College football bowl projections after Week 12: USC, Northwestern moving up

Bill Bender

College football bowl projections after Week 12: USC, Northwestern moving up image

Week 13 of the college football season is here, and the first set of College Football Playoff rankings will be unveiled Tuesday. 

Sporting News will release bowl projections every week leading up to the final pairings on Dec. 20. Our playoff picks remain the same for another week, and two programs are moving up in the rankings. 

Northwestern (4-0) moved up to No. 11 in the AP Poll after beating Wisconsin 17-7. USC (3-0) is No. 20 in the latest poll. Those teams are matched up in the Fiesta Bowl for now. 

MORE: College Football Playoff Picture

This season's semifinals are Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl Game and Sugar Bowl. The Playoff championship game will be Jan. 11 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

With that in mind, here are Sporting News' picks for the College Football Playoff and New Year's Day Six heading into Week 13:

Week 13 bowl projections 

DATE BOWL TEAMS
Dec. 19 Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl UTSA vs. Nevada
Dec. 21 Myrtle Beach Bowl Memphis vs. Appalachian State
Dec. 22 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Buffalo vs. San Diego State
Dec. 22 Boca Raton Bowl UCF vs. FAU
Dec. 23 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Marshall vs. Coastal Carolina
Dec. 23 Montgomery Bowl* Toledo vs. Fresno State
Dec. 24 New Mexico Bowl Houston vs. Hawaii
Dec. 25 Camellia Bowl Central Michigan vs. Troy
Dec. 26 Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl BYU vs. Tulane
Dec. 26 Cure Bowl Louisiana vs. Western Michigan
Dec. 26 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl TCU vs. Liberty
Dec. 26 LendingTree Bowl UAB vs. Georgia Southern
Dec. 26 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl Army vs. Arizona State
Dec. 26 Guaranteed Rate Bowl West Virginia vs. Maryland
Dec. 28 Military Bowl Presented by Perspecta SMU vs. Virginia
Dec. 29 New Era Pinstripe Bowl Iowa vs. Boston College
Dec. 29 Cheez-It Bowl Kansas State vs. Pitt
Dec. 29 Valero Alamo Bowl Iowa State vs. Washington
Dec. 30 Duke’s Mayo Bowl Purdue vs. Wake Forest
Dec. 30 TransPerfect Music City Bowl Ole Miss vs. Michigan
Dec. 30 LA Bowl Colorado vs. Boise State
Dec. 31 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Navy vs. Louisiana Tech
Dec. 31 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl Utah vs. N.C. State
Dec. 31 AutoZone Liberty Bowl Oklahoma State vs. Kentucky
Dec. 31 Arizona Bowl Kent State vs. San Jose State
Dec. 31 Texas Bowl Texas vs. Missouri
Jan. 1 TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl Tulsa vs. North Texas
Jan. 1 Vrbo Citrus Bowl Auburn vs. Indiana
Jan. 2 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl LSU vs. North Carolina
Jan. 2 Outback Bowl Georgia vs. Wisconsin

Week 13 New Year's Day 6 projections

Date Bowl Matchup
Dec. 30 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M
Jan. 1 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Cincinnati vs. Miami
Jan. 2 PlayStation Fiesta Bowl USC vs. Northwestern
Jan. 2 Capital One Orange Bowl Florida vs. Clemson

Week 13 College Football Playoff projections

Date Bowl Matchup
Jan. 1 Rose Bowl Game (semifinal) Ohio State vs. Notre Dame
Jan. 1 Allstate Sugar Bowl (semifinal) Alabama vs. Oregon
Jan. 11 CFP Championship Game Ohio State 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.