college football. A committee of experts ranked the top 25 teams in the nation after each of the last seven weeks of the regular season. The top four teams^[c] in the final ranking are then seeded in a single-elimination semifinal round, with the winners advanced to the National Championship game. This playoff was the last to use a four-team bracket, with the College Football Playoff set to expand to 12 teams in 2024.^[2]

The semifinal games for the 2023 season were the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. Both were played on January 1, 2024, as part of a yearly rotation of three pairs of two bowls, commonly referred to as the New Year's Six bowl games. The winners advanced to the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship that was contested on January 8, 2024, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.

On December 3, 2023, the College Football Playoff committee announced that it had selected Michigan, Washington, Texas, and Alabama to participate in the 2023–24 College Football Playoff. The committee's decision to select the Southeastern Conference's (SEC) Alabama (12–1) instead of the Atlantic Coast Conference's (ACC) Florida State (13–0), who became the first undefeated Power Five conference team to not qualify for the playoff, received intense criticism from fans, writers, and commentators. Specifically, several of these viewers accused the committee of corruption, bias, and favoritism towards the SEC.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]} The CFP committee chair and others defended the selection of Alabama, which defeated five ranked teams (compared to Florida State's three) during the season, including No. 1 ranked Georgia in the last game of the SEC season, saying that Alabama was currently the better team overall.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Interior view of NRG Stadium, site of the championship game

Each of the games in the following table was televised by ESPN.

† Semifinal teams were chosen by the selection committee.

‡ Semifinal winners advanced to the championship game.

Non-CFP bowl games

Several bowl name changes were made, as compared to the prior season's bowl games:

• Due to construction at its normal stadium, the Bahamas Bowl was temporarily relocated to North Carolina and branded as the Famous Toastery Bowl per its title sponsor.^[15]
• Due to a change in title sponsor, the LendingTree Bowl was renamed as the 68 Ventures Bowl.^[16]
• Sponsor Kellogg's (renamed Kellanova in October 2023, after the company's North American cereal business was spun off as the WK Kellogg Co^[17][18]) renamed the Cheez-It Bowl as the Pop-Tarts Bowl.^[19]

Rankings are per the final CFP rankings that were released on December 3.

Division I FCS bowl game

Celebration

Crossroads

Live United

Heritage

Florida Beach

Isthmus

Lakefront

New England

Bushnell

Chapman

Whitelaw

Lynah

CC-MAC

Cape Henry

Cape Charles

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Locations of 2023 Non-DI FBS bowls.
– DI FCS, – DII, – DIII

The Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) has one bowl game, played between HBCUs, which acts as a de facto Black college football national championship. The FCS also has a postseason bracket tournament that culminates in the 2024 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game.

Division II bowl games

There were four bowl games, which featured teams that did not qualify for the Division II postseason tournament.

The schedule included the inaugural edition of the Florida Beach Bowl, contested between teams from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), two conferences mostly consisting of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).^[20]

Division III bowl games

Division III had 13 bowl games, featuring teams that did not qualify for the Division III postseason tournament.

All-star games

Each of these games featured college seniors, or players whose college football eligibility was ending, who were individually invited by game organizers. These games were scheduled to follow the team-competitive bowls, to allow players selected from bowl teams to participate. Such all-star games may include some players from non-FBS programs.

The NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, which debuted in 2012 and was played 12 times through January 2023, was discontinued. The East–West Shrine Bowl relocated from Nevada (where its prior two editions had been played) to Texas.

Team selections

CFP top 25 standings and bowl games

The College Football Playoff (CFP) selection committee announced its final team rankings for the season on December 3, 2023. It was the 10th season of the CFP era, and the last one with a four-team playoff. This was the first time that an undefeated Power Five conference champion (Florida State) was left out of the semifinals.^[26]

Bowl-eligible teams

Generally, a team must have at least six wins to be considered bowl eligible, with at least five of those wins being against FBS opponents. The College Football Playoff semifinal games are determined based on the top four seeds in the playoff committee's final rankings. The remainder of the bowl-eligible teams are selected by each respective bowl based on conference tie-ins, order of selection, matchup considerations, and other factors.

