The college football postseason starts tomorrow, and with it comes a tradition unlike any other: The Bowl Confidence Pool, where you can cheer and taunt your friends on the way to victory while making every one of the postseason games between December 16 and January 1 matter.
But what’s a confidence pool? We explain the best way to enjoy college football’s silly season!
What is a confidence pool?
The confidence pool gives you a chance to pick not only who you think will win each of the 41 bowl games straight up with no spread involved, but also how confident you are about that result.
You rank all teams from 41-1 based on how likely you think that team is to win, with 41 being the most confident. Since the team you think is the most likely to be victorious is worth 41 points to your final score, the game about which you’re the least confident will only push your score up or down just a single point. So it’s not just about being right in a confidence pool, but also how sure you are about the outcome.
If the team you pick wins the game, you receive the corresponding confidence points which you assigned to that game. And the most points after January 1 is the winner!
Here’s how our college football staff and writers have ranked each game in our own bowl confidence pool for the 2023 CFB postseason.
The entrants
Collin Sherwin: Deputy Sports Editor, College
Nick Simon: Staff Writer
Teddy Ricketson: Staff Writer
Chinmay Vaidya: Deputy Sports Editor, NBA
Chris Landers: Deputy Sports Editor, Baseball
2023 College Football Bowl Confidence Pool
| Date | Game | Teams | Collin Pick | Collin Confidence | Nick Pick | Nick Confidence | Teddy Pick | Teddy Confidence | Chinmay Pick | Chinmay Confidence | Chris Pick | Chris Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Game | Teams | Collin Pick | Collin Confidence | Nick Pick | Nick Confidence | Teddy Pick | Teddy Confidence | Chinmay Pick | Chinmay Confidence | Chris Pick | Chris Confidence |
| Dec 16 | R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl | Jacksonville State vs. Louisiana | Jax St | 3 | Jax State | 34 | Jax St. | 15 | Louisiana | 5 | Jacksonville State | 14 |
| Dec 16 | Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl | Texas Tech vs. Cal | TTU | 11 | Cal | 7 | Texas Tech | 19 | Texas Tech | 4 | California | 4 |
| Dec 16 | LA Bowl hosted by Gronk | Boise State vs. UCLA | Boise | 16 | Boise State | 30 | UCLA | 5 | UCLA | 24 | Boise State | 12 |
| Dec 16 | Myrtle Beach Bowl | Georgia Southern vs. Ohio | Ohio | 17 | GA Southern | 13 | GA Southern | 40 | Ohio | 3 | Georgia Southern | 25 |
| Dec 16 | Isleta New Mexico Bowl | New Mexico State vs. Fresno State | NMSU | 20 | NMSU | 14 | NMSU | 2 | Fresno St. | 2 | New Mexico State | 31 |
| Dec 16 | Avocados From Mexico Cure Bowl | App State vs. Miami-Ohio | App State | 33 | Miami-OH | 11 | App St | 35 | App State | 1 | App State | 28 |
| Dec 18 | Famous Toastery Bowl | Western Kentucky vs. Old Dominion | WKU | 5 | WKU | 26 | ODU | 18 | WKU | 6 | Old Dominion | 22 |
| Dec 19 | Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl | Marshall vs. UTSA | UTSA | 37 | UTSA | 32 | Marshall | 4 | UTSA | 7 | UTSA | 40 |
| Dec 21 | RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl | South Florida vs. Syracuse | USF | 10 | USF | 16 | USF | 17 | Syracuse | 32 | Syracuse | 7 |
| Dec 22 | Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl | UCF vs. Georgia Tech | Ga Tech | 1 | UCF | 38 | UCF | 16 | UCF | 8 | Georgia Tech | 1 |
| Dec 23 | Camellia Bowl | Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois | NIU | 2 | Arky State | 17 | NIU | 3 | NIU | 10 | Arkansas State | 30 |
| Dec 23 | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Utah State vs. Georgia State | GSU | 7 | Utah State | 24 | GA St. | 29 | Utah State | 13 | Utah State | 19 |
| Dec 23 | EasyPost Hawai’i Bowl | Coastal Carolina vs. San Jose State | SJSU | 29 | SJSU | 4 | Coastal | 13 | Coastal | 12 | San Jose State | 33 |
