Projecting bowl and playoff games for 2016.
The start of the 2016 college football season is still over 50 days away, but it’s never too early to project how the bowl games and playoff pairings may look by December. The top four teams for year three of the College Football Playoff era could look similar to the final pairings from 2015. Clemson and Alabama are among the favorites to win it all in 2016, with Florida State, Ohio State, Michigan, Oklahoma, Tennessee, LSU and Notre Dame bringing up the next tier of contenders.
Related: Updated CFB Bowl Projections After Week 13
The 2016-17 bowl schedule features 41 overall games including the national championship. Additionally, the semifinals will be on Dec. 31 instead of Jan. 1 once again this season. The Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl will host the semifinals, while the national championship will be held in Tampa, Fla. on Jan. 9.
How will the postseason matchups look by December? Below are Athlon Sports' predictions for every bowl and playoff game in 2016:
2016 College Football Conference Predictions
Power 5: ACC | Big 12 | Big Ten | Pac-12 | SEC
Group of 5: American | C-USA | MAC | MW | Sun Belt
Podcast: Ranking the Conferences in 2016
College Football 2016 Bowl Projections
| Bowl | Date | Tie-In | Projection |
| New Mexico | Dec. 17 |
C-USA vs. MW |
Colorado State |
| Las Vegas | Dec. 17 |
Pac-12 vs. MW |
Oregon |
| AutoNation Cure | Dec. 17 |
American vs. Sun Belt |
Georgia Southern |
| Camellia | Dec. 17 |
MAC vs. Sun Belt |
Troy |
| New Orleans | Dec. 17 |
C-USA vs. Sun Belt |
Appalachian State |
| Miami Beach | Dec. 19 |
American vs. MAC |
Western Michigan |
| Boca Raton | Dec. 20 |
American/MAC vs. C-USA |
WKU |
| Poinsettia | Dec. 21 |
BYU vs. MW |
SDSU |
| Famous Idaho Potato | Dec. 22 |
MW vs. MAC |
Nevada |
| Bahamas | Dec. 23 |
American/MAC vs. C-USA |
Marshall |
| Armed Forces | Dec. 23 |
American vs. Big 12 |
Texas Tech |
| GoDaddy | Dec. 23 |
Sun Belt vs. MAC |
Arkansas State |
| Hawaii | Dec. 24 |
MW vs. C-USA |
Air Force |
| St. Petersburg | Dec. 26 |
American vs. ACC |
Georgia Tech |
| Quick Lane | Dec. 26 |
ACC vs. Big Ten |
Indiana |
| Independence | Dec. 26 |
ACC vs. SEC |
Arizona State* |
| Heart of Dallas | Dec. 27 |
Big Ten vs. C-USA |
Louisiana Tech |
| Military | Dec. 27 |
American vs. ACC |
Boston College |
| Holiday | Dec. 27 |
Big Ten vs. Pac-12 |
UCLA |
| Cactus | Dec. 27 |
Big 12 vs. Pac-12 |
Washington State |
| Pinstripe | Dec. 28 |
Big Ten vs. ACC |
Pitt |
| Russell Athletic | Dec. 28 |
ACC vs. Big 12 |
Miami |
| Texas | Dec. 28 |
SEC vs. Big 12 |
Texas A&M |
| Birmingham | Dec. 29 |
SEC vs. American |
UConn |
| Belk | Dec. 29 |
ACC vs. SEC |
North Carolina |
| Alamo | Dec. 29 |
Big 12 vs. Pac-12 |
Stanford |
| Liberty | Dec. 30 |
Big 12 vs. SEC |
Miss. State |
| Sun | Dec. 30 |
ACC/ND vs. Pac-12 |
NC State |
| Arizona | Dec. 30 |
Sun Belt vs. MW |
UL Lafayette |
| Music City | Dec. 30 |
ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC |
Auburn |
| Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus | Dec. 31 |
Big Ten vs. SEC |
Ole Miss |
| TaxSlayer | Dec. 31 |
ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC |
Florida |
| Outback | Jan. 2 |
Big Ten vs. SEC |
Georgia |
| Foster Farms | TBA |
Big Ten vs. Pac-12 |
USC |
New Year's Six Bowls |
|||
| Orange | Dec. 30 |
ACC vs. ND/SEC/Big Ten |
Notre Dame |
| Cotton | Jan. 2 |
At-large vs. At-large |
Houston |
| Rose | Jan. 2 |
Big Ten vs. Pac-12 |
Michigan |
| Sugar | Jan. 2 |
Big 12 vs. SEC |
Tennessee |
College Football Playoff |
|||
| Chick-fil-A Peach | Dec. 31 |
Playoff Semifinal |
Clemson |
| Fiesta | Dec. 31 |
Playoff Semifinal |
Ohio State |
National Championship |
|||
|
CFB National Championship (Tampa, Fla.) |
Jan. 9 |
Peach Winner vs. Fiesta Winner |
Florida State |
UTEP vs.
Boise State vs.
Tulsa vs.
Central Michigan vs.
Southern Miss vs. 
USF vs.
Memphis vs.
BYU vs.
Ohio vs.
Toledo vs.
Navy vs.
Northern Illinois vs.
MTSU vs.
Cincinnati vs.
Kansas State* vs.
Wake Forest vs.
Minnesota vs.
Temple vs.
Penn State vs.
Texas vs. 
Nebraska vs.
Oklahoma State vs.
Baylor vs. 
Kentucky vs. 
Arkansas vs.
TCU vs.
West Virginia vs.
Utah vs. 
Utah State vs.
Wisconsin vs.
Michigan State vs.
Virginia Tech vs.
Iowa vs.
Northwestern vs.
Louisville vs.
LSU vs.
Washington vs.
Oklahoma vs.
Alabama vs.
Florida State vs.
* By our projections, the ACC and SEC will fail to fill their allotted slots.
