College football Week 12 bowl projections: Tennessee-Georgia rematch in the works

Bill Bender

College football Week 12 bowl projections: Tennessee-Georgia rematch in the works image

The CFP committee is going to have an interesting debate for the final spot if the chalk holds for the next three weeks. 

Which 40-point offense deserves the last playoff spot? No. 5 Tennessee is the answer, at least for now. 

The Vols are back in the CFP in Sporting News Week 12 bowl projection. Tennessee leads the FBS with 47.4 points per game, and that will be part of the reason they are the most-attractive one-loss team at the end of the deliberations. 

MORE: College Football Playoff picture entering Week 12

All four unbeaten teams have 40-point offenses, too. No. 1 Georgia (40.6), No. 2 Ohio State (46.8), No. 3 Michigan (41.4) and No. 4 TCU (40.5) can score. Two other one-loss contenders – No. 7 USC (42.4) and No. 13 North Carolina (40.1) fit that description, too. 

If the debate comes down to Tennessee, the Michigan-Ohio State loser, USC and North Carolina, the team with the best offense will be a talking point. Right now, that is the Vols.

MORE: LSU's Perkins overcomes flu to stifle Arkansas

SN has the Bulldogs and Vols in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and Ohio State and TCU in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl. No. 17 UCF and No. 19 Kansas State moved into our New Year's Day Six picks. 

The College Football Playoff semifinals will be on Dec. 31 this season. Those semifinals will be played at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta and the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. The College Football Playoff championship game is on Jan. 9 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.

Week 12 College Football Bowl Projections

DATE BOWL MATCHUP
Dec. 16 Bahamas Bowl North Texas vs. Bowling Green
Dec. 16 Cure Bowl South Alabama vs. Rice
Dec. 17 Wasabi Fenway Bowl Houston vs. Louisville
Dec. 17 New Mexico Bowl BYU vs. Air Force
Dec. 17 Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Boise State vs. Cincinnati 
Dec. 17 Lending Tree Bowl Buffalo vs. Georgia Southern
Dec. 17 Las Vegas Bowl Washington State vs. Missouri
Dec. 17 Frisco Bowl Middle Tennessee State vs. East Carolina
Dec. 19 Myrtle Beach Bowl UAB vs. Troy 
Dec. 20 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Ball State vs. Fresno State
Dec. 20 Boca Raton Bowl Tulane vs. UTSA
Dec. 21 New Orleans Bowl Western Kentucky vs. Appalachian State
Dec. 22 Armed Forces Bowl Texas Tech vs. Liberty
Dec. 23 Independence Bowl Marshall* vs. UConn
Dec. 23 Gasparilla Bowl Louisiana vs San Diego State
Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl FAU vs. Wyoming
Dec. 26 Quick Lane Bowl Ohio vs. Maryland
Dec. 27 Camellia Bowl Toledo vs. Coastal Carolina
Dec. 27 First Responder Bowl Duke vs. Oregon State
Dec. 27 Birmingham Bowl Memphis vs. Michigan State*
Dec. 27 Guaranteed Rate Bowl Kansas vs. Wisconsin
Dec. 28 Military Bowl Pitt vs. SMU
Dec. 28 Liberty Bowl Baylor vs. South Carolina
Dec. 28 Holiday Bowl  UCLA vs. Wake Forest
Dec. 28 Texas Bowl Oklahoma vs. Mississippi State
Dec. 29 Pinstripe Bowl Iowa vs. NC State 
Dec. 29 Cheez-It Bowl Texas vs. Florida State
Dec. 29 Alamo Bowl Oklahoma State vs. Washington 
Dec. 30 Duke's Mayo Bowl Minnesota vs. Notre Dame
Dec. 30 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl Oregon State vs. Syracuse
Dec. 30 Gator Bowl Clemson vs. Florida
Dec. 30 Arizona Bowl Eastern Michigan vs. San Diego State
Dec. 31 Music City Bowl Illinois vs. Arkansas
Jan. 2 ReliaQuest Bowl Purdue vs. Kentucky 
Jan. 2 Citrus Bowl Penn State vs. Ole Miss

College football New Year's Day Six picks 

DATE BOWL MATCHUP
Dec. 30 Capital One Orange Bowl North Carolina vs. Alabama
Dec. 31 Allstate Sugar Bowl Kansas State vs. LSU
Jan. 2 Goodyear Cotton Bowl UCF vs. Utah
Jan. 2 Rose Bowl Game Michigan vs. USC
Dec. 31 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (semifinal) Georgia vs. Tennessee
Dec. 31 Fiesta Bowl (semifinal) Ohio State vs. TCU

College Football Playoff championship pick 

DATE BOWL MATCHUP
Jan. 11 CFP championship game Ohio State vs. Georgia

 

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.