College Football Bowl Predictions: Will it be the CFP or an Orlando Finals for Alabama, Miami?
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College Football Bowl Predictions: Will it be the CFP or an Orlando Finals for Alabama, Miami?

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

Only five days remain until the Selection Committee announces the first round of the 12-team College Football Playoff and individual and contract players make their selections from the remaining eligible teams.

Tuesday night’s release of the CFP rankings, aside from the final announcement, is the most important in the system’s 11-year history. Where the committee ranks Alabama and Miami tonight likely indicates where the teams will end up in the postseason. For Miami, it’s either the CFP or the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando, Florida. For Alabama, it’s either the CFP or likely the Citrus Bowl, also in Orlando. Considering neither team is playing in a conference championship game, any adjustments made Sunday will rightfully come under intense scrutiny.

Exactly 82 teams have qualified for bowl games, meaning there will be no 5-7 qualifiers. The most interesting bowl situations include Michigan and Iowa. Although the Hawkeyes have a better record (8-4) and a fan base that will likely travel well, the Wolverines (7-5) upset Ohio State and drew high television ratings. The ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa will choose between them, while the Music City Bowl will likely choose the other team.

Possible matchups to watch include Colorado-Iowa State in the Alamo Bowl and BYU-Clemson in the Pop-Tarts Bowl (if the Cyclones lose the Big 12 title game and Miami qualifies for the CFP). The Gasparilla Bowl in St. Petersburg, Florida hosts its first CFP game on Friday, December 20th. So expect a duel between well-known programs. We project Oklahoma-North Carolina.

Some bowls with early dates will announce their participants this week before the full announcement on Sunday.

Friendly reminder: 1) Most non-CFP bows do not require teams to be selected in order of conference placement. 2) Older Pac-12 teams will participate in the league’s bowl lineup this year and in 2025, not their current leagues’ lineups.

College Football Playoffs

Bowl/Playoffs Date team team Location Time (ET) network

Play out

December 20th

6. Penn State

11.Miami

State College, Pennsylvania.

8 p.m

ABC/ESPN

Play out

Dec 21

5.Texas

12. Arizona St (Big 12 Champion)

Austin, Texas

Midday

TNT

Play out

Dec 21

7. Notre Dame

10.Indiana

South Bend, Indiana

3:30 p.m

TNT

Play out

Dec 21

8. Tennessee

9. Ohio State

Knoxville, Tennessee.

8 p.m

ABC/ESPN

Fiesta

Dec 31st

4. Boise State (G5 Champion)

Texas/Arizona State Winner

Glendale, Arizona.

7:30 p.m

ESPN

peach

January 1st

3. SMU (ACC Champion)

Penn State/Miami winner

Atlanta

Midday

ESPN

rose

January 1st

1. Oregon (Big Ten Champion)

Tennessee/Ohio State Winner

Pasadena, California.

5 p.m

ESPN

Sugar

January 1st

2. Georgia (SEC Champion)

Notre Dame/Indiana winner

New Orleans

8:45 p.m

ESPN

Orange

January 9th

Quarterfinal winner

Quarterfinal winner

Miami, Florida.

7:30 p.m

ESPN

Cotton

January 10th

Quarterfinal winner

Quarterfinal winner

Arlington, Texas

7:30 p.m

ESPN

championship

January 20th

Semifinal winner

Semifinal winner

Atlanta

7:30 p.m

ESPN

Remaining bowls

Bowl Date team team Location Time (ET) network

Bahamas

January 4th

Northern Illinois (MAC)

Jacksonville State (C-USA)

Nassau, Bahamas

11 a.m

ESPN2

Duke’s mayo

January 3rd

Minnesota (Big Ten 6)

Virginia Tech (ACC 5-7)

Charlotte, NC

7:30 p.m

ESPN

First responder

January 3rd

NC State (ESPN)

Arkansas (ESPN)

University Park, Texas

4 p.m

ESPN

Gator

January 2nd

Duke (ACC 2-4)

Florida (SEK 3-8)

Jacksonville, Fla.

7:30 p.m

ESPN

Texas

Dec 31st

Baylor (Big 12 4)

Missouri (Sec. 3-8)

Houston

3:30 p.m

ESPN

Citrus fruits

Dec 31st

Illinois (Big Ten 2)

Alabama (SEK 2)

Orlando, Florida.

