College Football Bowl Projections

The College Football Playoff (CFP) selection committee released its first set of rankings Tuesday night, with No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 Florida State headlining the rankings. However, this set of bowl projections will mostly not take the rankings into account.

For these projections, teams are selected for a bowl based on the CFP rankings (for the New Year’s Six) or their projected regular season record (for all other games), with the 82 teams being eligible for a slot in one of 41 bowl games. In addition, two games are not being projected: the Celebration Bowl (because its participants are from the FCS) and the national championship. Here are this week’s bowl projections:

New Year’s Six Bowls:

CFP Semifinal / Rose Bowl Game (Jan. 1, Pasadena, Calif.): Michigan versus Georgia

CFP Semifinal / Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1, New Orleans): Florida State versus Ohio State

Cotton Bowl Classic (Dec. 29, Arlington, Texas): Ole Miss versus Oregon

Peach Bowl (Dec. 30, Atlanta): Tulane versus Texas

Orange Bowl (Dec. 30, Miami Gardens, Fla.): Alabama versus Louisville

Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 1, Glendale, Ariz.): Washington versus Oklahoma

Here, No. 24 Tulane represents the Group of Five conferences in a New Year’s Six bowl after winning the Cotton Bowl Classic last season. Because No. 4 Florida State (an ACC team) is in the projected CFP, No. 13 Louisville takes the conference’s spot in the projected Orange Bowl. Finally, the projected Fiesta Bowl would feature two teams whose offenses average over 480 total yards per game.

Remaining Bowls: Myrtle Beach to Citrus

Myrtle Beach Bowl (Dec. 16, Conway, S.C.): Eastern Michigan versus South Alabama

New Orleans Bowl (Dec. 16, New Orleans): Liberty versus Troy

Cure Bowl (Dec. 16, Orlando, Fla.): Florida Atlantic versus Texas State

New Mexico Bowl (Dec. 16, Albuquerque, N.M.): New Mexico State versus Wyoming

LA Bowl (Dec. 16, Inglewood, Calif.): Air Force versus Washington State

Independence Bowl (Dec. 16, Shreveport, La.): TCU versus Arizona

Bahamas Bowl (Dec. 18, Charlotte, N.C.): Western Kentucky versus Central Michigan

Frisco Bowl (Dec. 19, Frisco, Texas): Georgia Southern versus UNLV

Boca Raton Bowl (Dec. 21, Boca Raton, Fla.): South Florida versus Louisiana

Gasparilla Bowl (Dec. 22, Tampa, Fla.): Virginia Tech versus Iowa State

Birmingham Bowl (Dec. 23, Birmingham, Ala.): Memphis versus Mississippi State

Camellia Bowl (Dec. 23, Montgomery, Ala.): Ohio versus Coastal Carolina

Armed Forces Bowl (Dec. 23, Fort Worth, Texas): Navy versus Georgia State

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Dec. 23, Boise, Idaho): Miami-OH versus Fresno State

68 Ventures Bowl (Dec. 23, Mobile, Ala.): Northern Illinois versus Marshall

Las Vegas Bowl (Dec. 23, Las Vegas): Iowa versus UCLA

Hawaii Bowl (Dec. 23, Honolulu): Rice versus Boise State

Quick Lane Bowl (Dec. 26, Detroit): Toledo versus Minnesota

First Responder Bowl (Dec. 26, Dallas): Northwestern versus UCF

Guaranteed Rate Bowl (Dec. 26, Phoenix): Nebraska versus BYU

Military Bowl (Dec. 27, Annapolis, Md.): UTSA versus Georgia Tech

Duke’s Mayo Bowl (Dec. 27, Charlotte, N.C.): Clemson versus Auburn

Holiday Bowl (Dec. 27, San Diego): Notre Dame versus Utah

Texas Bowl (Dec. 27, Houston): West Virginia versus Kentucky

Fenway Bowl (Dec. 28, Boston): SMU versus Boston College

Pinstripe Bowl (Dec. 28, New York): NC State versus Rutgers

Pop-Tarts Bowl (Dec. 28, Orlando, Fla.): North Carolina versus Kansas

Alamo Bowl (Dec. 28, San Antonio): Kansas State versus Oregon State

Gator Bowl (Dec. 29, Jacksonville, Fla.): Duke versus Texas A&M

Sun Bowl (Dec. 29, El Paso, Texas): Miami-FL versus USC

Liberty Bowl (Dec. 29, Memphis, Tenn.): Oklahoma State versus Missouri

Music City Bowl (Dec. 30, Nashville, Tenn.): Nebraska versus Florida

Arizona Bowl (Dec. 30, Tucson, Ariz.): Bowling Green versus San Diego State

ReliaQuest Bowl (Jan. 1, Tampa, Fla.): Wisconsin versus Tennessee

Citrus Bowl (Jan. 1, Orlando, Fla.): Penn State versus LSU

Noteworthy games before Christmas include a future Big 12 showdown in the Independence Bowl and a future Big Ten tilt in the Las Vegas Bowl. Among the games played after Christmas, the Duke’s Mayo Bowl features a matchup between Clemson and Auburn, who have not played since the 2017 regular season.

Will Duerksen is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email wdd5066@psu.edu.