The 2023 college football regular season was over in a blink, and we are now in the depths of bowl season. The College Football Playoff is less than one week away, and some of the best non-CFP bowl games will happen soon as well. One game that everyone in the college football world will have their eyes on is the Orange Bowl between Florida State football and Georgia football. Both the Seminoles and Bulldogs entered conference championship week with an undefeated record and ranked in the top four. Florida State made it out of that week unscathed, but Georgia fell to Alabama in the SEC title game. Very different results, but they both found themselves on the outside looking in.

Florida State football being left out the College Football Playoff was the most controversial move that the CFP committee has made since the four-team playoff was introduced in 2014. The Seminoles went 13-0 and won the ACC, but they were left out for two one-loss conference champions. It was a bit of a surprise to see Florida State drop after winning the ACC, but the reason that the committee gave was the loss of star quarterback Jordan Travis. Travis was a key player for the team on offense, and the offense did struggle without him, but it was still a surprise to see them leave them out, especially with how dominant the defense had been.

For Georgia football, they will not be able to defend their back-to-back national titles. The Bulldogs were ranked #1 almost the entire season, and almost everyone thought they would go on to win the SEC and make the College Football Playoff. Alabama was the better team in that game, however, and now, Georgia will be watching the playoff from home.

Now, we have the two teams that are the most unhappy to be playing in a New Year's Six bowl game. Typically, getting to the Orange Bowl means you had a pretty good season. These two teams have both had great seasons, but they are extremely disappointed to be missing the College Football Playoff.

It's going to be interesting to see how these teams come out and what the energy will look like, but it should be an entertaining matchup. Here are three predictions for the Orange Bowl.

Carson Beck will throw for two touchdowns and 250 yards

Florida State football should be coming into this matchup hungry to make a statement to prove to the committee that they should be in the playoff, but they also could come out flat. It is also important to note that most of their best players will be sitting out in this game. Because of that, it doesn't look good for the Seminoles. Their defense is going to be their only hope in this one, but Carson Beck is still going to be able to make some plays and find some success for his team.

Florida State will score less than 10 points

With the injuries and opt-outs, Florida State's offense is completely depleted. They are missing their star QB, star WRs, etc. They were already struggling while only missing Travis, but they will be missing pretty much all of their playmakers in the Orange Bowl.  That is not a good recipe for success. Georgia has a very talented defense, and they are going to make things difficult on the Seminoles all night long. Florida State is not going to score very many points in this one.

Georgia will by three scores

If Florida State was coming into this game without the opt-outs, they would have a much better chance of winning this game, and they would be coming in hungry to make a statement. Unfortunately for the Seminoles, that isn't the case, and it's going to be hard for them to keep up without so many of their key players. It seems like this team has checked out a little bit after the deflating news of being left out of the College Football Playoff, and they are likely going to struggle in this game against Georgia. Expect the Bulldogs to win big in this one.