Will Memphis football stay home for bowl season?
The Tigers (9-3, 6-2 American Athletic Conference) could play in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl for the first time since 2017. That’s because the SEC doesn’t have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all of its allocated spots, so an AAC team could fill the spot against a Big 12 opponent.
Memphis missed out on the AAC title game and finished fourth in the conference after losing to the two teams — Tulane and SMU — who played in the conference title game. The Tigers went 3-1 in nonconference play, with wins over Bethune-Cookman, Arkansas State and Boise State, and a loss to Missouri.
The regular season was an improvement from the past two years, which ended at 6-6 before bowl games.
It’ll be a rematch of 2017 when Iowa State returns to Memphis
Memphis vs. Iowa State will be the matchup. The Liberty Bowl announced it on Sunday afternoon.
Memphis will play in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl
The Liberty Bowl announced Sunday afternoon that Memphis would play against a Big 12 team in the bowl game on Dec. 29. That opponent will be announced shortly.
Liberty gets New Year’s Six bid; AAC’s streak ends
Liberty, the undefeated Conference USA champion, earned the Group of Five’s New Year’s Six bid and will face Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl. That was a bit of a surprise because the Flames had the worst strength of schedule in FBS and got the spot over SMU, the AAC champion who only lost to TCU and Oklahoma.
Liberty’s bid means the AAC’s six-year streak of sending a team to the New Year’s Six or College Football Playoff has come to an end in the last year before the expanded playoff.
First dominoes fall as College Football Playoff is set
Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama were announced as the four teams in the College Football Playoff. Next up will be the announcement of the New Year’s Six bowl games, which will need to be finalized before all the other bowl pairings are officially put together.
It’ll be interesting to see if AAC champion SMU (11-2) or Conference USA champion Liberty (13-0) gets the Group of Five’s spot in the New Year’s Six.
Final bowl projections agree on Memphis’ destination
It’s certainly looking like Memphis is headed for a spot in the Liberty Bowl. Both Bonagura and Schlabach have Memphis vs. West Virginia in the Liberty Bowl, while McMurphy and Palm both have Memphis vs. Iowa State in the Liberty Bowl.
The pairings should start to be finalized after the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six bowls are announced this afternoon.
What bowl game is Memphis going to? Updated projections entering Sunday
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach has Memphis in the Military Bowl against Miami, while ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura has the Tigers in the Gasparilla Bowl against James Madison.
Jerry Palm of CBS has Memphis in the Military Bowl presented by GoBowling.com against Virginia Tech. Action Network’s Brett McMurphy has Memphis in the Liberty Bowl against Iowa State.
Brad Crawford of 247Sports also has Memphis vs. Iowa State in the Liberty Bowl.
When are college football bowl games announced?
The games will be announced throughout Sunday on ESPN.
Memphis football schedule 2023
| Date | Opponent | Result |
| Saturday, Sept. 2 | Bethune-Cookman | W 56-14 |
| Saturday, Sept. 9 | at Arkansas State | W 37-3 |
| Thursday, Sept. 14 | Navy | W 28-24 |
| Saturday, Sept. 23 | vs. Missouri in St. Louis | L 34-27 |
| Saturday, Sept. 30 | Boise State | W 35-32 |
| Saturday, Oct. 7 | BYE | — |
| Friday, Oct. 13 | Tulane | L 31-21 |
| Saturday, Oct. 21 | at UAB | W 45-21 |
| Saturday, Oct. 28 | at North Texas | W 45-42 |
| Saturday, Nov. 4 | South Florida | W 59-50 |
| Saturday, Nov. 11 | at Charlotte | W 44-38 (OT) |
| Saturday, Nov. 18 | SMU | L 38-34 |
| Friday, Nov. 24 | at Temple | W 45-21 |
Record: 9-3 (6-2 AAC)
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