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 |
