How much will change during conference championship weekend?

There are 82 FBS teams that are bowl eligible, and they fit perfectly into the new bowl season. There are 35 off-field bowls in the 12-team College Football Playoff. So who will be moving this weekend? The Big 12, ACC and Mountain West Conference championship games could change the makeup of the playoff field and impact our final bowl predictions for the 2024-25 college football season.

The final College Football Playoff rankings will be announced on Sunday. Sporting News will update these predictions throughout the weekend ahead of the first 12-team playoff field on December 8th. We will have a bowl tracker file when announcements come in on Sunday.

The first round of the new CFP will include one game on Friday, December 20th and three on Saturday, December 21st. The quarterfinals will be played at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (December 31), Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (January 1), Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential (January 1) and Allstate Sugar Bowl (January 1).

The semifinals will be played in the Capital One Orange Bowl (January 9) and the Cotton Bowl Classic (January 10). The CFP National Championship takes place on Monday, January 20th in Atlanta.

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Here are our final bowl projections:

2024 College Football Bowl Predictions

Outside of the College Football Playoff, there are 35 bowls involving FBS teams this season. A look at our predictions for these matches.

*Means bowl match is official

DATE	BOWL	MATCHUP	TIME	TV
Dec 14	Salute to Veterans Bowl*	Western Michigan vs. Southern Alabama	9 p.m	ESPN
Dec 17	Boca Raton bowl	Arkansas State vs. South Florida	5:30 p.m	ESPN
Dec 18	Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl*	West Virginia vs. Memphis	9 p.m	ESPN
Dec 18	LA Bowl, hosted by Gronk	UNLV vs. Cal	9 p.m	ESPN
Dec 19	R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl*	Georgia Southern vs. Sam Houston	7 p.m	ESPN2
December 20th	Staffdna Cure Bowl	Jacksonville State vs. Louisiana	12 o’clock	ESPN
December 20th	Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl	Tulane vs. Vanderbilt	3:30 p.m	ESPN
December 23rd	Myrtle Beach Bowl	Northern Illinois vs. Coastal Carolina	11 a.m	ESPN
December 23rd	Famous Idaho Potato Peel	Toledo vs. Colorado State	2:30 p.m	ESPN
Dec 24	Hawaii Bowl	East Carolina vs. San Jose State	8 p.m	ESPN
Dec 26	Detroit Bowl	Miami, Ohio vs. UConn	14 o’clock	ESPN
Dec 26	Guaranteed Price Bowl	Rutgers vs. Baylor	5:30 p.m	ESPN
Dec 26	68 Ventures Bowl	Marshall v. Ohio	9 p.m	ESPN
Dec 27	Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl	North Texas vs. NC State	12 p.m. or 3:30 p.m	ESPN
Dec 27	Birmingham Bowl	North Carolina vs. Oklahoma	12 p.m. or 3:30 p.m	ESPN
Dec 27	Autozone Liberty Bowl	TCU vs. Arkansas	7 p.m	ESPN
Dec 27	SDS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl	Washington State vs. Florida	10:30 p.m	ESPN
Dec 27	DirecTV Holiday Bowl	Washington vs. Pitt	8 p.m	fox
Dec 28	Wasabi Fenway Bowl	Army vs. Georgia Tech	11 a.m	ESPN
Dec 28	Bad Boy Mowers pinstripe bowl	Virginia Tech vs. Nebraska	12 o’clock	ABC
Dec 28	Isleta New Mexico Bowl	Western Kentucky vs. James Madison	2:15 p.m	ESPN
Dec 28	Pop Tarts Bowl	Clemson vs. Iowa State	3:30 p.m	ABC
Dec 28	Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl	Bowling Green vs. Fresno State	4:30 p.m	CW
Dec 28	Go Bowling Military Bowl	Navy vs. Boston College	5:45 p.m	ESPN
Dec 28	Valero Alamo bowl	Colorado vs. BYU	7:30 p.m	ABC
Dec 28	Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl	Louisville vs. Kansas State	9:15 p.m	ESPN
Dec 30	Transperfect Music City Bowl	Michigan vs. LSU	2:30 p.m	ESPN
Dec 31st	Reliaquest bowl	Minnesota vs. Missouri	12 o’clock	ESPN
Dec 31st	Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl	Syracuse vs. USC	14 o’clock	CBS
Dec 31st	Cheez-It Citrus Peel	Illinois vs. South Carolina	3 p.m	ABC
Dec 31st	Texas Bowl	Texas Tech vs. Texas A&M	3:30 p.m	ESPN
January 2nd	Taxslayer Gator Bowl	Miami vs. Ole Miss	7:30 p.m	ESPN
January 3rd	Servpro First Responder Bowl	UTSA vs. Texas State	4 p.m.	ESPN
January 3rd	Duke’s Mayo Bowl	Duke vs. Iowa	7:30 p.m	ESPN
January 4th	Bahamas Bowl*	Buffalo vs. Liberty	11 a.m	ESPN2

