College football Week 7 bowl projections: UCLA, USC keep Pac-12 in playoff mix

Bill Bender

College football Week 7 bowl projections: UCLA, USC keep Pac-12 in playoff mix image

Is there room in the New Year's Day Six for USC and UCLA? 

The Trojans and Bruins – at least for now – are representing the Pac-12 in those bowl games in Sporting News' Week 7 bowl projections. 

No. 7 USC (6-0) averages 40.2 points per game under first-year coach Lincoln Riley, and quarterback Caleb Williams is among the Heisman frontrunners. The Trojans have stayed outside the fringe of the top four of the College Football Playoff conversation, but that could change with a victory at No. 20 Utah. 

WEEK 6 OVERREACTIONS: Get ready for Alabama-Tennessee hype

No. 11 UCLA (6-0) accomplished that feat last week in a 42-32 victory against the Utes. The Bruins average 41.5 points per game. Chip Kelly's offense is back, and quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson is getting into the Heisman conversation. A bye week precedes a Week 8 matchup at No. 12 Oregon. 

Right now we have USC in the Rose Bowl against No. 5 Michigan and UCLA in the Cotton Bowl against Coastal Carolina. That is good news for the Pac-12, at least until the Trojans and Bruins head to the Big Ten. 

MORE: CFP picture due for shake-up after Week 7

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 7 College Football Bowl Projections

DATE BOWL MATCHUP
Dec. 16 Bahamas Bowl North Texas vs. Miami, Ohio
Dec. 16 Cure Bowl Marshall vs. Kent State
Dec. 17 Wasabi Fenway Bowl Cincinnati vs. South Carolina*
Dec. 17 New Mexico Bowl BYU vs. Air Force
Dec. 17 Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl UNLV vs. Washington
Dec. 17 Lending Tree Bowl Toledo vs. South Alabama
Dec. 17 Las Vegas Bowl Arizona vs. Arkansas
Dec. 17 Frisco Bowl MTSU vs. East Carolina
Dec. 19 Myrtle Beach Bowl UAB vs. Appalachian State
Dec. 20 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Buffalo vs. Boise State
Dec. 20 Boca Raton Bowl Houston vs. Western Kentucky
Dec. 21 New Orleans Bowl UTSA vs. Troy
Dec. 22 Armed Forces Bowl Texas Tech vs. Liberty
Dec. 23 Independence Bowl Georgia Tech* vs. UCF
Dec. 23 Gasparilla Bowl Navy vs. Wyoming 
Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl Rice vs. San Jose State
Dec. 26 Quick Lane Bowl Eastern Michigan vs. Nebraska
Dec. 27 Camellia Bowl Ohio vs. Old Dominion
Dec. 27 First Responder Bowl Oklahoma vs. Washington State
Dec. 27 Birmingham Bowl Tulane vs. Miami, Fla.
Dec. 27 Guaranteed Rate Bowl Kansas vs. Wisconsin
Dec. 28 Military Bowl Duke vs. Memphis
Dec. 28 Liberty Bowl Kansas State vs. Texas A&M 
Dec. 28 Holiday Bowl  Oregon vs. Pitt
Dec. 28 Texas Bowl Texas vs. Florida
Dec. 29 Pinstripe Bowl Maryland vs. Syracuse
Dec. 29 Cheez-It Bowl Baylor vs. Florida State
Dec. 29 Alamo Bowl TCU vs. Utah 
Dec. 30 Duke's Mayo Bowl Iowa vs. Notre Dame
Dec. 30 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl Oregon State vs. Wake Forest 
Dec. 30 Gator Bowl North Carolina vs. Kentucky
Dec. 30 Arizona Bowl Ball State vs. San Diego State
Dec. 31 Music City Bowl Minnesota vs. LSU
Jan. 2 ReliaQuest Bowl Purdue vs. Mississippi State
Jan. 2 Citrus Bowl Illinois vs. Ole Miss

College football New Year's Day Six picks 

DATE BOWL MATCHUP
Dec. 30 Capital One Orange Bowl NC State vs. Penn State
Dec. 31 Allstate Sugar Bowl Oklahoma State vs. Tennessee
Jan. 2 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Coastal Carolina vs. UCLA
Jan. 2 Rose Bowl Game Michigan vs. USC
Dec. 31 Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl (semifinal) Georgia vs. Clemson
Dec. 31 Fiesta Bowl (semifinal) Alabama vs. Ohio State

College Football Playoff championship pick 

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

 

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.