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College Football Bowl Projections: Playoff Release Looms Schedules<answer>

2024-12-08

College football's conference championship games have come to a close, leaving us with a lot to analyze. We took a shot at guessing how the committee would seed the 12-team Playoff, but remember, this is uncharted territory. Big Ten champion Oregon and SEC champion Georgia clearly stand out as the 1-2 seeds. Based on last week's rankings, Mountain West champ Boise State earned the No. 3 seed, and Big 12 champ Arizona State got the No. 4 seed. ACC champ Clemson won't get a bye and is likely to be either the No. 11 or 12 seed. It all depends on whether SMU or Alabama secures the last at-large spot. It's a toss-up, but given SMU's loss to Clemson on a last-second field goal, it seems unlikely they'll drop from No. 8 to No. 12.For the other seeding, our best guess is that 11-1 Notre Dame moves up to the No. 5 seed, while 11-2 Texas drops to the No. 6 seed. If that happens, 11-2 Penn State might fall behind 10-2 Ohio State due to their head-to-head result and land at the No. 8 seed.Now, let's talk about the bowls. We feel most confident in predicting the BYU-Colorado Alamo Bowl and the Miami-Iowa State Pop-Tarts Bowl. The rest of the ACC and SEC's bowl lineups will be determined by whether Alabama or SMU makes it to the CFP.Here's a breakdown of the bowls and matchups:

Playoff

Dec. 20: 6. Texas vs. 11. Clemson (ACC champ)Dec. 21: 5. Notre Dame vs. 12. SMUDec. 21: 7. Ohio State vs. 10. IndianaDec. 21: 8. Penn State vs. 9. Tennessee

Fiesta Bowl

Dec. 31: 3. Boise State (G5 champ) vs. Texas/Clemson winner

Peach Bowl

Jan. 1: 4. Arizona State (Big 12 champ) vs. Notre Dame/SMU winner

Rose Bowl

Jan. 1: 1. Oregon (Big Ten champ) vs. Penn State/Tennessee winner

Sugar Bowl

Jan. 1: 2. Georgia (SEC champ) vs. Ohio State/Indiana winner

Orange Bowl

Jan. 9: Quarterfinal winner vs. Quarterfinal winner

Cotton Bowl

Jan. 10: Quarterfinal winner vs. Quarterfinal winner

Championship

Jan. 20: Semifinal winner vs. Semifinal winner

Remaining Bowls

Bahamas Bowl (Jan. 4): Buffalo (MAC) vs. Liberty (C-USA)Duke's Mayo Bowl (Jan. 3): Minnesota (Big Ten 6) vs. Virginia Tech (ACC 5-7)First Responder Bowl (Jan. 3): Arkansas State (ESPN) vs. UTSA (ESPN)Gator Bowl (Jan. 2): Duke (ACC 2-4) vs. Florida (SEC 3-8)Texas Bowl (Dec. 31): Baylor (Big 12 4) vs. LSU (SEC 3-8)Citrus Bowl (Dec. 31): Illinois (Big Ten 2) vs. Alabama (SEC 2)Sun Bowl (Dec. 31): Louisville (ACC 5-7) vs. Washington (Pac-12 5)ReliaQuest Bowl (Dec. 31): Iowa (Big Ten 3) vs. South Carolina (SEC 3-8)Music City Bowl (Dec. 30): Nebraska (Big Ten 4) vs. Ole Miss (SEC 3-8)Independence Bowl (Dec. 28): Army (AAC) vs. Oklahoma* (Pac-12 7)Alamo Bowl (Dec. 28): BYU (BIg 12 2) vs. Colorado (Pac-12 2)Military Bowl (Dec. 28): East Carolina (AAC 2) vs. Georgia Tech (ACC)Arizona Bowl (Dec. 30): Colorado State (MWC) vs. Miami of Ohio (MAC)Pop-Tarts Bowl (Dec. 28): Iowa State (Big 12 3) vs. Miami (ACC 2-4)New Mexico Bowl (Dec. 28): Marshall (MWC)* vs. North Texas (ESPN)Pinstripe Bowl (Dec. 28): Michigan (Big Ten 5) vs. Boston College (ACC 5-7)Fenway Bowl (Dec. 28): Pittsburgh (ACC) vs. UConn (ESPN)Vegas Bowl (Dec. 27): USC (Pac-12 4) vs. Texas A&M (SEC 3-8)Holiday Bowl (Dec. 27): Syracuse (ACC 2-4) vs. Washington State (Pac-12 3)Liberty Bowl (Dec. 27): Kansas State (Big 12 5) vs. Missouri (SEC 3-8)Birmingham Bowl (Dec. 27): Vanderbilt (SEC 9) vs. NC State (ESPN)Armed Forces Bowl (Dec. 27): TCU (Big 12 7) vs. Navy (ESPN)68 Ventures Bowl (Dec. 26): Georgia Southern (Sun Belt) vs. Bowling Green* (C-USA)Rate Bowl (Dec. 26): Rutgers (Big Ten 7) vs. Texas Tech (Big 12 6)GameAbove Bowl (Dec. 26): Texas State (Big Ten 8)* vs. Toledo (MAC)Hawaii Bowl (Dec. 24): San Jose State (MWC) vs. USF (ESPN)Idaho Potato Bowl (Dec. 23): Fresno State (MWC) vs. NIU (MAC)Myrtle Beach Bowl (Dec. 23): Coastal Carolina (ESPN) vs. North Carolina (ESPN)Gasparilla Bowl (Dec. 20): Tulane (ESPN) vs. Arkansas (ESPN)Cure Bowl (Dec. 20): Jacksonville State (ESPN) vs. Ohio (ESPN)New Orleans Bowl (Dec. 19): Louisiana (Sun Belt) vs. Sam Houston (C-USA)LA Bowl (Dec. 18): California (Pac-12 6) vs. UNLV (MWC 1)Boca Raton Bowl (Dec. 18): Western Kentucky (ESPN) vs. James Madison (ESPN)Frisco Bowl (Dec. 17): Memphis (ESPN) vs. West Virginia (ESPN)Salute to Veterans Bowl (Dec. 14): South Alabama (ESPN) vs. Western Michigan (ESPN)Notes: (ESPN) indicates an ESPN Events bowl. Teams can be moved between them. An asterisk (*) indicates a replacement team because a league was not able to fill all of its slots.