Week 13 bowl projections: Oklahoma-Alabama new championship game pick

Bill Bender

Week 13 bowl projections: Oklahoma-Alabama new championship game pick image

Rivalry Week is here, meaning we're one step closer to the College Football Playoff.

That also affects the 2017-18 college football bowl schedule, which features 40 games between FBS teams and culminates with the 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 13. We have Alabama vs. Wisconsin in the Sugar Bowl and Oklahoma vs. Miami in the Rose Bowl Game. We also have the Tide and Sooners in the championship game — for now

MORE: Week 13 College Football Playoff rankings

Sporting News has projections for every bowl game. Here they are: 

Week 13 college football bowl projections 

DATE BOWL GAME PROJECTED TEAMS
Dec. 16 R+L Carrier New Orleans Bowl Louisiana-Lafayette vs. MTSU
Dec. 16 AutoNation Cure Bowl SMU vs. Georgia State
Dec. 16 Las Vegas Bowl Cal vs. Boise State
Dec. 16 Gildan New Mexico Bowl San Diego State vs. UTSA
Dec. 16 Raycom Media Camellia Bowl Toledo vs. Troy
Dec. 19 Boca Raton Bowl South Florida vs. Marshall
Dec. 20 Frisco Bowl Wyoming vs. Central Michigan*
Dec. 21 Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl Temple vs. FIU
Dec. 22 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl Ohio vs. Florida Atlantic
Dec. 22 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Western Michigan vs. Utah State
Dec. 23 Birmingham Bowl Memphis vs. UAB
Dec. 23 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Western Kentucky* vs. Army
Dec. 23 Dollar General Bowl Akron vs. Appalachian State
Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl Houston vs. Fresno State
Dec. 26 Cactus Bowl West Virginia vs. Oregon
Dec. 26 Quick Lane Bowl Indiana* vs. Northern Illinois*
Dec. 26 Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl Kansas State vs. North Texas
Dec. 27 Independence Bowl Southern Miss vs. Utah
Dec. 27 New Era Pinstripe Bowl Iowa vs. Virginia
Dec. 27 Texas Bowl Iowa State vs. Stanford
Dec. 27 Foster Farms Bowl Arizona vs. Purdue
Dec. 28 Military Bowl by Northrop Grunman Navy vs. Boston College
Dec. 28 Camping World Bowl Oklahoma State vs. Florida State
Dec. 28 Valero Alamo Bowl TCU vs. Washington State
Dec. 28 SDCCU Holiday Bowl Washington vs. Michigan
Dec. 29 Belk Bowl Wake Forest vs. Mississippi State
Dec. 29 Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl Louisville vs. Missouri
Dec. 29 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Penn State vs. Notre Dame
Dec. 30 TaxSlayer Bowl Virginia Tech vs. Kentucky
Dec. 30 AutoZone Liberty Bowl Texas vs. South Carolina
Dec. 30 Hyundai Sun Bowl Arizona State vs. N.C. State
Dec. 30 Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl Colorado State vs. Arkansas State
Dec. 30 Fiesta Bowl USC vs. Ohio State
Dec. 30 Orange Bowl Georgia vs. Clemson
Jan. 1 Outback Bowl Northwestern vs. Texas A&M
Jan. 1 Citrus Bowl Michigan State vs. LSU
Jan. 1 Peach Bowl UCF vs. Auburn

College Football Playoff projections

BOWL GAME PROJECTED TEAMS
Rose Bowl Game (Playoff semifinal) Oklahoma vs. Miami
Sugar Bowl (Playoff semifinal) Wisconsin vs. Alabama
College Football Playoff championship  Alabama vs. Oklahoma

Bill Bender

Bill Bender Photo

Bill Bender graduated from Ohio University in 2002 and started at The Sporting News as a fantasy football writer in 2007. He has covered the College Football Playoff, NBA Finals and World Series for SN. Bender enjoys story-telling, awesomely-bad 80s movies and coaching youth sports.