College Football Playoff 2020-21: Full Bowl Schedule, Championship Predictions

The COVID-19 pandemic has left nothing on the sports schedule unharmed, and college football's bowl season is no different. With the cancellation of Thursday's Texas Bowl between TCU and Arkansas, 19 of the 42 bowls scheduled this season have been called off.

Some of those have come because of COVID-19-related roster shortages, while others have been due to teams that would have qualified for the games opting out so their players and coaches could finally call an end to what has been one of the most challenging seasons in the sport's history. 

The 23 remaining games—12 of which have already been completed—do include some of the biggest matchups of the season, including all four of the New Year's Six bowl games, as well as the College Football Playoff. 

2020-21 Remaining Bowl Schedule

Dec. 30

Duke's Mayo Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Wake Forest

Bank of America Stadium; Charlotte, North Carolina (noon ET on ESPN)
           

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: Oklahoma vs. Florida

AT&T Stadium; Arlington, Texas (8 p.m. ET on ESPN)

Dec. 31

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: Tulsa vs. Mississippi State

Amon G. Carter Stadium; Fort Worth, Texas (noon ET on ESPN)
   

Arizona Bowl: Ball State vs. San Jose State

Arizona Stadium; Tucson, Arizona (4 p.m. ET on CBS Sports)
        

AutoZone Liberty Bowl: West Virginia vs. Army (Army replaced Tennessee)

Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium; Memphis, Tennessee (4 p.m. ET on ESPN)

Jan. 1     

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Georgia

Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta (12:30 p.m. ET on ESPN)


Vrbo Citrus Bowl: Auburn vs. Northwestern

Camping World Stadium; Orlando, Florida (1 p.m. ET on ABC)
                     

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl: No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Notre Dame

AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (5 p.m. ET on ESPN)
     

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl: No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Ohio State

Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans (8:45 p.m. ET on ESPN)   

Jan. 2

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: NC State vs. Kentucky

TIAA Bank Field; Jacksonville, Florida (noon ET on ESPN)
      

Outback Bowl: Ole Miss vs. Indiana

Raymond James Stadium; Tampa, Florida (12:30 p.m. ET on ABC)
                 

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl: Oregon vs. Iowa State

State Farm Stadium; Glendale, Arizona (4 p.m. ET on ESPN)
       

Capital One Orange Bowl: Texas A&M vs. North Carolina

Hard Rock Stadium; Miami Gardens, Florida (8 p.m. ET on ESPN)

Jan. 11

College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T

Hard Rock Stadium; Miami Gardens, Florida (8 p.m. ET on ESPN)

College Football Playoff Predictions

Unlike nearly every other bowl game—even including some of the New Year's Six games—we won't see any star players opting out of the College Football Playoff. Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Notre Dame should have their full complement of stars, and for the Crimson Tide in particular, that's an impressive group. 

Quarterback Mac Jones, running back Najee Harris and wide receiver DeVonta Smith were all recently named Associated Press First-Team All-Americans, the first time that has happened since 1980.

The Crimson Tide led all programs with six first-team selections, and Smith was named the AP's College Football Player of the Year, becoming the first receiver to ever win the award. 

Trying to slow them down will be a Notre Dame defense that has been among the best in the country this season, ranking in the top 20 nationally in points per game, yards allowed per game and third-down defense.

The Fighting Irish struggled against the only elite offense it faced this season—Clemson—allowing 74 total points in the two contests between the teams this season. And despite having its own weapons in quarterback Trevor Lawrence, running back Travis Etienne and wideout Amari Rodgers, the Tigers haven't even come close to what the Crimson Tide has been offensively. 

Prediction: Alabama 42, Notre Dame 21

In Atlanta, the aforementioned Clemson team coming off a romp over Notre Dame in the ACC Championship game will face the least-tested team to ever play in the College Football Playoff. Due to the Big Ten's late start to the season—as well as a couple of COVID-19-related cancelations—the Buckeyes only played five regular-season games before meeting Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship.

OSU didn't do much to convince the college football world it belonged in the playoff, squeaking out a less-than-impressive 22-10 win. The Buckeyes' only other Top 25 win came against Indiana, and it was a 42-35 nail-biter that came down to the final minute. 

Clemson, meanwhile, has been dominant with Lawrence in the lineup, and its only loss came to Notre Dame earlier in the season when he was out after testing positive for COVID-19. The Tigers easily handled the Irish in the rematch, and their offense is as good as anyone's in the country not named Alabama. 

Prediction: Clemson 34, Ohio State 17

College Football Playoff National Championship

Alabama-Clemson fatigue has set in for just about everyone in college football outside those two teams, but they're simply the two best programs in the sport.

The two teams have met three times in the title game (Clemson leads 2-1), and at least one has been in five of the six national championships held in the CFP era.

And it's hard to expect any different this season, barring a pretty surprising upset in either of the semifinal games. A fourth matchup between the two would likely be yet another offensive dandy, and if that's the case, Alabama simply has more firepower. Clemson does, however, have Lawrence, a quarterback with experience in this game. It might just come down to who has the ball last.

Alabama 45, Clemson 38