The 2017-18 college football schedule features 40 bowl games between FBS teams, which culminates with the College Football Playoff Championship 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, Clemson, USC and Oklahoma are the new playoff field heading into Week 3.
MORE: College Football Playoff picture after Week 2
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 | SMU vs. Arkansas State |
| Dec. 16 | Las Vegas Bowl | Colorado vs. Boise State |
| Dec. 16 | Gildan New Mexico Bowl | Air Force vs. Middle Tennessee State |
| Dec. 16 | Raycom Media Camellia Bowl | Eastern Michigan vs. Georgia Southern |
| Dec. 19 | Boca Raton Bowl | Tulsa 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 | Central Michigan vs. UTSA |
| Dec. 22 | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Ohio vs. San Diego State |
| Dec. 23 | Birmingham Bowl | Duke vs. Kentucky |
| Dec. 23 | Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl | Vanderbilt vs. Army |
| Dec. 23 | Dollar General Bowl | Miami (Ohio) vs. Idaho |
| Dec. 24 | Hawaii Bowl | Houston vs. Hawaii |
| Dec. 26 | Cactus Bowl | West Virginia vs. Oregon |
| Dec. 26 | Quick Lane Bowl | Minnesota vs. Wake Forest |
| Dec. 26 | Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl | Texas A&M* vs. Louisiana Tech |
| Dec. 27 | Independence Bowl | Pittsburgh vs. BYU |
| Dec. 27 | New Era Pinstripe Bowl | Maryland vs. Notre Dame |
| Dec. 27 | Texas Bowl | TCU vs. Missouri |
| Dec. 27 | Foster Farms Bowl | Washington State vs. Northwestern |
| Dec. 28 | Military Bowl by Northrop Grunman | Navy vs. N.C. State |
| Dec. 28 | Camping World Bowl | Oklahoma State vs. Louisville |
| Dec. 28 | Valero Alamo Bowl | Kansas State vs. Stanford |
| Dec. 28 | SDCCU Holiday Bowl | Utah vs. Michigan State |
| Dec. 29 | Belk Bowl | Georgia Tech vs. Mississippi State |
| Dec. 29 | Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl | Iowa vs. Arkansas |
| Dec. 29 | Goodyear Cotton Bowl | LSU vs. Michigan |
| Dec. 30 | TaxSlayer Bowl | Nebraska vs. South Carolina |
| 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 | Washington vs. Ohio State |
| Dec. 30 | Capital One Orange Bowl | Florida State vs. Penn State |
| Jan. 1 | Outback Bowl | Wisconsin vs. Tennessee |
| 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) | USC vs. Alabama |
| Jan. 8 | College Football Championship Game | Alabama vs. Clemson |
