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No. 6 Tennessee and No. 7 Clemson will face off in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 30, while No. 5 Alabama will play No. 9 Kansas State in the Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31 in two New Year’s Six matchups featuring top-10 teams. Here’s what you need to know:
- In the other New Year’s Six games, No. 10 USC will play No. 16 Tulane in the Cotton Bowl (Jan. 2) while No. 8 Utah and No. 11 Penn State will meet in the Rose Bowl (Jan. 2).
- Utah, which won the Pac-12 championship Saturday, is the first repeat Rose Bowl team since Stanford in 2013-14.
- Tulane, which won the AAC and finished the season 11-2, heads to its first major bowl since 1939.
Orange Bowl by the numbers
Clemson and Tennessee will meet for the 20th time and the first time since the 2003-04 Peach Bowl. The Volunteers lead the all-time series 11-6-2, but only three of those games have been played since World War II.
The game will mark Tennessee’s fifth Orange Bowl (first since 1997-98) and Clemson’s seventh.
Sugar Bowl by the numbers
Alabama and Kansas State are meeting for the first time. Their head coaches — Nick Saban and Chris Klieman — have a combined 11 national championships.
This will be Alabama’s 17th Sugar Bowl and Kansas State’s first. It’s K-State’s first major bowl under a coach not named Bill Snyder.
Cotton Bowl by the numbers
The Cotton Bowl will mark the fourth game between USC and Tulane but the first since 1946. They met in the 1932 Rose Bowl.
USC is playing in its third Cotton Bowl and Tulane is in its first.
Rose Bowl by the numbers
Penn State and Utah will meet for the first time. Utah is in its second Rose Bowl, one year after its first; Penn State is in its fifth Rose Bowl, 100 years after its first appearance.
(Photo: Marvin Gentry / USA Today)
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