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 |
