No. 5 USC will make the College Football Playoff if it beats No. 13 Notre Dame and wins the Pac-12 championship.
That is the door that opened when South Carolina beat No. 5 Tennessee 63-38 in Week 12. Now, first-year coach Lincoln Riley – who led Oklahoma to the CFP three times – has a chance to lead the Trojans to a remarkable turnaround after one season. It does not hurt to have transfer portal gems Caleb Williams and Jordan Addison, among others.
MORE: Five CFP scenarios worth watching
USC also will benefit from the loser of the matchup between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan falling from the ranks of the unbeaten teams. The loser of The Game still might have a backdoor into the CFP, but it likely will take a Trojans’ loss or a loss from No. 4 TCU.
Sporting News has No. 1 Georgia meeting USC in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and Ohio State and TCU meeting in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl. No. 7 Clemson and No. 19 Tulane moved back into our CFP projections.
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 13 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 | Cincinnati vs. Syracuse |
| Dec. 17 | New Mexico Bowl | BYU vs. Air Force |
| Dec. 17 | Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl | Boise State vs. Houston |
| Dec. 17 | Lending Tree Bowl | Buffalo vs. Southern Miss |
| 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 | Miami, Ohio vs. Fresno State |
| Dec. 20 | Boca Raton Bowl | UCF 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. San Jose State |
| Dec. 26 | Quick Lane Bowl | Ohio vs. Wisconsin |
| Dec. 27 | Camellia Bowl | Toledo vs. Coastal Carolina |
| Dec. 27 | First Responder Bowl | Duke vs. Oregon State |
| Dec. 27 | Birmingham Bowl | Memphis vs. Utah State |
| Dec. 27 | Guaranteed Rate Bowl | Kansas vs. Maryland |
| Dec. 28 | Military Bowl | NC State vs. SMU |
| Dec. 28 | Liberty Bowl | Baylor vs. Arkansas |
| Dec. 28 | Holiday Bowl | Washington vs. Pitt |
| Dec. 28 | Texas Bowl | Oklahoma vs. Florida |
| Dec. 29 | Pinstripe Bowl | Minnesota vs. Wake Forest |
| Dec. 29 | Cheez-It Bowl | Oklahoma State vs. North Carolina |
| Dec. 29 | Alamo Bowl | Texas vs. UCLA |
| Dec. 30 | Duke's Mayo Bowl | Illinois vs. Florida State |
| Dec. 30 | Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl | Utah vs. Louisville |
| Dec. 30 | Gator Bowl | Notre Dame vs. Kentucky |
| Dec. 30 | Arizona Bowl | Eastern Michigan vs. Wyoming |
| Dec. 31 | Music City Bowl | Iowa vs. South Carolina |
| Jan. 2 | ReliaQuest Bowl | Purdue vs. Mississippi State |
| Jan. 2 | Cheez-It Citrus Bowl | Penn State vs. Ole Miss |
College football New Year's Day Six picks
| DATE | BOWL | MATCHUP |
| Dec. 30 | Capital One Orange Bowl | Clemson vs. Alabama |
| Dec. 31 | Allstate Sugar Bowl | Kansas State vs. LSU |
| Jan. 2 | Goodyear Cotton Bowl | Tulane vs. Tennessee |
| Jan. 2 | Rose Bowl Game | Michigan vs. Oregon |
| Dec. 31 | Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (semifinal) | Georgia vs. USC |
| 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 |
