College football Week 11 bowl projections: Michigan, Ohio State create two Big Ten-team playoff

Bill Bender

College football Week 11 bowl projections: Michigan, Ohio State create two Big Ten-team playoff image

No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan are headed toward what could be a battle of 11-0 teams on Nov. 26. 

If that happens, then it's feasible both teams could make the College Football Playoff. At least it should be. Sporting News' Week 11 bowl projections have the Wolverines and Buckeyes in the CFP semifinals along with fellow unbeaten teams in No. 1 Georgia and No. 4 TCU. There is not an argument for anybody else right now. 

The loser of the Ohio State-Michigan game would not have the benefit of a conference championship, but if the game is a classic (and it should be), then the loser would be in the same discussion as No. 5 Tennessee and the rest of the one-loss champions. It is a debate the Buckeyes – and perhaps the Wolverines – would win.

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This week's bowl projections also dropped No. 10 Alabama and No. 12 Clemson out of the New Year's Day Six. No. 7 LSU, No. 15 North Carolina and No. 18 Texas moved into our 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.

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Week 11 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. Louisville 
Dec. 17 New Mexico Bowl BYU vs. Air Force
Dec. 17 Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Boise State vs. Houston 
Dec. 17 Lending Tree Bowl Ball State vs. Georgia Southern
Dec. 17 Las Vegas Bowl Washington State vs. Missouri
Dec. 17 Frisco Bowl Western Kentucky vs. Memphis
Dec. 19 Myrtle Beach Bowl FIU vs. Appalachian State
Dec. 20 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Buffalo vs. Fresno State
Dec. 20 Boca Raton Bowl East Carolina vs. MTSU
Dec. 21 New Orleans Bowl UTSA vs. Southern Miss
Dec. 22 Armed Forces Bowl Pitt* vs. Liberty
Dec. 23 Independence Bowl Marshall* vs. UConn
Dec. 23 Gasparilla Bowl Troy vs San Jose State
Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl FAU vs. Wyoming
Dec. 26 Quick Lane Bowl Ohio vs. Michigan State
Dec. 27 Camellia Bowl Toledo vs. Coastal Carolina
Dec. 27 First Responder Bowl Texas Tech vs. Washington 
Dec. 27 Birmingham Bowl UCF vs. Arkansas
Dec. 27 Guaranteed Rate Bowl Kansas vs. Iowa
Dec. 28 Military Bowl Syracuse vs. SMU
Dec. 28 Liberty Bowl Baylor vs. South Carolina
Dec. 28 Holiday Bowl  UCLA vs. Florida State
Dec. 28 Texas Bowl Oklahoma vs. Mississippi State
Dec. 29 Pinstripe Bowl Purdue vs. Wake Forest
Dec. 29 Cheez-It Bowl Oklahoma State vs. NC State
Dec. 29 Alamo Bowl Kansas State vs. Utah
Dec. 30 Duke's Mayo Bowl Minnesota vs. Notre Dame
Dec. 30 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl Oregon State vs. Duke
Dec. 30 Gator Bowl Clemson vs. Florida
Dec. 30 Arizona Bowl Eastern Michigan vs. San Diego State
Dec. 31 Music City Bowl Wisconsin vs. Kentucky
Jan. 2 ReliaQuest Bowl Maryland vs. Ole Miss
Jan. 2 Citrus Bowl Illinois vs. Alabama

College football New Year's Day Six picks 

DATE BOWL MATCHUP
Dec. 30 Capital One Orange Bowl North Carolina vs. LSU
Dec. 31 Allstate Sugar Bowl Texas vs. Tennessee
Jan. 2 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Tulane vs. USC
Jan. 2 Rose Bowl Game Penn State vs. Oregon
Dec. 31 Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl (semifinal) Georgia vs. Michigan
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.