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 remain the playoff field heading into Week 6. We have the Crimson Tide and Sooners in the Sugar Bowl, and the Nittany Lions and Tigers in the Rose Bowl Game.
MORE: Week 6 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.
Week 6 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 | UCLA vs. San Diego State |
| Dec. 16 | Gildan New Mexico Bowl | Boise State vs. UTSA |
| Dec. 16 | Raycom Media Camellia Bowl | Toledo vs. Virginia |
| Dec. 19 | Boca Raton Bowl | Tulane vs. Western Kentucky |
| Dec. 20 | Frisco Bowl | SMU vs. Eastern Michigan |
| Dec. 21 | Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl | South Florida vs. Louisiana Tech |
| Dec. 22 | Popeyes Bahamas Bowl | Ohio vs. Marshall |
| Dec. 22 | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Miami (Ohio) vs. Air Force |
| Dec. 23 | Birmingham Bowl | Memphis vs. Vanderbilt |
| Dec. 23 | Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl | Kentucky vs. Army |
| Dec. 23 | Dollar General Bowl | Central Michigan vs. Idaho |
| Dec. 24 | Hawaii Bowl | Houston vs. New Mexico |
| Dec. 26 | Cactus Bowl | Utah State vs. Colorado |
| Dec. 26 | Quick Lane Bowl | Purdue vs. Duke |
| Dec. 26 | Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl | Texas Tech vs. North Texas |
| Dec. 27 | Independence Bowl | Louisville vs. BYU |
| Dec. 27 | New Era Pinstripe Bowl | Minnesota vs. Notre Dame |
| Dec. 27 | Texas Bowl | Kansas State vs. Tennessee |
| Dec. 27 | Foster Farms Bowl | Oregon vs. Northwestern |
| Dec. 28 | Military Bowl by Northrop Grunman | Navy vs. Georgia Tech |
| Dec. 28 | Camping World Bowl | Oklahoma State vs. Florida State |
| Dec. 28 | Valero Alamo Bowl | West Virginia vs. Stanford |
| Dec. 28 | SDCCU Holiday Bowl | USC vs. Iowa |
| Dec. 29 | Belk Bowl | Wake Forest vs. South Carolina |
| Dec. 29 | Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl | Maryland vs. LSU |
| Dec. 29 | Goodyear Cotton Bowl | TCU vs. Washington State |
| Dec. 30 | TaxSlayer Bowl | Michigan State vs. Mississippi State |
| Dec. 30 | AutoZone Liberty Bowl | Texas vs. Texas A&M |
| Dec. 30 | Hyundai Sun Bowl | Utah vs. N.C. State |
| Dec. 30 | Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl | Colorado State vs. Troy |
| Dec. 30 | PlayStation Fiesta Bowl | Washington vs. Michigan |
| Dec. 30 | Capital One Orange Bowl | Miami (Fla.) vs. Ohio State |
| Jan. 1 | Outback Bowl | Wisconsin vs. Florida |
| Jan. 1 | Citrus Bowl | Virginia Tech vs. Auburn |
| Jan. 1 | Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl | Central Florida vs. Georgia |
College Football Playoff
| DATE | BOWL GAME | PROJECTED TEAMS |
| Jan. 1 | Rose Bowl Game (Playoff semifinal) | Penn State vs. Clemson |
| Jan. 1 | Allstate Sugar Bowl (Playoff semifinal) | Oklahoma vs. Alabama |
| Jan. 8 | College Football Championship Game | Alabama vs. Clemson |
