Cowbells and tomahawk chops at the same time — God help us. The Peach Chick-fil-A Bowl, Atlanta’s pride and joy behind only the parts of The Walking Dead where the lake looks pretty, is pretty easy to predict at this point. First, the bowl gets the ACC’s No. 2 team, which will either be the Virginia Tech Hokies or Florida St. Seminoles.
Probably FSU — Tech is favored, had only one bad game all year, and had only one close call since mid-September. If a ball had bounced the other way against James Madison, this would be a damn-near top-five team. If another ball had also courteously excused itself against the Boise St. Broncos, the TCU Horned Frogs would be ranked No. 4 right now. So let’s say FSU to the Peach Bowl. Excuse me.
The SEC sends its fifth-most desirable team, which could be either the Mississippi St. Bulldogs or Florida Gators. Since nobody but Georgia Bulldogs fans wants to see a repeat of this, it’s safe to say the Gators will be passed along to the bowl that shares their name, the BBVA Compass Bowl.
That leaves us Missy State, giving us a matchup between two teams with stiff defenses and athletic, if inconsistent, offenses. It also gives us lots and lots of Chick-fil-A coupons, since nobody can walk into an arena in this town without walking out thinking, “Wow, I’m going to eat free for the next month!”