• ACC (11): Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami (FL), NC State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia Tech
• American (6): Memphis, Rice, SMU, South Florida, Tulane, UTSA
• Big Ten (9): Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota,^[e] Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, Wisconsin
• Big 12 (9): Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech, UCF, West Virginia
• C–USA (4): Jacksonville State,^[f] Liberty, New Mexico State, Western Kentucky
• MAC (6): Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Miami (OH), Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo
• Mountain West (7): Air Force, Boise State, Fresno State, San Jose State, UNLV, Utah State, Wyoming
• Pac-12 (8): Arizona, California, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington
• SEC (9): Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M
• Sun Belt (12): Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, James Madison,^[f] Louisiana, Marshall, Old Dominion, South Alabama, Texas State, Troy
• Independent (1): Notre Dame

Number of bowl berths available: 82
Number of bowl-eligible teams: 79
Number of conditionally bowl-eligible teams: 2: (Jacksonville State and James Madison)^[f]
Number of teams qualified by APR: 1 (Minnesota)^[27]

Bowl-ineligible teams

• ACC (3): Pittsburgh, Virginia, Wake Forest
• American (8): Charlotte, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Navy, North Texas, Temple, Tulsa, UAB
• Big Ten (5): Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Nebraska, Purdue
• Big 12 (5): Baylor, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, TCU
• C–USA (5): FIU, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, Sam Houston,^[g] UTEP
• MAC (6): Akron, Ball State, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Kent State, Western Michigan
• Mountain West (5): Colorado State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State
• Pac-12 (4): Arizona State,^[h] Colorado, Stanford, Washington State
• SEC (5): Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Vanderbilt
• Sun Belt (2): Louisiana–Monroe, Southern Miss
• Independent (3): Army,^[i] UConn, UMass

Number of bowl-ineligible teams: 51

Conference summaries

† Boise State, UNLV, and San José State all finished with a 6–2 conference record, creating a three-way tie. Since all three teams did not face each other during the season, and none of the teams were in the College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings before the conference championship game, the three-way tie was broken by a composite average of computer rankings from Anderson & Hester, Colley Matrix, Massey and Wolfe. UNLV finished with the best average rankings at 44.5, while Boise State came in second at 55.75 and San José State third at 58.5. Therefore, the Broncos and Rebels secured their spots in the MW Championship. UNLV and Boise State did not play each other during the regular season. The Rebels' superior average computer ranking earned them the right to host the title game.^[29]

Conference champions' bowl games

Ranks are per the final CFP rankings, released on December 3, 2023, with win–loss records at that time.

^CFP College Football Playoff participant

Conference performance in bowl games

Source:^[30]

Note: The only independent team that played in an FBS bowl game was Notre Dame.

Notes

1. 41 FBS bowl games, the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, and 1 FCS bowl game
2. Dates reflect Division I team-competitive bowl games, and exclude all-star games and bowl games in lower divisions.
3. The playoff is scheduled to expand to 12 teams, starting with the 2024–25 bowl season.^[1]
4. The Liberty Flames were one of only four FBS teams in 2023 with an undefeated pre-bowl season,^[14] but finished much lower in the CFP rankings as they compete in Conference USA (C-USA), one of the Group of Five conferences, generally regarded as less challenging than the Power Five conferences. However, they are the first C-USA team to compete at this level of bowl game in the history of the Bowl Championship Series (1998–2013) and the subsequent College Football Playoff system, introduced in 2014.
5. Despite having a 5–7 record, Minnesota became bowl eligible due to having the highest Academic Progress Rate among five-win teams.
6. As there were not enough otherwise bowl-eligible teams to fill available spots, Jacksonville State and James Madison became conditionally bowl eligible due to their winning records, despite their transitions from FCS.
7. Sam Houston was bowl ineligible due to their transition from FCS to FBS, and the Bearkats would have been bowl ineligible regardless, as they finished with a 3–9 record.
8. Arizona State self-imposed a bowl ban due to recruiting violations that occurred in 2020.^[28] The Sun Devils would have been bowl ineligible regardless, as they finished with a 3–9 record.
9. Despite finishing at 6–6, Army only had five wins at the time bowl matchups were determined; additionally, two of their wins were against FCS teams.

