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 will have bowl projections every week until we get there, and our preseason College Football Playoff picks have already seen a few changes. Alabama, Penn State, Clemson and Oklahoma are the new playoff field heading into Week 4. We have the Crimson Tide and the Nittany Lions in the Sugar Bowl, and the Sooners and Tigers in the Rose Bowl Game.
MORE: Week 4 College Football Playoff picture
Sporting News has preseason projections for every bowl game, and a few familiar teams are back in the semifinals — with a new matchup in the national title game.
College Football Bowl Projections
DATE | BOWL GAME | PROJECTED TEAMS |
Dec. 16 | R+L Carrier New Orleans Bowl | Appalachian State vs. Old Dominion |
Dec. 16 | AutoNation Cure Bowl | Northern Illinois vs. Arkansas State |
Dec. 16 | Las Vegas Bowl | Colorado vs. Boise State |
Dec. 16 | Gildan New Mexico Bowl | Air Force vs. UTSA |
Dec. 16 | Raycom Media Camellia Bowl | Eastern Michigan vs. Duke |
Dec. 19 | Boca Raton Bowl | SMU vs. Western Kentucky |
Dec. 20 | Frisco Bowl | Memphis vs.Toledo |
Dec. 21 | Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl | UCF vs. Southern Miss |
Dec. 22 | Popeyes Bahamas Bowl | Ohio vs. Marshall |
Dec. 22 | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Central Michigan vs. San Diego State |
Dec. 23 | Birmingham Bowl | Tulsa vs. Vanderbilt |
Dec. 23 | Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl | Kentucky vs. Army |
Dec. 23 | Dollar General Bowl | Miami (Ohio) vs. Idaho |
Dec. 24 | Hawaii Bowl | Houston vs. Hawaii |
Dec. 26 | Cactus Bowl | Texas Tech vs. Oregon |
Dec. 26 | Quick Lane Bowl | Purdue vs. Georgia Tech |
Dec. 26 | Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl | Iowa State vs. Louisiana Tech |
Dec. 27 | Independence Bowl | Pittsburgh vs. BYU |
Dec. 27 | New Era Pinstripe Bowl | Maryland vs. Notre Dame |
Dec. 27 | Texas Bowl | Kansas State vs. Tennessee |
Dec. 27 | Foster Farms Bowl | Stanford vs. Northwestern |
Dec. 28 | Military Bowl by Northrop Grunman | Navy vs. N.C. State |
Dec. 28 | Camping World Bowl | West Virginia vs. Louisville |
Dec. 28 | Valero Alamo Bowl | TCU vs. Washington State |
Dec. 28 | SDCCU Holiday Bowl | Utah vs. Michigan State |
Dec. 29 | Belk Bowl | Wake Forest vs. South Carolina |
Dec. 29 | Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl | Iowa vs. Arkansas |
Dec. 29 | Goodyear Cotton Bowl | Oklahoma State vs. Washington |
Dec. 30 | TaxSlayer Bowl | Minnesota vs. Mississippi State |
Dec. 30 | AutoZone Liberty Bowl | Texas vs. Florida |
Dec. 30 | Hyundai Sun Bowl | UCLA vs. Miami (Fla.) |
Dec. 30 | Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl | Colorado State vs. Troy |
Dec. 30 | PlayStation Fiesta Bowl | USC vs. Michigan |
Dec. 30 | Capital One Orange Bowl | Florida State vs. Ohio State |
Jan. 1 | Outback Bowl | Wisconsin vs. LSU |
Jan. 1 | Citrus Bowl | Virginia Tech vs. Auburn |
Jan. 1 | Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl | South Florida vs. Georgia |
College Football Playoff
DATE | BOWL GAME | PROJECTED TEAMS |
Jan. 1 | Rose Bowl Game (Playoff semifinal) | Oklahoma vs. Clemson |
Jan. 1 | Allstate Sugar Bowl (Playoff semifinal) | Penn State vs. Alabama |
Jan. 8 | College Football Championship Game | Alabama vs. Clemson |