Final college football bowl projections for CFP, every bowl game in 2023-24

Bill Bender

Final college football bowl projections for CFP, every bowl game in 2023-24 image

Bowl Season is here. 

The College Football Playoff pairings will be decided on Sunday. 

That means it's time to unveil our final bowl projections of the season. There are 81 bowl-eligible teams with a record of 6-6 or better, and Minnesota (5-7) will fill out the last spot. The Army-Navy winner – a battle of 5-6 teams –  will not play in a bowl game in 2023. The Sun Belt leads all conferences with 12 bowl eligible teams. 

The College Football Playoff semifinals will be on Jan. 1, 2024. Those semifinals will be played at the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, Calif., and the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Those locations were the sites of the first four-team playoff in 2014. 

The College Football Playoff championship game is on Jan. 8 at NRG Stadium in Houston. 

LIVE: Latest news on final College Football Playoff rankings

Final college football bowl projections for 2023-24

A look at Sporting News final bowl projections heading into championship weekend: 

DATE BOWL PROJECTED MATCHUP
Dec. 16 Myrtle Beach Bowl SMU (11-2) vs. James Madison (11-1)
Dec. 16 R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl New Mexico State (10-4) vs. Troy (11-2)
Dec. 16 Cure Bowl South Florida (6-6) vs. Texas State (7-5)
Dec. 16 New Mexico Bowl Western Kentucky (7-5) vs. Fresno State (8-4)
Dec. 16 LA Bowl Cal (6-6) vs. Boise State (8-5)
Dec. 16 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl USC (7-5) vs. UCF (6-6)
Dec. 18 Famous Toastery Bowl Northern Illinois (6-6) vs. Jacksonville State (8-4)
Dec. 19 Frisco Bowl UTSA (8-4) vs. South Alabama (6-6)
Dec. 21 RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl Memphis (9-3) vs. Georgia State (6-6)
Dec. 22 Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl Rice (6-6) vs. Old Dominion (6-6)
Dec. 23 Birmingham Bowl Minnesota (5-7) vs. Syracuse (6-6)
Dec. 23 Camellia Bowl Miami, Ohio (11-2) vs. Appalachian State (8-5)
Dec. 23 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Texas Tech (6-6) vs. Marshall (6-6)
Dec. 23 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Ohio (9-3) vs. Air Force (8-4)
Dec. 23 68 Ventures Bowl Eastern Michigan (6-6) vs. Arkansas State (6-6)
Dec. 23 SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl Northwestern (7-5) vs. Utah (8-4)
Dec. 23 Easypost Hawai'i Bowl Coastal Carolina* (7-5) vs. San Jose State* (7-5)
Dec. 26 Quick Lane Bowl Georgia Southern (6-6) vs. Toledo (11-2)
Dec. 26 Servpro First Responder Bowl West Virginia (8-4) vs. Wyoming (8-4)
Dec. 26 Guaranteed Rate Bowl Iowa State (7-5) vs. Rutgers (6-6)
Dec. 27 Military Bowl Louisiana (6-6) vs. Utah State (6-6)
Dec. 27 Duke's Mayo Bowl Auburn (6-6) vs. Georgia Tech (6-6)
Dec. 27 TaxAct Texas Bowl Kansas (8-4) vs. Duke (7-5)
Dec. 28 Fenway Bowl Boston College (6-6) vs. Tulane (11-2)
Dec. 28 Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl Wisconsin (7-5) vs. Virginia Tech (6-6)
Dec. 28 San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl UCLA (7-5) vs. Miami (7-5)
Dec. 28 Pop-Tarts Bowl Oklahoma State (9-4) vs. North Carolina (8-4)
Dec. 28 Valero Alamo Bowl Oklahoma (10-2) vs. Arizona (9-3)
Dec. 29 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Texas A&M (7-5) vs. Clemson (8-4)
Dec. 29 Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl Oregon State (8-4) vs. NC State (9-3)
Dec. 29 AutoZone Liberty Bowl Kentucky (7-5) vs. Kansas State (8-4)
Dec. 30 Transperfect Music City Bowl Tennessee (8-4) vs. Maryland (7-5)
Dec. 30 Barstool Arizona Bowl Bowling Green (7-5) vs. UNLV (9-4)
Jan. 1 Reliaquest Bowl LSU (9-3) vs. Notre Dame (9-3)
Jan. 1 Cheez-It Citrus Bowl Ole Miss (10-2) vs. Iowa (10-3)

*Denotes accepted bowl bid 

College football New Year's Day Six picks 

A look at Sporting News' New Year's Day Six picks heading into championship weekend: 

DATE BOWL PROJECTED MATCHUP
Dec. 29 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic Texas (12-1) vs. Ohio State (11-1)
Dec. 30 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Liberty (13-0) vs. Penn State (10-2)
Dec. 30 Capital One Orange Bowl Georgia (12-1) vs. Louisville (10-3)
Jan. 1 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Missouri (10-2) vs. Oregon (11-2)

College Football Playoff picks

A look at Sporting News' College Football Playoff picks heading into championship weekend: 

DATE BOWL PROJECTED MATCHUP
Jan. 1 Rose Bowl Game (National semifinal) Michigan (13-0) vs. Florida State (13-0)
Jan. 1 Allstate Sugar Bowl (National semifinal) Washington (13-0) vs. Alabama (12-1)

College Football Playoff championship pick 

DATE BOWL PROJECTED MATCHUP
Jan. 8 CFP championship game Michigan 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.