The 2017-18 college football bowl schedule features 40 games between FBS teams, which culminates with the College Football Playoff championship game on Jan. 8 in Atlanta. This year's semifinals will be played on Jan. 1 for the first time since 2014 at the Rose and Sugar bowls.
Sporting News is ready for Week 9, just one week away from the first College Football Playoff rankings. Our playoff picture hasn't changed, and we still have Alabama, Penn State, Clemson and TCU in the four-team playoff. A host of one-loss teams, namely, Ohio State and Notre Dame, are right in the middle of that conversation.
We have the Crimson Tide and Tigers in the Sugar Bowl, and the Nittany Lions and Horned Frogs in the Rose Bowl Game.
MORE: Week 9 College Football Playoff picture
Sporting News has preseason projections for every bowl game. Here they are:
Week 9 Bowl Projections
| DATE | BOWL GAME | PROJECTED TEAMS |
| Dec. 16 | R+L Carrier New Orleans Bowl | South Alabama vs. Louisiana Tech |
| Dec. 16 | AutoNation Cure Bowl | Northern Illinois vs. Georgia State |
| Dec. 16 | Las Vegas Bowl | UCLA vs. Boise State |
| Dec. 16 | Gildan New Mexico Bowl | San Diego State vs. Western Kentucky |
| Dec. 16 | Raycom Media Camellia Bowl | Toledo vs. Troy |
| Dec. 19 | Boca Raton Bowl | South Florida vs. Florida Atlantic |
| Dec. 20 | Frisco Bowl | Temple vs. Central Michigan |
| Dec. 21 | Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl | Memphis vs. UTSA |
| Dec. 22 | Popeyes Bahamas Bowl | Ohio vs. Marshall |
| Dec. 22 | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Western Michigan vs. Fresno State |
| Dec. 23 | Birmingham Bowl | SMU vs. Tennessee |
| Dec. 23 | Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl | Cal vs. Army |
| Dec. 23 | Dollar General Bowl | Akron vs. Appalachian State |
| Dec. 24 | Hawaii Bowl | Houston vs. Colorado State |
| Dec. 26 | Cactus Bowl | Texas Tech vs. Wyoming |
| Dec. 26 | Quick Lane Bowl | Purdue vs. Wake Forest |
| Dec. 26 | Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl | Arizona State vs. North Texas |
| Dec. 27 | Independence Bowl | Virginia vs. Southern Miss |
| Dec. 27 | New Era Pinstripe Bowl | Minnesota vs. Florida State |
| Dec. 27 | Texas Bowl | West Virginia vs. Arizona |
| Dec. 27 | Foster Farms Bowl | Washington State vs. Iowa |
| Dec. 28 | Military Bowl by Northrop Grunman | Navy vs. Georgia Tech |
| Dec. 28 | Camping World Bowl | Iowa State vs. Syracuse |
| Dec. 28 | Valero Alamo Bowl | Oklahoma State vs. Stanford |
| Dec. 28 | SDCCU Holiday Bowl | USC vs. Michigan |
| Dec. 29 | Belk Bowl | Louisville vs. South Carolina |
| Dec. 29 | Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl | N.C. State vs. Kentucky |
| Dec. 29 | Goodyear Cotton Bowl | Oklahoma vs. Georgia |
| Dec. 30 | TaxSlayer Bowl | Northwestern vs. Mississippi State |
| Dec. 30 | AutoZone Liberty Bowl | Texas vs. Florida |
| Dec. 30 | Hyundai Sun Bowl | Utah vs. Virginia Tech |
| Dec. 30 | Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl | New Mexico vs. Arkansas State |
| Dec. 30 | PlayStation Fiesta Bowl | Washington vs. Wisconsin |
| Dec. 30 | Capital One Orange Bowl | Miami vs. Ohio State |
| Jan. 1 | Outback Bowl | Michigan State vs. Auburn |
| Jan. 1 | Citrus Bowl | Notre Dame vs. LSU |
| Jan. 1 | Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl | Central Florida vs. Texas A&M |
College Football Playoff
| BOWL GAME | PROJECTED TEAMS |
| Rose Bowl Game (Playoff semifinal) | Penn State vs. TCU |
| Allstate Sugar Bowl (Playoff semifinal) | Clemson vs. Alabama |
| College Football Championship Game | Alabama vs. Penn State |
