Bowl Projections: How the Playoff and New Year's Six Look With One Regular Season Week Left

Sick of talking about the SEC? You may want to skip as many New Year's Six bowls as you can.

Week 12 was guaranteed to see one team drop from the top 12—which turned out to be Syracuse after Notre Dame shut down the Orange offense at Yankee Stadium—but an unexpected loss has opened the door for a slate of marquee bowls packed full of SEC teams. West Virginia's loss to Oklahoma State leaves the Big 12 with simple stakes for its title game and its playoff hopes, but it knocked the Mountaineers from the ranks of the playoff contenders, opening the door for Florida, which trounced Idaho on Saturday, to work its way into the New Year’s Six slate, giving the SEC four teams (Alabama, Georgia, LSU and the Gators) nearly guaranteed an NY6 spot if they each win out. The way this projection shakes out, Florida would have a fascinating Fiesta Bowl opponent in UCF, which may have just cleared its biggest hurdle in the way of a second consecutive undefeated season by rolling past Cincinnati.

Below, a look at all 39 projected bowl matchups and the updated College Football Playoff field through Week 12 of the 2018 season. An asterisk (*) denotes that an at-large team is filling a spot left vacant by the conference under contract with that bowl. For a rankings-format look at the nation’s best teams, check out Andy Staples’s post–Week 12 Top 10.

Dec. 15

New Mexico Bowl, Albuquerque (2 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Mountain West vs. Conference USA
San Diego State vs. Louisiana Tech

AutoNation Cure Bowl, Orlando (2:30 p.m. ET, CBSSN)
American vs. Sun Belt
SMU vs. Louisiana

Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
Pac-12 vs. Mountain West
Stanford vs. Utah State

Raycom Media Camellia Bowl, Montgomery, Ala. (5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Sun Belt vs. MAC
Georgia Southern vs. Ohio

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (9 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Sun Belt vs. Conference USA
Troy vs. Southern Miss

Dec. 18

Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
American vs. Conference USA
Tulane vs. Marshall

Dec. 19

Frisco Bowl (8 p.m. ET, ESPN)
American vs. MAC/at-large
Temple vs. Eastern Michigan

Dec. 20

Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl, Tampa (8 p.m. ET, ESPN)
American vs. ACC/Conference USA
South Florida vs. Florida International

Dec. 21

Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl, Nassau (12:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Conference USA vs. MAC
Florida Atlantic vs. Miami (OH)

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Boise (4 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Mountain West vs. MAC
Nevada vs. Western Michigan

Dec. 22

Birmingham Bowl (Noon ET, ESPN)
SEC vs. American
Appalachian State* vs. Memphis

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, Fort Worth, Texas (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Big 12 vs. American
Boise State* vs. Houston

Dollar General Bowl, Mobile, Ala. (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
MAC vs. Sun Belt
Northern Illinois vs. Louisiana-Monroe

Hawai'i Bowl, Honolulu (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Mountain West vs. Conference USA
Hawai’i vs. Middle Tennessee

Dec. 26

SERVPRO First Responders Bowl, Dallas (1:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Big Ten vs. Conference USA
BYU* vs. North Texas

Quick Lane Bowl, Detroit (5:15 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Big Ten vs. ACC
Buffalo* vs. Georgia Tech

Cheez-It Bowl, Phoenix (9 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Big 12 vs. Pac-12
Army* vs. Arizona State

Dec. 27

Walk-On's Independence Bowl, Shreveport, La. (1:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
SEC vs. ACC
UAB* vs. Miami

New Era Pinstripe Bowl, New York (5:15 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Big Ten vs. ACC
Wisconsin vs. Pitt

Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl, Houston (9 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Big 12 vs. SEC
Texas Tech vs. Texas A&M

Dec. 28

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl, Nashville (1:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
SEC vs. ACC/Big Ten
Vanderbilt vs. Boston College

Camping World Bowl, Orlando (5:15 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Big 12 vs. ACC
West Virginia vs. NC State

Valero Alamo Bowl, San Antonio (9 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Big 12 vs. Pac-12
Iowa State vs. Utah

Dec. 29

Belk Bowl, Charlotte, N.C. (Noon ET, ABC)
SEC vs. ACC
South Carolina vs. Duke

NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl, Tucson (1:15 p.m. ET, CBSSN)
Mountain West vs. Sun Belt
Fresno State vs. Arkansas State

Dec. 31

Redbox Bowl, Santa Clara, Calif. (3 p.m. ET, Fox)
Big Ten vs. Pac-12
Indiana vs. Oregon

Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman, Annapolis, Md. (Noon ET, ESPN)
ACC vs. American
Virginia vs. Cincinnati

AutoZone Liberty Bowl, Memphis (3:45 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Big 12 vs. SEC
Oklahoma State vs. Missouri

San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl, San Diego (7 p.m. ET, FS1)
Big Ten vs. Pac-12
Iowa vs. Washington

TaxSlayer Bowl, Jacksonville, Fla. (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
SEC vs. ACC/Big Ten
Auburn vs. Northwestern

Hyundai Sun Bowl, El Paso, Texas (2 p.m. ET, CBS)
ACC vs. Pac-12
Syracuse vs. Cal

Jan. 1

Outback Bowl, Tampa, Fla. (Noon ET, ESPN2)
Big Ten vs. SEC
Michigan State vs. Kentucky

Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Fla. (1 p.m. ET, ABC)
SEC vs. ACC/Big Ten
Mississippi State vs. Penn State

New Year's Six Bowls

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Atlanta (Dec. 29, Noon ET, ESPN)
At-large vs. At-large
Oklahoma vs. LSU

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl, Glendale, Ariz. (Jan. 1, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN)
At-large vs. At-large
Florida vs. UCF

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual, Pasadena, Calif. (Jan. 1, 5 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Big Ten vs. Pac-12
Ohio State vs. Washington State

Allstate Sugar Bowl, New Orleans (Jan. 1, 8:45 p.m. ET, ESPN)
SEC vs. Big 12
Georgia vs. Texas

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, Arlington, Texas (Dec. 29, 4 p.m. or 8 p.m. ET, ESPN)
CFP semifinalist vs. CFP semifinalist
Alabama vs. Michigan

Capital One Orange Bowl, Miami Gardens, Fla. (Dec. 29, 4 p.m. or 8 p.m. ET, ESPN)
CFP semifinalist vs. CFP semifinalist
Clemson vs. Notre Dame

College Football Playoff National Championship, Santa Clara (Jan. 7, 8 p.m., ESPN)
CFP semifinal winner vs. CFP semifinal winner