Projecting every bowl and playoff game after Week 11
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 |
MTSU |
| Cure | Dec. 15 |
American vs. Sun Belt |
Arkansas State |
| Las Vegas | Dec. 15 |
Mountain West vs. Pac-12 |
USC |
| Camellia | Dec. 15 |
MAC vs. Sun Belt |
Ohio |
| New Orleans | Dec. 15 |
C-USA vs. Sun Belt |
UAB |
| Boca Raton | Dec. 18 |
C-USA vs. American |
FAU |
| Frisco | Dec. 19 |
American vs. At-Large |
BYU* |
| Gasparilla | Dec. 20 |
American vs. C-USA/ACC |
Miami |
| Bahamas | Dec. 21 |
C-USA vs. MAC |
FIU |
| Famous Idaho Potato | Dec. 21 |
Mountain West vs. MAC |
Boise State |
| Birmingham | Dec. 22 |
American vs. SEC |
Stanford* |
| Armed Forces | Dec. 22 |
American vs. Big 12 |
Army* |
| Dollar General | Dec. 22 |
MAC vs. Sun Belt |
Northern Illinois |
| Hawaii | Dec. 22 |
Mountain West vs. C-USA |
Hawaii |
| First Responder | Dec. 26 |
Big Ten vs. C-USA |
Nevada* |
| Quick Lane | Dec. 26 |
ACC vs. Big Ten |
Georgia Tech |
| Cheez-It | Dec. 26 |
Big 12 vs. Pac-12 |
Arizona State |
| Independence | Dec. 27 |
ACC vs. SEC |
Louisiana Tech* |
| Pinstripe | Dec. 27 |
ACC vs. Big Ten |
Syracuse |
| Texas | Dec. 27 |
Big 12 vs. SEC |
Texas Tech |
| Music City | Dec. 28 |
SEC vs. Big Ten/ACC |
Missouri |
| Camping World | Dec. 28 |
ACC vs. Big 12 |
Iowa State |
| Arizona | Dec. 28 |
Mountain West vs. Sun Belt |
Appalachian State |
| Alamo | Dec. 28 |
Big 12 vs. Pac-12 |
Utah |
| Belk | Dec. 29 |
ACC vs. SEC |
Virginia |
| Redbox | Dec. 31 |
Big Ten vs. Pac-12 |
Minnesota |
| Military | Dec. 31 |
American vs. ACC |
Virginia Tech |
| Liberty | Dec. 31 |
Big 12 vs. SEC |
Tennessee |
| Holiday | Dec. 31 |
Big Ten vs. Pac-12 |
Iowa |
|
TaxSlayer Gator |
Dec. 31 |
SEC vs. ACC/Big Ten |
Northwestern |
| Sun | Dec. 31 |
ACC vs. Pac-12 |
Pitt |
| Outback | Jan. 1 |
Big Ten vs. SEC |
Texas A&M |
| Citrus | Jan. 1 |
Big Ten vs. SEC |
Penn State |
New Year's Six Bowls |
|||
| Chick-fil-A Peach | Dec. 29 |
At-Large vs. At-Large |
West Virginia |
| Fiesta | Jan. 1 |
At-Large vs. At-Large |
UCF |
| Rose | Jan. 1 |
Big Ten vs. Pac-12 |
Washington State |
| Sugar | Jan. 1 |
Big 12 vs. SEC |
Georgia |
College Football Playoff |
|||
| Orange | Dec. 29 |
Playoff Semifinal |
Notre Dame |
| Cotton | Dec. 29 |
Playoff Semifinal |
Michigan |
National Championship |
|||
|
CFB National Championship (Santa Clara, Calif.) |
Jan. 7 |
Orange Winner vs. Cotton Bowl Winner |
Clemson |
San Diego State vs.
SMU vs.
Utah State vs.
ULM vs.
Troy vs.
Memphis vs.
Tulane vs.
Cincinnati vs. 
Buffalo vs.
Toledo vs. 
USF vs.
Houston vs.
Georgia Southern vs. 
Marshall vs.
North Texas vs.
Purdue vs.
Baylor vs.
Duke vs.
Wisconsin vs.
Mississippi State vs.
Boston College vs.
NC State vs.
Fresno State vs. 
Texas vs.
Auburn vs. 
California vs.
Temple vs.
Oklahoma State vs.
Washington vs.
South Carolina vs.
Oregon vs.
Michigan State vs.
Kentucky vs. 
LSU vs.
Florida vs.
Ohio State vs.
Oklahoma vs. 
Clemson vs.
Alabama vs.
* Indicates conference not expected to fill allotted slots. At-large team will be selected to fill that spot.