College Football Playoff First Round Predictions

A look at the four first-round games of the College Football Playoff for the 2024-25 season. These first round games will be played on campus:

DATE	BOWL	MATCHUP	TIME	TV
December 20th	First round game	No. 12 Arizona State at No. 5 Notre Dame	8 p.m	ESPN
December 21st	First round game	No. 10 Indiana vs. No. 7 Penn State	12 o’clock	TNT
December 21st	First round game	No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Georgia	4 p.m	TNT
December 21st	First round game	No. 11 Alabama and No. 6 Ohio State	8 p.m	ESPN

This is our best guess if Georgia and Penn State lose in the SEC and Big Ten championship games. The only rematch in the regular season is Tennessee vs. Georgia in this configuration. At least Penn State and Indiana didn’t play in the regular season. Notre Dame moves up to No. 5 and the Big 12 champion appears locked in as the No. 12 seed.

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College Football Playoff Quarterfinal Predictions

A look at the College Football Playoff quarterfinal games for the 2024-25 season. These games will be played at traditional New Year’s Eve Six Bowl locations:

DATE	BOWL	MATCHUP	TIME	TV
Dec 31st	Vrbo Fiesta Bowl	No. 4 Boise State vs. No. 5 Notre Dame	7:30 p.m	ESPN
January 1st	Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl	No. 3 SMU vs. No. 6 Ohio State	1 p.m	ESPN
January 1st	Rose Bowl game	No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 8 Georgia	5 p.m	ESPN
January 1st	Allstate sugar bowl	No. 2 Texas vs. No. 7 Penn State	8:45 p.m	ESPN

In this setup, will Boise State and SMU benefit from these first-round byes? Oregon-Georgia will be the second round matchup. Maybe that’s the value of the SEC championship game here. The loser will have a much more difficult road ahead in this seed. The same goes for the loser of the Big Ten, in this case Penn State.

College Football Playoff Semifinal Predictions

A look at the College Football Playoff semifinal games for the 2024-25 season. These games will be played at traditional New Year’s Eve Six Bowl locations:

DATE	BOWL	MATCHUP	TIME	TV
January 9th	Capital One Orange Bowl (semifinals)	No. 2 Texas vs. No. 6 Ohio State	7:30 p.m	ESPN
January 10th	Cotton Bowl Classic (semifinals)	No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 5 Notre Dame	7:30 p.m	ESPN

That would be an amazing semifinal round. Quinn Ewers began his career at Ohio State and got a chance to knock out the Buckeyes in the semifinals. Could Ohio State get to the CFP championship game over Alabama and Texas? Oregon and Notre Dame have not played since a tie in 1982.

College Football Playoff Championship Selection

A look at the College Football Playoff championship game for the 2024-25 season. This game is scheduled for Monday, January 20th at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

DATE	BOWL	MATCHUP	TIME	TV
January 20th	CFP National Championship	No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 2 Texas	7:30 p.m	ESPN

That pick could change after conference championship weekend, but the Ducks and Longhorns have done the best job of avoiding chaos in their respective conferences this season. We’ll see how this plays out in the postseason.