Bowl Games Schedule 2017-18 Dates, Live-Stream Info and Predictions
By this time next week, we will not only know the four teams that made the playoffs, with a shot at a national championship, but also the pairings of every postseason bowl game.
We'll know even sooner than that, since the final College Football Playoff rankings come out on Sunday and all bowl matchups will be set immediately afterward.
The penultimate rankings came out on Tuesday, with a new No. 1 and two new teams in the top four.
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The CFP games and New Year's Six bowls are the big draws, but bowl season overall is so great because of the sheer number of games and the matchups they produce.
Here's how we project those will end up, with only a few games left to impact the pairings:
| Celebration | Dec. 16 | Grambling | North Carolina A&T | WatchESPN |
| New Orleans | Dec. 16 | Southern Miss | Troy | WatchESPN |
| Cure | Dec. 16 | Georgia State | Western Kentucky | CBSSports.com |
| Las Vegas | Dec. 16 | Fresno State | Oregon | WatchESPN |
| New Mexico | Dec. 16 | North Texas | San Diego State | WatchESPN |
| Camellia | Dec. 16 | Appalachian State | Akron | WatchESPN |
| Boca Raton | Dec. 19 | Florida Atlantic | Temple | WatchESPN |
| Frisco | Dec. 20 | Colorado State | SMU | WatchESPN |
| Gasparilla | Dec. 21 | Florida International | South Florida | WatchESPN |
| Bahamas | Dec. 22 | Ohio | UAB | WatchESPN |
| Potato | Dec. 22 | Central Michigan | Wyoming | WatchESPN |
| Birmingham | Dec. 23 | Houston | Louisiana Tech | WatchESPN |
| Armed Forces | Dec. 23 | Army | UTSA | WatchESPN |
| Dollar General | Dec. 23 | Arkansas State | Toledo | WatchESPN |
| Heart of Dallas | Dec. 26 | Texas Tech | UCLA | WatchESPN |
| Quick Lane | Dec. 26 | Duke | Northern Illinois | WatchESPN |
| Cactus | Dec. 26 | Arizona | Iowa State | WatchESPN |
| Independence | Dec. 27 | Florida State | Marshall | WatchESPN |
| Pinstripe | Dec. 27 | Boston College | Michigan | WatchESPN |
| Foster Farms | Dec. 27 | Iowa | Washington State | FoxSportsGo |
| Texas | Dec. 27 | Kansas State | Texas A&M | WatchESPN |
| Military | Dec. 28 | Navy | Virginia | WatchESPN |
| Camping World | Dec. 28 | Texas | Virginia Tech | WatchESPN |
| Holiday | Dec. 28 | Northwestern | Stanford | FoxSportsGo |
| Alamo | Dec. 28 | Oklahoma State | Washington | WatchESPN |
| Belk | Dec. 29 | Missouri | Wake Forest | WatchESPN |
| Sun | Dec. 29 | Arizona State | Louisville | CBSSports.com |
| Music City | Dec. 29 | Kentucky | Purdue | WatchESPN |
| Arizona | Dec. 29 | New Mexico State | Utah State | WatchESPN |
| Cotton (NY6) | Dec. 29 | Alabama | TCU | WatchESPN |
| TaxSlayer | Dec. 30 | Mississippi State | North Carolina State | WatchESPN |
| Liberty | Dec. 30 | Memphis | West Virginia | WatchESPN |
| Fiesta (NY6) | Dec. 30 | Penn State | USC | WatchESPN |
| Orange (NY6) | Dec. 30 | Miami (Florida) | Ohio State | WatchESPN |
| Outback | Jan. 1 | Michigan State | South Carolina | WatchESPN |
| Peach (NY6) | Jan. 1 | Georgia | UCF | WatchESPN |
| Citrus | Jan. 1 | LSU | Notre Dame | WatchESPN |
| Rose (CFP) | Jan. 1 | Auburn | Oklahoma | WatchESPN |
| Sugar (CFP) | Jan. 1 | Clemson | Wisconsin | WatchESPN |
Our projection factors in no changes in the top four, meaning No. 1 Clemson beats No. 7 Miami in the ACC title game, No. 2 Auburn takes down No. 6 Georgia for the second time in less than a month for the SEC title, No. 3 Oklahoma beats No. 11 TCU for the Big 12 crown and No. 4 Wisconsin remains unbeaten with a win over No. 8 Ohio State.
If any of those results don't happen, that's when the uncertainty begins.
Of the top four, Clemson (11-1) has the best chance to remain in the playoffs with a loss. Besides being the defending champions, the Tigers own a win over Auburn (10-2), arguably the hottest team in the country after beating previously unbeaten No. 1 teams Georgia and Alabama in November. Falling to Miami (10-1) could give the ACC two teams and leave two power conferences on the outside of the playoffs.
One league we know almost for certain that won't be vying for the national title is the Pac-12. No. 10 USC (10-2) is the highest-ranked team, and even with a win over No. 12 Stanford, the Trojans don't figure to be able to rise enough to get in.
The same goes for TCU (10-2), even if it avenges its 38-20 loss at Oklahoma from Nov. 11, and if the Horned Frogs win the Big 12 crown, that will no doubt knock that conference out of the playoffs.
Ohio State (10-2) isn't out of it, but it would probably need to run Wisconsin off the field in order to be the Big Ten's playoff representative. That would mean a result similar to the Buckeyes' 59-0 win over the Badgers in the 2014 conference championship that propelled them into the playoffs en route to the national title.
With three of the top six teams in the latest rankings, the SEC is as close to a guarantee of having a playoff qualifier as there can be. It also has the only candidate to get in without playing in a conference championship, as Alabama (11-1) is No. 5 and just waiting for someone above it to slip up. Two SEC entrants isn't likely but not impossible, particularly if Auburn holds serve against Georgia.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
