Purdue Bowl Projections: Champ Week

Nov 28, 2022 - 6:15 PM

Much like Purdue’s season, their projected bowl matchup has been a rollercoaster ride. Back-to-back loses to Wisconsin and Iowa seemed to doom the Boilermakers to the Pinstripe Bowl or worse, the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit. Then Purdue rattled off 3 straight victories and won the Big Ten West title outright. One projection you will not see from these sources is Purdue to the Rose Bowl because the Boilermakers would need to become the Spoilermakers to get to Pasadena by beating Michigan in the Big Ten Championship. Although possible, Michigan is a daunting challenge and will be coming out swinging to assure their spot in the College Football Playoff. With that said, here’s a look at Purdue’s bowl projections leading into Champ Week:

CBS Sports: Citrus Bowl vs LSU

1/2 at 1:00 PM Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL

ESPN (Schlabach): Citrus Bowl vs LSU

ESPN (Bonagura): Citrus Bowl vs LSU

247 Sports: Citrus Bowl vs LSU

Sports Illustrated: Citrus Bowl vs LSU

Athlon Sports: Citrus Bowl vs LSU

College Football News: Citrus Bowl vs LSU

Action Network: Citrus Bowl vs LSU

USA Today: ReliaQuest Bowl vs Ole Miss

1/2 at 12:00 PM Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL

I’m convinced that each of these outlets saw my article leading into week 13 and wanted to appease me. From what I can see, Purdue is the 4^th Big Ten preference behind Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State. Michigan is basically a lock for the CFP, even if they lose to Purdue. Ohio State could go to the playoff still, depending on the Big 12 and Pac 12 champs. Unfortunately, the Big Ten doesn’t receive the same bias as the SEC, so I will assume OSU slides out of the CFP and goes to the Rose Bowl (assuming Purdue doesn’t steal the bid). Penn State has played well enough to get into a New Years 6 game, likely the Cotton Bowl, so that leaves Purdue as the first pick for the non NY6 games. That most likely means the Citrus Bowl, which, for clarity is called the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. This is not to be confused with the Cheez-It Bowl that’s played in the same stadium 4 days earlier because ads. Altogether, Purdue football could be looking at a warmer climate to reign in the new year. Break out the shorts and sunglasses!