| Season: | 2021 |
| Number Of Bowls: | 39 |
| All Star Games: | 6 |
| Championship Bowl: | 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship |
| Championship Location: | Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Champions: | Georgia Bulldogs |
| Bowl Challenge Cup: | Mountain West[1] |
| Conference1: | AAC |
| Conference1 Teams: | 4 |
| Conference1 Wins: | 3 |
| Conference1 Losses: | 1 |
| Conference1 Ap Poll: | 2 |
| Conference2: | ACC |
| Conference2 Teams: | 6 |
| Conference2 Wins: | 2 |
| Conference2 Losses: | 4 |
| Conference2 Ap Poll: | 4 |
| Conference3: | Big 12 |
| Conference3 Teams: | 7 |
| Conference3 Wins: | 5 |
| Conference3 Losses: | 2 |
| Conference3 Ap Poll: | 3 |
| Conference4: | Big Ten |
| Conference4 Teams: | 10 |
| Conference4 Wins: | 6 |
| Conference4 Losses: | 4 |
| Conference4 Ap Poll: | 4 |
| Conference5: | C–USA |
| Conference5 Teams: | 8 |
| Conference5 Wins: | 3 |
| Conference5 Losses: | 5 |
| Conference5 Ap Poll: | 0 |
| Conference6: | MAC |
| Conference6 Teams: | 8 |
| Conference6 Wins: | 3 |
| Conference6 Losses: | 5 |
| Conference6 Ap Poll: | 0 |
| Conference7: | Mountain West |
| Conference7 Teams: | 6 |
| Conference7 Wins: | 5 |
| Conference7 Losses: | 1 |
| Conference7 Ap Poll: | 2 |
| Conference8: | Pac-12 |
| Conference8 Teams: | 5 |
| Conference8 Wins: | 0 |
| Conference8 Losses: | 5 |
| Conference8 Ap Poll: | 2 |
| Conference9: | SEC |
| Conference9 Teams: | 14 |
| Conference9 Wins: | 6 |
| Conference9 Losses: | 8 |
| Conference9 Ap Poll: | 5 |
| Conference10: | Sun Belt |
| Conference10 Teams: | 4 |
| Conference10 Wins: | 3 |
| Conference10 Losses: | 1 |
| Conference10 Ap Poll: | 1 |
| Conference11: | Independent |
| Conference11 Teams: | 4 |
| Conference11 Wins: | 2 |
| Conference11 Losses: | 2 |
| Conference11 Ap Poll: | 2 |
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.[2]
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.
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.
Each of the games in the following table was televised by ESPN.
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.[3]
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.[4]
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.[5] Rutgers was subsequently announced as a replacement team.[6]
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.[7]
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.[8]
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.[9]
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.[10] Later in the day, the Arizona Bowl was canceled,[11] and the bowl's remaining team, the Central Michigan Chippewas, was named as the replacement team for the Sun Bowl.[12]
On December 28, the Holiday Bowl was called off hours before game time, due to COVID-19 issues within the UCLA Bruins program,[13] and officially canceled the next morning, after organizers could not secure a replacement team to face the NC State Wolfpack.[14]
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.[15]
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.
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.[21] All times are EST.
| Date | Time (EST) | Game | Site | Television | Participants | Results | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 15 | 12:00 p.m. | Hula Bowl | Bounce House Orlando, Florida | CBS Sports Network | Team Kai Team Aina | Kai 21 Aina 20 | [22] |
| Jan. 15 | 4:00 p.m. | Tropical Bowl | Camping World Stadium Orlando, Florida | Varsity Sports Network | American Team National Team | American 24 National 14 | [23] [24] |
| Jan. 29 | 6:00 p.m. | NFLPA Collegiate Bowl | Rose Bowl Pasadena, California | NFL Network | National Team American Team | National 25 American 24 | [25] [26] |
| Feb. 3 | 8:30 p.m. | East–West Shrine Bowl | Allegiant Stadium Paradise, Nevada | West Team East Team | West 25 East 24 | [27] | |
| Feb. 5 | 2:30 p.m. | Senior Bowl | Hancock Whitney Stadium Mobile, Alabama | National Team American Team | National 20 American 10 | [28] | |
| Feb. 19 | 4:00 p.m. | HBCU Legacy Bowl | Yulman Stadium New Orleans, Louisiana | Team Gaither Team Robinson | Gaither 22 Robinson 6 | [29] |
See also: Bowl eligibility and Bids to college bowl games.
See also: 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings.
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.[30]
| Rank | Team | W–L | Conference and standing | Bowl game | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cotton Bowl (CFP semifinal) | ||||
| 2 | Orange Bowl (CFP semifinal) | ||||
| 3 | Orange Bowl (CFP semifinal) | ||||
| 4 | AAC champions | Cotton Bowl (CFP semifinal) | |||
| 5 | Independent | Fiesta Bowl (NY6) | |||
| 6 | Rose Bowl (NY6) | ||||
| 7 | Big 12 champions | Sugar Bowl (NY6) | |||
| 8 | Sugar Bowl (NY6) | ||||
| 9 | Big 12 first place | Fiesta Bowl (NY6) | |||
| 10 | Peach Bowl (NY6) | ||||
| 11 | Pac-12 champions | Rose Bowl (NY6) | |||
| 12 | champions | Peach Bowl (NY6) | |||
| 13 | Independent | Independence Bowl | |||
| 14 | Pac-12 North Division champions | Alamo Bowl | |||
| 15 | Citrus Bowl | ||||
| 16 | Big 12 second place (tie) | Alamo Bowl | |||
| 17 | Gator Bowl | ||||
| 18 | canceled | ||||
| 19 | Cheez-It Bowl | ||||
| 20 | AAC first place (tie) | Birmingham Bowl | |||
| 21 | Outback Bowl | ||||
| 22 | Citrus Bowl | ||||
| 23 | Sun Belt champions | New Orleans Bowl | |||
| 24 | Mountain West West Division champions | Frisco Bowl | |||
| 25 | withdrew |
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.
