What bowl games could Tigers play in?

As happy as the Memphis football team was when John “Pop” Williams scored on a punt return touchdown against Tulsa on Saturday, they were almost the opposite when discussing being bowl eligible.

Both linebacker Jackson Dillon and running back Darrell Henderson were happy the Tigers (6-4, 3-3 AAC) became bowl eligible for a fifth straight season, but they had bigger priorities on their mind.

“I want to win a bowl game,” Dillon said. “In fact, I want to win these last two games so we can get into the best bowl possible.”

Dillon played a key role in the Tigers’ last bowl win in 2014, a 55-48 victory over BYU in the Miami Beach Bowl.

Memphis still has to travel to SMU (5-5, 4-2) on Friday (8 p.m., ESPN2) before hosting Houston (7-3, 4-2) next week in the regular-season finale. But now, fans can start looking even closer to plan which bowl the Tigers might attend.

Which bowls have been projected

CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm and ESPN’s Mitch Sherman both have Memphis pegged for the Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 22. Palm has the Tigers facing San Diego State, and Sherman has them facing Appalachian State.

ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura projected the Tigers to face Ohio in the Frisco Bowl on Dec. 19 in Frisco, Texas.

Both Sporting News and Sports Illustrated have Memphis slotted in the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl on Dec. 20 in Tampa, Fla. Sporting News predicted Memphis will face Georgia Tech, and Sports Illustrated projected the Tigers meeting Middle Tennessee State.

SBNation has Memphis facing Arkansas State in the AutoNation Cure Bowl on Dec. 15 in Orlando.

The Birmingham Bowl was one of the most popular projections for Memphis over the past few weeks. Memphis last played in it in 2015 and lost to Auburn 31-10.

Since Mike Norvell was hired after the 2015 season, the Tigers played in the Boca Raton Bowl two seasons ago and the AutoZone Liberty Bowl last season. Memphis lost both games.