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The 2021–22 NCAA football bowl games were a series of college football games scheduled to complete the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The main games concluded with the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship played on January 10, 2022, while the all-star portion of the schedule concluded February 19, 2022.

Schedule

The schedule for the 2021–22 bowl games is below. All times are EST (UTC−5). Note that Division II bowls and Division III bowls are not included here. The bowl schedule was released on May 27, 2021.

College Football Playoff and National Championship Game

The College Football Playoff system is used to determine a national championship of Division I FBS college football. A 13-member 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 in the final ranking were then seeded in a single-elimination semifinal round, with the winners advancing to the National Championship game.

The semifinal games for the 2021 season were the Cotton Bowl Classic and the Orange Bowl. Both were played December 31, 2021, 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 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship on January 10, 2022.

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

Non CFP bowl games

Bowl changes

Two bowls, which had originally planned to debut during the 2020–21 bowl season but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, planned to make their debuts during the 2021–22 bowl season; the Fenway Bowl (Boston, Massachusetts) and the LA Bowl (Inglewood, California). The LA Bowl made its debut, while the Fenway Bowl was again canceled due to COVID-19 issues.

The Montgomery Bowl, played in December 2020 as a one-off substitute for the Fenway Bowl, did not return. The San Francisco Bowl (formerly the Redbox Bowl) was canceled for a second straight season when organizers could not come to terms with all parties involved with the game.

On December 2, 2021, the NCAA approved a 42nd bowl game, later named the Frisco Football Classic, in order to accommodate all 84 bowl-eligible teams.

On December 22, Texas A&M withdrew from the Gator Bowl, citing a breakout of positive COVID-19 cases and season-ending injuries limiting them to too few players. Rutgers was subsequently announced as a replacement team.

On December 23, Hawaii withdrew from the Hawaii Bowl, similarly citing season-ending injuries, transfers, and COVID-19 cases within the program, and the game was ultimately cancelled.

On December 26, Boston College withdrew from the Military Bowl and Virginia withdrew from the Fenway Bowl due to COVID-19 cases; both games were canceled.

On December 26, the Miami (FL) Hurricanes announced that they would not be able to play in the Sun Bowl due to COVID-19 issues; organizers stated that they would try to secure a replacement team to face the Washington State Cougars.

On December 27, the Boise State Broncos withdrew from the Arizona Bowl due to COVID-19 issues; organizers stated that they would attempt to secure a replacement team. Later in the day, the Arizona Bowl was canceled, and the bowl's remaining team, the Central Michigan Chippewas, was named as the replacement team for the Sun Bowl.

On December 28, the Holiday Bowl was called off hours before game time, due to COVID-19 issues within the UCLA Bruins program, and officially canceled the next morning, after organizers could not secure a replacement team to face the NC State Wolfpack.

Bowl schedule / results

In the below table, affiliations for confirmed teams reflect their actual conferences, and rankings are per the final CFP rankings that were released on December 5.

Source:

FCS bowl game

The Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) has one bowl game. The FCS also has a postseason bracket tournament that culminates in the 2022 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game.

All-star games

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

A new all-star game, the HBCU Legacy Bowl, was announced in March 2021, and concluded the overall college football post-season on February 19, 2022. All times are EST.

Team selections

CFP top 25 standings and bowl games

On December 5, 2021, the College Football Playoff (CFP) selection committee announced its final team rankings for the year. This was the eighth year of the CFP era. Cincinnati became the first team from the Group of Five conferences to reach the playoffs. Michigan became the first team to make the playoffs after starting the season unranked in the AP Poll.

Conference champions' bowl games

Ranks are per the final CFP rankings, released on December 5, with win–loss records at that time. One bowl will feature a matchup of conference champions – the Cotton Bowl. Champions of the Power Five conferences were assured of a spot in a New Year's Six bowl game.

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 semi-final 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, match-up considerations, and other factors.

