College football bowl projections for Week 12: Georgia, Alabama rematch scenario back on

Bill Bender

College football bowl projections for Week 12: Georgia, Alabama rematch scenario back on image

The College Football Playoff race has entered the home stretch with just three weeks left until the pairings are revealed.

Oklahoma’s loss to Baylor has opened up a debate for how the CFP might shake out. In Sporting News’ latest bowl projections,  we have Alabama back in the four-team playoff and an Alabama-Georgia national championship game in Indianapolis.

That requires victories for Alabama against Arkansas, Auburn and Georgia in the SEC championship game. If Alabama does that and Oregon loses one of Utah, Oregon State and the Pac-12 championship game, then the picture will become clear. Those two scenarios are a toss-up, but for now we’ll say the Crimson Tide wins out and Oregon loses one of its last three games. It also would open the door for Cincinnati to make the playoff.

MORE: Week 12 picks against the spread | Heisman race

This year’s bowl season includes 42 games between FBS teams. The College Football Playoff championship game is Jan. 10 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The semifinals are Dec. 31 at the Capital One Orange Bowl and Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.

Our bowl projection is for how we believe the rest of the season will play out.

Here are our Week 12 bowl projections:

SN has projections for all 42 bowl games here, and they will be updated throughout the season:

College football bowl projections for Week 12 

DATE BOWL MATCHUP
Dec. 17 Bahamas Bowl Miami, Ohio vs. UTEP
Dec. 17 Cure Bowl Coastal Carolina vs. East Carolina
Dec. 18 RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl Nevada vs. Liberty*
Dec. 18 New Mexico Bowl Air Force vs. Middle Tennessee State
Dec. 18 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl BYU vs. UTSA
Dec. 18 Lendingtree Bowl Kent State vs. Georgia State
Dec. 18 Los Angeles Bowl San Diego State vs. USC
Dec. 18 R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl South Alabama vs. UAB
Dec. 20 Myrtle Beach Bowl Appalachian State vs. Western Michigan
Dec. 21 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Ball State vs. Boise State
Dec. 21 Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl Eastern Michigan vs. Fresno State
Dec. 22 Armed Forces Bowl Army* vs. Western Kentucky
Dec. 23 Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl Washington* vs. Marshall
Dec. 24 Hawai'i Bowl Utah State vs. UCF
Dec. 25 Camellia Bowl Northern Illinois vs. Louisiana
Dec. 27 Quick Lane Bowl Memphis vs. Charlotte*
Dec. 27 Military Bowl Wyoming* vs. Washington State*
Dec. 28 TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl Houston vs. Mississippi State
Dec. 28 First Responder Bowl FAU* vs. Syracuse
Dec. 28 AutoZone Liberty Bowl Texas Tech vs. Florida
Dec. 28 Holiday Bowl Arizona State vs. Miami
Dec. 28 Guaranteed Rate Bowl Virginia vs. Kansas State
Dec. 29 Fenway Bowl SMU vs. Boston College
Dec. 29 Pinstripe Bowl Rutgers vs. Louisville
Dec. 29 Cheez-It Bowl Iowa State vs. North Carolina
Dec. 29 Valero Alamo Bowl Utah vs. Baylor
Dec. 30 Duke's Mayo Bowl Minnesota vs. Clemson
Dec. 30 Transperfect Music City Bowl Penn State vs. Tennessee
Dec. 30 SRS Las Vegas Bowl Oregon State vs. Purdue
Dec. 31 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Auburn vs. Wake Forest
Dec. 31 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl UCLA vs. NC State
Dec. 31 Arizona Bowl Central Michigan vs. Troy*
Jan. 1 Outback Bowl Iowa vs. Kentucky
Jan. 1 Vrbo Citrus Bowl Wisconsin vs. Texas A&M
Jan. 4 Texas Bowl West Virginia vs. Arkansas

*Denotes not tied to bowl game

College Football New Year's Six projections

DATE BOWL MATCHUP
Dec. 30 Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl Notre Dame vs. Pitt
Jan. 1 PlayStation Fiesta Bowl Oklahoma State vs. Michigan State
Jan. 1 Rose Bowl Game Oregon vs. Michigan
Jan. 1 Allstate Sugar Bowl Oklahoma vs. Ole Miss
Dec. 31 Capital One Orange Bowl (semifinal) Cincinnati vs. Georgia
Dec. 31 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (semifinal) Alabama vs. Ohio State

College Football Playoff championship projection

DATE BOWL MATCHUP
Jan. 10 College Football Playoff championship Georgia vs. Alabama

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.