College Football Bowl Projections for 2018-19

The start of college football’s 2018-19 bowl season is just under two months away, but with Week 11 in the books, it’s never too early to take a peek at the potential matchups this postseason. Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and Michigan are Athlon's projected picks after Week 11 to reach the CFB Playoff. The Crimson Tide and Tigers are a notch above the rest of the NCAA, with the Fighting Irish up next, followed by Michigan as the predicted champion of the Big Ten. Georgia, Oklahoma, Washington State, West Virginia and Ohio State are the top teams with one loss still in the mix to make the playoff. UCF remains the top team from the Group of 5 ranks, with Utah State, Boise State and Fresno State from the Mountain West in the next tier.

The 2018-19 bowl schedule features 40 overall games (most airing on ESPN, ABC and CBS) including the national championship. Additionally, the semifinals will take place on Dec. 29 this season. The Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl will host the semifinals, while the national championship will be held in Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on Jan. 7.

The post-Week 11 bowl projections are a mixture between picks for the next few weeks, preseason projections, how things would look if the season ended today, and the results from the first 11 weeks of action. Expect several changes over the next few weeks. Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Southern Miss, Wyoming, Air Force, Arizona, Louisiana, Miami (Ohio), Akron and Coastal Carolina are just on the outside of our bowl projections.

How will the postseason matchups look by December? Below are Athlon Sports' predictions for every 2018 bowl and playoff game after Week 11:

College Football Bowl Projections for 2018-19 (After Week 11)

Bowl	Date/ TV	Tie-In	Projection
New Mexico	Dec. 15	Mountain West vs. C-USA	San Diego State vs. MTSU
Cure	Dec. 15	American vs. Sun Belt	SMU vs. Arkansas State
Las Vegas	Dec. 15	Mountain West vs. Pac-12	Utah State vs. USC
Camellia	Dec. 15	MAC vs. Sun Belt	ULM vs. Ohio
New Orleans	Dec. 15	C-USA vs. Sun Belt	Troy vs. UAB
Boca Raton	Dec. 18	C-USA vs. American	Memphis vs. FAU
Frisco	Dec. 19	American vs. At-Large	Tulane vs. BYU*
Gasparilla	Dec. 20	American vs. C-USA/ACC	Cincinnati vs. Miami
Bahamas	Dec. 21	C-USA vs. MAC	Buffalo vs. FIU
Famous Idaho Potato	Dec. 21	Mountain West vs. MAC	Toledo vs. Boise State
Birmingham	Dec. 22	American vs. SEC	USF vs. Stanford*
Armed Forces	Dec. 22	American vs. Big 12	Houston vs. Army*
Dollar General	Dec. 22	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Georgia Southern vs. Northern Illinois
Hawaii	Dec. 22	Mountain West vs. C-USA	Marshall vs. Hawaii
First Responder	Dec. 26	Big Ten vs. C-USA	North Texas vs. Nevada*
Quick Lane	Dec. 26	ACC vs. Big Ten	Purdue vs. Georgia Tech
Cheez-It	Dec. 26	Big 12 vs. Pac-12	Baylor vs. Arizona State
Independence	Dec. 27	ACC vs. SEC	Duke vs. Louisiana Tech*
Pinstripe	Dec. 27	ACC vs. Big Ten	Wisconsin vs. Syracuse
Texas	Dec. 27	Big 12 vs. SEC	Mississippi State vs. Texas Tech
Music City	Dec. 28	SEC vs. Big Ten/ACC	Boston College vs. Missouri
Camping World	Dec. 28	ACC vs. Big 12	NC State vs. Iowa State
Arizona	Dec. 28	Mountain West vs. Sun Belt	Fresno State vs. Appalachian State
Alamo	Dec. 28	Big 12 vs. Pac-12	Texas vs. Utah
Belk	Dec. 29	ACC vs. SEC	Auburn vs. Virginia
Redbox	Dec. 31	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	California vs. Minnesota
Military	Dec. 31	American vs. ACC	Temple vs. Virginia Tech
Liberty	Dec. 31	Big 12 vs. SEC	Oklahoma State vs. Tennessee
Holiday	Dec. 31	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Washington vs. Iowa
TaxSlayer Gator	Dec. 31	SEC vs. ACC/Big Ten	South Carolina vs. Northwestern
Sun	Dec. 31	ACC vs. Pac-12	Oregon vs. Pitt
Outback	Jan. 1	Big Ten vs. SEC	Michigan State vs. Texas A&M
Citrus	Jan. 1	Big Ten vs. SEC	Kentucky vs. Penn State

New Year's Six Bowls
Chick-fil-A Peach	Dec. 29	At-Large vs. At-Large	LSU vs. West Virginia
Fiesta	Jan. 1	At-Large vs. At-Large	Florida vs. UCF
Rose	Jan. 1	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Ohio State vs. Washington State
Sugar	Jan. 1	Big 12 vs. SEC	Oklahoma vs. Georgia

College Football Playoff
Orange	Dec. 29	Playoff Semifinal	Clemson vs. Notre Dame
Cotton	Dec. 29	Playoff Semifinal	Alabama vs. Michigan

National Championship
CFB National Championship (Santa Clara, Calif.)	Jan. 7	Orange Winner vs. Cotton Bowl Winner	Alabama vs. Clemson