• ACC (10): Boston College, Clemson, Louisville, Miami (FL), NC State, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
• American (7): Cincinnati, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulsa, UCF
• Big Ten (9): Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
• Big 12 (7): Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, West Virginia
• C-USA (8): Marshall, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Old Dominion, UAB, UTEP, UTSA, Western Kentucky
• MAC (8): Ball State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (OH), Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Michigan
• Mountain West (8): Air Force, Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, San Diego State, Utah State, Wyoming
• Pac-12 (6): Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, Utah, Washington State
• SEC (13): Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M
• Sun Belt (4): Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, Louisiana
• Independent (4): Army, BYU, Liberty, Notre Dame

Number of bowl berths available: 84
Number of bowl-eligible teams: 84

Bowl-ineligible teams

• ACC (4): Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Syracuse
• American (4): Navy, South Florida, Temple, Tulane
• Big Ten (5): Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Northwestern, Rutgers*
• Big 12 (3): Kansas, TCU, Texas
• C-USA (6): Charlotte, FIU, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Rice, Southern Miss
• MAC (4): Akron, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Ohio
• Mountain West (4): Colorado State, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV
• Pac-12 (6): Arizona, California, Colorado, Stanford, USC, Washington
• SEC (1): Vanderbilt
• Sun Belt (6): Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Louisiana–Monroe, South Alabama, Texas State, Troy
• Independent (3): New Mexico State, UConn, UMass

Number of bowl-ineligible teams: 46

* Rutgers had the highest Academic Progress Rate (APR) of five-win teams. The NCAA announced on December 23 that Rutgers was the first eligible team, under APR regulations, to replace Texas A&M in the Gator Bowl. Rutgers accepted the bid.

Venues

A total of thirty-seven venues were utilized, with seven of them in particular for the CFP National Championship and New Year's Six (NY6). The number of venues increased from twenty, primarily due to the relaxation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of venues for bowl games typically was around forty. Prestige and capacity of venues usually increases as the schedule progresses towards to NY6 bowls and the national championship, in large part due to scheduling Top 25 teams late into the bowl games' time frame, while bowl games before Christmas Day typically involve schools in Group of Five conferences. Televising at the venues of bowl games is largely run by ESPN and joint networks (ABC & ESPN2), with only three bowl games run by a non-affiliated network (Holiday Bowl on Fox, Sun Bowl on CBS and Arizona Bowl on Barstool Sports). With the exception of the Bahamas Bowl in The Bahamas, all bowls were played within the United States.

CFP bowls

The College Football Playoff committee elected to continue with the six venues for this postseason—including two as the semifinals for the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship—as outlined below:

• AT&T Stadium in Arlington: Venue for the 2021 Cotton Bowl Classic that featured one of the semi-final pairings.
• State Farm Stadium in Glendale: Venue for the 2022 Fiesta Bowl that featured two of the four highest non-Top 4 and non-NY6 bid conference affiliated.
• Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta: Venue for the 2021 Peach Bowl that featured two of the four highest non-Top 4 and non-NY6 bid conference affiliated.
• Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens: Venue for the 2021 Orange Bowl that featured one of the semi-final pairings.
• Rose Bowl in Pasadena: Venue for the 2022 Rose Bowl that featured the highest non-top 4 conference finishers from the Big Ten and Pac-12.
• Caesars Superdome in New Orleans: Venue for the 2022 Sugar Bowl that featured the highest non-top 4 conference finishers from the SEC and Big 12.

The National Championship was played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, marking the first time that a state in the U.S. midwest hosted the national championship game in the CFP era.

Glendale (Phoenix area)	Atlanta	New Orleans
State Farm Stadium	Mercedes-Benz Stadium	Caesars Superdome
Capacity: 78,600	Capacity: 75,000	Capacity: 76,468
Pasadena (Los Angeles area)	GlendaleAtlanta_PasadenaNew OrleansArlingtonIndianapolisMiami GardensVenues of the 2021 New Year's Six Bowls Source: College Football Playoff
Rose Bowl
Capacity: 92,542
Arlington (Dallas/Fort Worth area)	Indianapolis	Miami Gardens (Miami area)
AT&T Stadium	Lucas Oil Stadium	Hard Rock Stadium
Capacity: 105,000	Capacity: 70,000	Capacity: 64,767

Television ratings

All times Eastern. CFP Rankings.

Non-CFP bowl games

New Year Six and College Football Playoff semifinal games

All times Eastern. Rankings are from the CFP Rankings.

Notes

1. 44 total bowl games were scheduled; 43 in FBS (including the College Football Playoff National Championship Game) and 1 in FCS. The Hawaii Bowl, Military Bowl, Fenway Bowl, Arizona Bowl, and Holiday Bowl were subsequently canceled.
2. Dates exclude all-star games.
3. Rutgers replaced Texas A&M in the Gator Bowl.
4. Central Michigan replaced Miami (FL) in the Sun Bowl.
5. The Arizona Bowl was to be broadcast via Barstool Sports' website, app, and social media platforms.