3 p.m

ABC

Sun

Dec 31st

Louisville (ACC 5-7)

Washington (Pac-12 5)

El Paso, Texas

14 o’clock

CBS

ReliaQuest

Dec 31st

Michigan (Big Ten 3)

South Carolina (SEC 3-8)

Tampa, Florida.

Midday

ESPN

Music City

Dec 30

Iowa (Big Ten 4)

Ole Miss (SEK 3-8)

Nashville, Tennessee.

2:30 p.m

ABC

independence

Dec 28

Memphis

West Virginia* (Pac-12 7)

Shreveport, La.

9:15 p.m

ESPN

Alamo

Dec 28

Iowa State (Big 12 2)

Colorado (Pac-12 2)

San Antonio, Texas

9:15 p.m

ABC

Military

Dec 28

Army (AAC 2)

Georgia Tech (ACC 8-10)

Annapolis, Maryland

5:45 p.m

ESPN

Arizona

Dec 30

Colorado State (MWC)

Miami of Ohio (MAC)

Tucson, Arizona.

4:30 p.m

CW

Pop Tarts

Dec 28

BYU (Big 12 3)

Clemson (ACC 2-4)

Orlando, Florida.

3:30 p.m

ABC

New Mexico

Dec 28

Ohio (MWC)*

UTSA (ESPN)

Albuquerque, NM

2:15 p.m

ESPN

Pinstripes

Dec 28

Nebraska (Big Ten 5)

Boston College (ACC 5-7)

Bronx, NY

Midday

ABC

Fenway

Dec 28

Pittsburgh (ACC 8-10)

UConn (ESPN)

Boston

11 a.m

ESPN

Vegas

Dec 27

USC (Pac-12 4)

Texas A&M (SEC 3-8)

Las Vegas, Nevada.

10:30 p.m

ESPN

Vacation

Dec 27

Syracuse (ACC 2-4)

Washington State (Pac-12 3)

San Diego, California.

8 p.m

FOX

Freedom

Dec 27

Kansas State (Big 12 5)

LSU (SEK 3-8)

Memphis, Tennessee.

7 p.m

ESPN

Birmingham

Dec 27

Vanderbilt (SEK 9)

Tulane (ESPN)

Birmingham, Ala.

12/3:30 p.m

ESPN

armed forces

Dec 27

TCU (Big 12 7)

Navy (ESPN)

Fort Worth, Texas

12/3:30 p.m

ESPN

68 ventures

Dec 26

Georgia Southern (Sunbelt)

Western Kentucky (C-USA)

Mobile, Ala.

9 p.m

ESPN

rate

Dec 26

Rutgers (Big Ten 7)

Texas Tech (Big 12 6)

Phoenix, Arizona.

5:45 p.m

ESPN

GameAbove

Dec 26

Arkansas State (Big Ten 8)*

Toledo (MAC)

Detroit

14 o’clock

ESPN

Hawaii

Dec 24

Fresno State (MWC)

Freedom (C-USA)

Honolulu, Hawaii

8 p.m

ESPN

Idaho potato

December 23rd

San Jose State (MWC)

Buffalo (MAC)

Boise, Idaho

2:30 p.m

ESPN

Myrtle Beach

December 23rd

Carolina Coast (ESPN)

East Carolina (ESPN)

Myrtle Beach, SC

11 a.m

ESPN

Gasparilla

December 20th

North Carolina (ACC 8-10)

Oklahoma (ESPN)

Tampa, Florida.

3:30 p.m

ESPN

cure

December 20th

USF (ESPN)

Marshall (ESPN)

Orlando, Florida.

Midday

ESPN

New Orleans

Dec 19

Louisiana (Sunbelt)

Sam Houston (C-USA)

New Orleans

7 p.m

ESPN2

LA Bowl

Dec 18

California (Pac-12 6)

UNLV (MWC 1)

Inglewood, California.

9 p.m

ABC

Boca Raton

Dec 18

Bowling Green (ESPN)

James Madison (ESPN)

Boca Raton, Florida

5:30 p.m

ESPN

Frisco

Dec 17

State of Texas (ESPN)

North Texas (ESPN)

Frisco, Texas

9 p.m

ESPN

camellia

Dec 14

South Alabama (ESPN)

Western Michigan (ESPN)

Montgomery, Ala.

9 p.m

ESPN

Notes: (ESPN) points to an ESPN Events Bowl. Teams can be moved between them. An asterisk

indicates a replacement team because a league could not fill all places. (Illustration: Demetrius Robinson /The athlete

Photos: Don Juan Moore / Getty)

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