| Dec 23 | Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl | James Madison vs. Air Force | JMU | 30 | Air Force | 29 | JMU | 28 | JMU | 38 | Air Force | 5 |
| Dec 23 | Birmingham Bowl | Duke vs. Troy | Troy | 34 | Duke | 27 | Duke | 26 | Duke | 22 | Troy | 34 |
| Dec 23 | 68 Ventures Bowl | South Alabama vs. Eastern Michigan | USA | 35 | USA | 15 | South Alabama | 1 | S. Alabama | 9 | South Alabama | 35 |
| Dec 23 | SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl | Northwestern vs. Utah | Utah | 36 | Northwestern | 8 | Utah | 41 | Utah | 23 | Utah | 26 |
| Dec 26 | Quick Lane Bowl | Bowling Green vs. Minnesota | Minnesota | 12 | Minnesota | 28 | Minnesota | 11 | Minnesota | 21 | Minnesota | 13 |
| Dec 26 | SERVPRO First Responder Bowl | Texas State vs. Rice | Texas State | 28 | Texas State | 35 | Rice | 12 | Rice | 14 | Texas State | 24 |
| Dec 26 | Guaranteed Rate Bowl | UNLV vs. Kansas | Kansas | 38 | UNLV | 5 | Kansas | 25 | UNLV | 11 | Kansas | 36 |
| Dec 27 | Military Bowl | Virginia Tech vs. Tulane | Va Tech | 13 | Va Tech | 39 | Tulane | 33 | Tulane | 16 | Virginia Tech | 21 |
| Dec 27 | Duke’s Mayo Bowl | North Carolina vs. West Virginia | WVU | 14 | WVU | 23 | North Carolina | 22 | WVU | 27 | West Virginia | 17 |
| Dec 27 | TaxAct Texas Bowl | Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M | OKSU | 15 | OSU | 12 | Oklahoma St. | 24 | Texas A&M | 26 | Oklahoma State | 15 |
| Dec 27 | DIRECTV Holiday Bowl | Louisville vs. USC | Louisville | 30 | Louisville | 33 | Louisville | 23 | Louisville | 25 | Louisville | 27 |
| Dec 28 | Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl | Miami vs. Rutgers | Rutgers | 4 | Miami | 22 | Miami | 9 | Miami | 17 | Rutgers | 9 |
| Dec 28 | Valero Alamo Bowl | Arizona vs. Oklahoma | Arizona | 6 | Arizona | 31 | Oklahoma | 37 | Arizona | 39 | Arizona | 3 |
| Dec 28 | Pop-Tarts Bowl | NC State vs. Kansas State | K-State | 27 | K-State | 18 | NC State | 27 | NC State | 29 | Kansas State | 2 |
| Dec 28 | Wasabi Fenway Bowl | Boston College vs. SMU | SMU | 39 | SMU | 9 | SMU | 10 | SMU | 28 | SMU | 37 |
| Dec 29 | TaxSlayer Gator Bowl | Clemson vs. Kentucky | Kentucky | 9 | Clemson | 36 | Clemson | 36 | Kentucky | 30 | Kentucky | 6 |
| Dec 29 | AutoZone Liberty Bowl | Iowa State vs. Memphis | ISU | 19 | Memphis | 21 | Iowa St. | 8 | Iowa St. | 18 | Iowa State | 23 |
| Dec 29 | Goodyear Cotton Bowl | Missouri vs. Ohio State | OSU | 32 | Missouri | 30 | Ohio State | 32 | Mizzou | 41 | Missouri | 18 |
| Dec 29 | Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl | Notre Dame vs. Oregon State | Oregon State | 8 | Notre Dame | 18 | Oregon State | 31 | Oregon State | 19 | Notre Dame | 11 |
| Dec 30 | Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl | Ole Miss vs. Penn State | Penn State | 21 | Penn State | 2 | Penn State | 20 | Ole Miss | 31 | Ole Miss | 10 |
| Dec 30 | TransPerfect Music City Bowl | Auburn vs. Maryland | Auburn | 22 | Maryland | 37 | Maryland | 21 | Maryland | 20 | Auburn | 20 |
| Dec 30 | Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl | Toledo vs. Wyoming | Wyoming | 23 | Wyoming | 19 | Wyoming | 6 | Wyoming | 15 | Wyoming | 29 |
| Dec 30 | Capital One Orange Bowl | Florida State vs. Georgia | Georgia | 31 | Georgia | 40 | Georgia | 34 | Georgia | 40 | Georgia | 38 |
| Jan 1 | Allstate Sugar Bowl | Texas vs. Washington | Texas | 18 | Texas | 20 | Texas | 14 | Washington | 34 | Washington | 8 |
| Jan 1 | ReliaQuest Bowl | LSU vs. Wisconsin | LSU | 24 | LSU | 25 | LSU | 30 | LSU | 35 | LSU | 32 |
| Jan 1 | Rose Bowl Game | Alabama vs. Michigan | Alabama | 25 | Michigan | 1 | Michigan | 7 | Michigan | 36 | Alabama | 16 |
| Jan 1 | Cheez-It Citrus Bowl | Iowa vs. Tennessee | Tennessee | 40 | Iowa | 3 | Tennessee | 39 | Tennessee | 37 | Tennessee | 4 |
| Jan 1 | Vrbo Fiesta Bowl | Liberty vs. Oregon | Oregon | 41 | Oregon | 41 | Oregon | 38 | Oregon | 33 | Oregon | 39 |