References

1. "College Football Playoff Expands to 12 Teams Beginning in 2024". collegefootballplayoff.com. May 17, 2023.
2. "College Football Playoff to expand to 12 teams starting with the 2024 season | NCAA.com". NCAA.com. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
3. "'Unfathomable': Undefeated FSU left out of CFP". ESPN. December 3, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
4. Sigler, Jordan (December 3, 2023). "College Football Fans Claim Playoffs 'Rigged' For Money And Ratings By Putting Alabama Over Florida State". Yardbarker.
5. Armour, Nancy (December 3, 2023). "Committee snubbing unbeaten Florida State makes a mockery of College Football Playoff". USA Today.
6. Borba, Kevin (December 3, 2023). "College Football Fans Calling SEC Bias Over Florida State's College Football Playoff Snubbing". Sports Illustrated.
7. Call, James (December 4, 2023). "Tallahassee is not OK. 'Robbed' of a college playoff berth, FSU family crushed". USA Today.
8. Shepherd, Marshall (December 4, 2023). "Recency Bias, Weather, And The Snubbing Of Florida State Football". Forbes.
9. Feldman, Bruce (December 3, 2023). "What the College Football Playoff got wrong: Leaving out Florida State". The Athletic.
10. Windham, Katie (December 3, 2023). "CFP Committee Chairman Explains Why Alabama Was Selected Over Florida State". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
11. Meyer, Craig (December 7, 2023). "Brian Kelly Defends Alabama to CFP, Says Florida State 'Not the Same Team' that Beat LSU". The Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
12. Jackson, Wilton (December 3, 2023). "Paul Finebaum Defends the CFP Committee Selecting Alabama Over Florida State". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
13. Rosenberg, Michael (December 3, 2023). "College Football Playoff Committee Was Right to Choose Alabama Over Florida State". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 8, 2023. And so I come in defense of Alabama, which feels a bit like arguing that the bully needed the other kids' lunch money more than they did.
14. "Rankings: 2023 Week 14". College Football Playoff. December 3, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
15. Hofheimer, Bill (November 14, 2023). "Famous Toastery Named Title Sponsor of ESPN Events' Charlotte Bowl Game". ESPN Pressroom (Press release). ESPN. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
16. "68 Ventures is New Title Sponsor for Mobile Alabama Bowl". 68venturesbowl.com. May 15, 2023. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
17. Steele, Greyson (October 2, 2023). "Kellogg Co completes split into two, independent companies – Kellanova and WK Kellogg Co". Battle Creek Enquirer.
18. Lucas, Amelia (October 2, 2023). "Kellogg's cereal business begins trading as stand-alone company WK Kellogg". CNBC. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023.
19. "Pop-Tarts® Intercepts College Football Fandom With First-Ever Pop-Tarts Bowl". kelloggcompany.com (Press release). PR Newswire. May 31, 2023.
20. "DRV PNK Stadium to Host Inaugural Florida Beach Bowl on Dec. 13". intermiamicf.com. Inter Miami CF Communications Department. October 9, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
21. Crabtree, Drew (January 13, 2024). "2024 Hula Bowl Post-Game Stats and Analysis". SB Nation. Retrieved February 3, 2024 – via MSN.com.
22. Quartey, Michael (January 24, 2024). "Electric College Football Fills Municipal Stadium for the 2024 Trillion Tropical Bowl in Front of the 120+ NFL and Pro Scouts". tropicalbowl.com. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
23. Froyd, Crissy (February 2, 2024). "East-West Shrine Bowl final stats, results: West dominates East in 2024 NFL Draft showcase". The Sporting News. Retrieved February 3, 2024 – via MSN.com.
24. "National beats American in Senior Bowl, QB Michael Penix did not play". The Boston Globe. AP. February 3, 2024. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
25. "Home". hbculegacybowl.com. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
26. "CFP: Michigan, Washington, Texas, Alabama to Vie for Title". ESPN. December 3, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
27. Salvador, Joseph (November 26, 2023). "Why Minnesota Is Bowl Eligible With Only Five Wins". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
28. Gardner, Michelle (August 27, 2023). "Arizona State Football Self-Imposes Bowl Ban This Season for Alleged Recruiting Violations". AZ Central. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
29. "UNLV to host Boise State in MW Football Championship" (Press release). Mountain West Conference. November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
30. "Track which conferences are winning the 2023-24 college football bowl season". NCAA.org. January 2, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2024.