Sporting News will have bowl projections each week from now until the CFP Selection Show on Dec. 5.
Bowl season returns in 2021-22 with a schedule that includes 42 bowl games between FBS teams. This year's 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.
These matchups are projections of how SN sees the regular season shaking out. This differs from our weekly College Football Playoff Picture, which is based on how the playoff field would look if bids were handed out after each week. SN's projected playoff bowl picks heading into Week 6 include two SEC teams in Alabama and Georgia. It’s a race for the other two spots, with Oklahoma and Penn State holding those spots for now. The Sooners and Nittany Lions can bolster those cases this week. Oklahoma faces rival Texas in the Red River Showdown, and the Nittany Lions have a top-five Big Ten showcase game at Iowa.
Cincinnati, which beat Notre Dame 24-13 in Week 5, remains a strong contender out of the American Athletic Conference.
MORE: Winners and losers from Week 5 | Bearcats need to start rooting for Notre Dame
SN has projections for all 42 bowl games here, and they will be updated throughout the season:
College football bowl projections for Week 6
| DATE | BOWL | MATCHUP |
| Dec. 17 | Bahamas Bowl | Northern Illinois vs. FAU |
| Dec. 17 | Cure Bowl | South Alabama vs. Memphis |
| Dec. 18 | RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl | Fresno State vs. Liberty* |
| Dec. 18 | New Mexico Bowl | Nevada vs. Middle Tennessee State |
| Dec. 18 | Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl | BYU vs. UTSA |
| Dec. 18 | Lendingtree Bowl | Western Michigan vs. Coastal Carolina |
| Dec. 18 | Los Angeles Bowl | San Diego State vs. UCLA |
| Dec. 18 | R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl | Appalachian State vs. Charlotte |
| Dec. 20 | Myrtle Beach Bowl | Georgia Southern vs. Temple |
| Dec. 21 | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Toledo vs. San Jose State |
| Dec. 21 | Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl | Eastern Michigan vs. Boise State |
| Dec. 22 | Armed Forces Bowl | Army* vs. Western Kentucky |
| Dec. 23 | Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl | Air Force vs. UAB |
| Dec. 24 | Hawai'i Bowl | Hawai'i vs. SMU |
| Dec. 25 | Camellia Bowl | Kent State vs. Louisiana |
| Dec. 27 | Quick Lane Bowl | UCF vs. Rutgers |
| Dec. 27 | Military Bowl | Louisville vs. Utah* |
| Dec. 28 | TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl | Houston vs. Tennessee |
| Dec. 28 | First Responder Bowl | Kansas State vs. Virginia |
| Dec. 28 | AutoZone Liberty Bowl | TCU vs. Texas A&M |
| Dec. 28 | Holiday Bowl | USC vs. Miami |
| Dec. 28 | Guaranteed Rate Bowl | Georgia Tech* vs. Iowa State |
| Dec. 29 | Fenway Bowl | East Carolina vs. Boston College |
| Dec. 29 | Pinstripe Bowl | Maryland vs. N.C. State |
| Dec. 29 | Cheez-It Bowl | Texas Tech vs. Pitt |
| Dec. 29 | Valero Alamo Bowl | Arizona State vs. Baylor |
| Dec. 30 | Duke's Mayo Bowl | Nebraska vs. Clemson |
| Dec. 30 | Transperfect Music City Bowl | Wisconsin vs. Mississippi State |
| Dec. 30 | SRS Las Vegas Bowl | Stanford vs. Minnesota |
| Dec. 31 | TaxSlayer Gator Bowl | Kentucky vs. Virginia Tech |
| Dec. 31 | Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl | Oregon State vs. North Carolina |
| Dec. 31 | Arizona Bowl | Buffalo vs. Wyoming |
| Jan. 1 | Outback Bowl | Michigan State vs. Florida |
| Jan. 1 | Vrbo Citrus Bowl | Michigan vs. Ole Miss |
| Jan. 4 | Texas Bowl | Texas vs. Auburn |
*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. Wake Forest |
| Jan. 1 | PlayStation Fiesta Bowl | Cincinnati vs. Ohio State |
| Jan. 1 | Rose Bowl Game | Oregon vs. Iowa |
| Jan. 1 | Allstate Sugar Bowl | Oklahoma State vs. Arkansas |
| Dec. 31 | Capital One Orange Bowl (semifinal) | Oklahoma vs. Alabama |
| Dec. 31 | Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (semifinal) | Penn State vs. Georgia |
College Football Playoff championship projection
| DATE | BOWL | MATCHUP |
| Jan. 10 | College Football Playoff championship | Alabama vs. Georgia |