References

1. Newton, Matt (January 2022). "College Football Bowl Challenge Cup Standings". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
2. "Dates Announced for College Football Playoff Games through 2026". College Football Playoff. Archived from the original on April 13, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
3. ^ "2021 College Football Bowl Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
4. "San Francisco Bowl canceled for second straight season, eyeing 2022 return". Retrieved September 10, 2021.
5. McMurphy, Brett (December 2, 2021). "Sources: NCAA to Add New Bowl Game in Texas". Action Network. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
6. Li, David K. (December 22, 2021). "Texas A&M backs out of Gator Bowl after Covid outbreak leaves team without enough players". NBC News. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
7. "Rutgers receives Gator Bowl bid". Chicago Sun-Times. AP. December 23, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
8. "Hawai'i Bowl canceled after Hawai'i withdraws". ESPN.com. December 24, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
9. Adelson, Andrea (December 26, 2021). "Military, Fenway Bowls Canceled Because of COVID-19 Issues". ESPN. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
10. Adelson, Andrea (December 26, 2021). "Miami out of Sun Bowl against Washington State due to COVID-19 issues in football program". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
11. Glasspiegel, Ryan (December 27, 2021). "Dave Portnoy announces Boise State out of Barstool Bowl due to COVID-19". New York Post. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
12. "Update: Arizona Bowl canceled for 2021". KOLD-TV. December 27, 2021. Retrieved December 27, 2021 – via MSN.com.
13. Sallee, Barrett (December 27, 2021). "Central Michigan to play Washington State in Sun Bowl after Miami pulls out due to COVID-19 issues". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
14. Schlabach, Mark (December 28, 2021). "Holiday Bowl between UCLA and NC State Wolfpack canceled due to COVID-19 issues in Bruins program". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
15. Adelson, Andrea (December 29, 2021). "Holiday Bowl unable to find replacement college football team, cancels game". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
16. Brew, Tom (December 11, 2021). "Complete 2021-22 College Football Bowl Game Schedule". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
17. "LendingTree Bowl Moving to Hancock Whitney Stadium". LendingTreeBowl.com. November 12, 2021. Archived from the original on November 12, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
18. Pedersen, Brian J. (July 27, 2021). "Barstool Sports to sponsor Arizona Bowl". Arizona Desert Swarm. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
19. Bender, Bill (May 27, 2021). "College football 2021-22 bowl schedule: Dates, times for all 44 bowls". Sporting News. Retrieved May 27, 2021 – via MSN.com.
20. "South Carolina State will take on Jackson State in the Celebration Bowl". Twitter. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
21. Thompson, Khari (December 18, 2021). "Jackson State football crushed by South Carolina State in Celebration Bowl: Our top takeaways". Mississippi Clarion Ledger. Retrieved December 18, 2021 – via Yahoo! News.
22. "Black College Football Hall of Fame establishes HBCU Legacy Bowl". NFL.com. March 18, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
23. "Hula Bowl 2022 Coaches Announced". hulabowl.com. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
24. Quartey, Michael (July 3, 2021). "Tropical Bowl Announces Orlando's Camping World Stadium as New Home to the 2022 Bowl Week Jan 15". tropicalbowl.com.
25. Quartey, Michael (January 8, 2022). "Bowl Week Announces 2022 Tropical Bowl Roster at Orlando's Camping World Stadium". tropicalbowl.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
26. "2022 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl Date Set". nflpa.com. July 12, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
27. "National vs. American - Box Score". ESPN.com. January 29, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
28. "Game Day". shrinebowl.com. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
29. "The Game". seniorbowl.com. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
30. "HBCU Legacy Bowl". hbculegacybowl.com. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
31. ^ Russo, Ralph D. (December 5, 2021). "Cincinnati breaks through, earns CFP bid alongside Alabama, Michigan, Georgia". The Boston Globe. AP. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
32. Wilson, Dave (November 23, 2021). "Rutgers Accepts Invite as Replacement Team for Gator Bowl, to Play Wake Forest". ESPN. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
33. ^ "College Football Playoff Games Schedule". College Football Playoff. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
34. "People have been whining about 'too many bowl games' for like 100 years now". Banner Society. August 15, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
35. "Ranking the 39 bowl games in 2019 from best to worst". Yahoo! Sports. December 9, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
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37. "About The Bahamas Bowl". Bahamas Bowl. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
38. "Over 3 million tuned in to watch Florida and UCF in the Gasparilla Bowl". Yahoo.com. December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 29, 2021.

Further reading

• "FBS (I-A) Conference Schedule". ESPN.com. 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.

External links

• College Football Playoff website

• 2021–22 NCAA football bowl games