College Football Bowl Predictions: Final schedule predictions as playoff release approaches
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College Football Bowl Predictions: Final schedule predictions as playoff release approaches

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

College football’s conference championship games are complete. We’ve done our best to guess how the committee will seed the 12-team playoffs, but we’re treading lightly. This has never happened before.

Big Ten champion Oregon and SEC champion Georgia are the obvious numbers one through two. Based on last week’s rankings, Mountain West champion Boise State gets the No. 3 seed and Big 12 champion Arizona State gets the No. 4 seed. ACC champ Clemson wouldn’t get a bye and will likely be either the No. 11 or No. 12 seed instead.

That could depend on whether SMU or Alabama gets the final at-large spot. It’s a coin toss, but considering the Mustangs lost to Clemson on a last-second 56-yard field goal, we think it’s unlikely they’ll fall from No. 8 in the rankings to No. 12.

As for the other seeds, the best guess is that Notre Dame will move up to No. 5 at 11-1, while Texas will fall to No. 6 at 11-2. If so, 11-2 Penn State could fall behind 10-2 Ohio State and finish at No. 8 based on their head-to-head result.

go deeper

Go deeper

2024 College Football Playoff Predictions: SMU favors Alabama for last place

As for other bowls, we’re most confident in predicting the BYU-Colorado Alamo Bowl and the Miami-Iowa State Pop-Tarts Bowl. The remaining ACC and SEC bowl lineups will be determined by whether Alabama or SMU advances to the CFP.

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 Pac-12 Bowl lineup this year and in 2025, not their current leagues’ lineups. That means the Alamo Bowl could pit two Big 12 teams against each other in both years, and that scenario is virtually guaranteed this year.

The teams shaded blue in the tables indicate the official game.

College Football Playoffs

Bowl/Playoffs Date team team

Play out

December 20th

6.Texas

11. Clemson (ACC Champion)

Play out

December 21st

5. Notre Dame

12. SMU

Play out

December 21st

7. Ohio State

10.Indiana

Play out

December 21st

8. Penn State

9.Tennessee

Fiesta

Dec 31st

3. Boise State (G5 Champion)

Texas/Clemson winner

peach

January 1st

4. Arizona State (Big 12 Champion)

Notre Dame/SMU winner

rose

January 1st

1. Oregon (Big Ten Champion)

Penn State/Tennessee winner

Sugar

January 1st

2. Georgia (SEC Champion)

Ohio State/Indiana winner

Orange

January 9th

Quarterfinal winner

Quarterfinal winner

Cotton

January 10th

Quarterfinal winner

Quarterfinal winner

championship

January 20th

Semifinal winner

Semifinal winner

Remaining bowls

Bowl Date team team

Bahamas

January 4th

Buffalo (MAC)

Freedom (C-USA)

Duke’s mayo

January 3rd

Minnesota (Big Ten 6)

Virginia Tech (ACC 5-7)

First responder

January 3rd

Arkansas State (ESPN)

UTSA (ESPN)

Gator

January 2nd

Duke (ACC 2-4)

Florida (SEK 3-8)

Texas

Dec 31st

Baylor (Big 12 4)

LSU (SEK 3-8)

Citrus fruits

Dec 31st

Illinois (Big Ten 2)

Alabama (SEK 2)

Sun

Dec 31st

Louisville (ACC 5-7)

Washington (Pac-12 5)

ReliaQuest

Dec 31st

Iowa (Big Ten 3)

South Carolina (SEC 3-8)

Music City

Dec 30

Nebraska (Big Ten 4)

Ole Miss (SEK 3-8)

independence

Dec 28

Army (AAC)

Oklahoma* (Pac-12 7)

Alamo

Dec 28

BYU (LARGE 12 2)

Colorado (Pac-12 2)

Military

Dec 28

East Carolina (AAC 2)

Georgia Tech

Arizona

Dec 30

Colorado State (MWC)

Miami of Ohio (MAC)

Pop Tarts

Dec 28

Iowa State (Big 12 3)

Miami (ACC 2-4)

New Mexico

Dec 28

Marshall (MWC)*

North Texas (ESPN)

Pinstripes

Dec 28

Michigan (Big Ten 5)

Boston College (ACC 5-7)

Fenway

Dec 28

Pittsburgh (ACC)

UConn (ESPN)

Vegas

Dec 27

USC (Pac-12 4)

Texas A&M (SEC 3-8)

Vacation

Dec 27

Syracuse (ACC 2-4)

Washington State (Pac-12 3)

Freedom

Dec 27

Kansas State (Big 12 5)

Missouri (Sec. 3-8)

Birmingham

Dec 27

Vanderbilt (SEK 9)

NC State (ESPN)

armed forces

Dec 27

TCU (Big 12 7)

Navy (ESPN)

68 ventures

Dec 26

Georgia Southern (Sunbelt)

Bowling Green* (C-USA)

rate

Dec 26

Rutgers (Big Ten 7)

Texas Tech (Big 12 6)

GameAbove

Dec 26

Texas State (Big Ten 8)*

Toledo (MAC)

Hawaii

Dec 24

San Jose State (MWC)

USF (ESPN)

Idaho potato

December 23rd

Fresno State (MWC)

NIU (MAC)

Myrtle Beach

December 23rd

Carolina Coast (ESPN)

North Carolina (ESPN)

Gasparilla

December 20th

Tulane (ESPN)

Arkansas (ESPN)

cure

December 20th

Jacksonville State (ESPN)

Ohio (ESPN)

New Orleans

Dec 19

Louisiana (Sunbelt)

Sam Houston (C-USA)

LA Bowl

Dec 18

California (Pac-12 6)

UNLV (MWC 1)

Boca Raton

Dec 18

Western Kentucky (ESPN)

James Madison (ESPN)

Frisco

Dec 17

Memphis (ESPN)

West Virginia (ESPN)

Greetings to the veterans

Dec 14

South Alabama (ESPN)

Western Michigan (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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