| Conference | Champion | W–L | Rank | Bowl game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Cotton Bowl (semifinal) | |||
| 12 | Peach Bowl (NY6) | |||
| Baylor Bears | 7 | Sugar Bowl (NY6) | ||
| 2 | Orange Bowl (semifinal) | |||
| Frisco Bowl | ||||
| Cure Bowl | ||||
| LA Bowl | ||||
| 11 | Rose Bowl (NY6) | |||
| 1 | Cotton Bowl (semifinal) | |||
| 23 | New Orleans Bowl | |||
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.
Number of bowl berths available: 84
Number of bowl-eligible teams: 84
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.[31]
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.[32] 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.[33] 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).[34] With the exception of the Bahamas Bowl in The Bahamas,[35] all bowls were played within the United States.
See main article: New Year's Six. 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:
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 | Atlanta | New Orleans | |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Farm Stadium | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | Caesars Superdome | |
| Capacity: 78,600 | Capacity: 75,000 | Capacity: 76,468 | |
| Pasadena | Venues of the 2021 New Year's Six Bowls | ||
| Rose Bowl | |||
| Capacity: 92,542 | |||
| Arlington (Dallas/Fort Worth area) | IndianapolisNC | Miami Gardens | |
| AT&T Stadium | Lucas Oil Stadium | Hard Rock Stadium | |
| Capacity: 105,000 | Capacity: 70,000 | Capacity: 64,767 | |
All times Eastern.CFP Rankings.
| Rank | Date ! | Matchup | Network | Viewers (millions) | TV Rating | Game | Location | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | January 1, 2022, 1:00 p.m. | No. 15 Iowa | 17 | No. 22 Kentucky | 20 | ABC | 6.5 | 3.5 | Citrus Bowl | Camping World Stadium, Orlando FL | |
| 2 | December 30, 2021, 3:00 p.m. | Tennessee | 45 | Purdue | 48 | 5.6 | 3.1 | Music City Bowl | Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN | ||
| 3 | December 29, 2021, 5:45 p.m. | No. 19 Clemson | 20 | Iowa State | 13 | 4.9 | 2.8 | Cheez-It Bowl | Camping World Stadium, Orlando FL | ||
| 4 | December 29, 2021, 9:15 p.m. | No. 14 Oregon | 32 | No. 16 Oklahoma | 47 | 4.7 | 2.7 | Alamo Bowl | Alamodome, San Antonio, TX | ||
| 5 | January 1, 2022, 12:00 p.m. | Penn State | 10 | No. 21 Arkansas | 24 | ESPN2 | 3.9 | 2.2 | Outback Bowl | Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL | |
| 6 | December 28, 2021, 6:45 p.m | Mississippi State | 7 | Texas Tech | 34 | ESPN | 3.9 | 2.3 | Liberty Bowl | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, TN | |
| 7 | December 30, 2021, 10:30 p.m. | Wisconsin | 20 | Arizona St. | 13 | 3.6 | 1.8 | Las Vegas Bowl | Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV | ||
| 8 | December 31, 2021, 11:00 a.m. | No. 17 Wake Forest | 38 | Rutgers | 10 | 3.5 | 2.1 | Gator Bowl | TIAA Bank Field, Jacksonville, FL | ||
| 9 | December 18, 2021, 3:30 p.m. | UAB | 31 | No. 13 BYU | 28 | ABC | 3.2 | 1.9 | Independence Bowl | Independence Stadium, Shreveport, LA | |
| 10 | December 23, 2021, 7:00 p.m. | UCF | 29 | Florida | 17 | ESPN | 3.2[36] | 1.8 | Gasparilla Bowl | Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL | |
| Rank | Date | Time ! | Matchup | Network | Viewers (millions) | TV ratings | Game | Location | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | January 10, 2022 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 3 Georgia | 33 | No. 1 Alabama | 18 | ESPN | 22.6 | 12.1 | National Championship | |
| 2 | December 31, 2021 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 3 Georgia | 34 | No. 2 Michigan | 11 | 17.2 | 8.1 | Orange Bowl (semifinal) | ||
| 3 | December 31, 2021 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 4 Cincinnati | 6 | No. 1 Alabama | 27 | 16.6 | 8.6 | Cotton Bowl (semifinal) | AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX | |
| 4 | January 1, 2022 | 5:00 pm | No. 11 Utah | 45 | No. 6 Ohio State | 48 | 16.6 | 8.2 | |||
| 5 | January 1, 2022 | 8:45 p.m. | 7 | No. 7 Baylor | 21 | 9.8 | 5.1 | Sugar Bowl | |||
| 6 | January 1, 2022 | 1:00 pm | No. 9 Oklahoma State | 37 | No. 5 Notre Dame | 35 | 8.0 | 4.2 | |||
| 7 | December 30, 2021 | 7:00 pm | No. 12 Pittsburgh | 21 | No. 10 Michigan State | 31 | 7.6 | 4.0 | Peach Bowl | Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA | |