2018 College Football Bowl Projections

College Football Bowl Projections Last Updated November 18, 2018

Latest CFB Bowl Projections News

College Football Bowl Projections: Before We Begin…

Just as it was in 2017, there are 40 bowl games to follow the 2018-19 college football bowl season. 39 games will select a total of 78 teams, with the 40th and final bowl game being the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship.

Still serving out their bowl ban is Ole Miss, who are in the second of their two-year postseason hiatus. The only other team ineligible for bowl consideration is Liberty, who are transitioning to FBS. However, this is not a definite, as there would have to be no other available, bowl-eligible teams. So, technically, it could happen, but probably will not.

Coastal Carolina finished their two-year bowl ineligibility last season and would qualify in 2018, if they do well enough.

Six wins (almost) guarantees a bowl, and you might even get there with five if the kids are graduating. Last season, however, there were no 5-7 teams in bowl games.

“New Year’s Six” bowl games begin on December 29, 2018, with the first being the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and the other two games that day being playoff semifinals.

Those are the Orange Bowl and the Cotton Bowl this season. The winners of those two contests advance to Santa Clara and the national championship on Monday, January 7, 2019.

If you are curious as to who is currently leading the way in our College Football Playoff projections, visit that page today. Once the College Football Playoff rankings are formally released, we will begin updating.

College Football Bowl Projections: November 18, 2018 Analysis

There are 70 bowl-eligible teams and we need eight more. On our latest count, we came up with 81 that we think will get to six wins and had to eliminate three. NOT in this count: Florida State and Virginia Tech, two teams that we think will see their bowl streaks end. This also means the end of Virginia Tech’s run against Virginia, which is at 14 wins in a row for the Hokies. Virginia has not had a better chance to win the Commonwealth Cup in years.

The Big 12 will not fill all of its bowl slots, and neither will the Big Ten or Pac-12. As for the ACC and SEC, they will fill the First Tier spots but the Second Tier leaves a lot of room for the Group of Five to enter.

College Football Bowl Projections: December 15, 2018 Games

2018 New Mexico Bowl
Albuquerque, NM \| MWC & C-USA
Marshall vs. Nevada
2018 Cure Bowl
Orlando, FL \| AAC & Sun Belt
Tulane vs. Louisiana-Monroe
2018 Las Vegas Bowl
Las Vegas, NV \| Pac-12 & MWC
Utah State vs. Arizona State
2018 Camellia Bowl
Montgomery, AL \| MAC & Sun Belt
Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Miami-Ohio
2018 New Orleans Bowl
New Orleans, LA
Troy vs. UAB

College Football Bowl Projections: December 18, 2018 Games

2018 Boca Raton Bowl
Boca Raton, FL \| AAC/C-USA & MAC
South Florida vs. Florida Atlantic

College Football Bowl Projections: December 19, 2018 Games

2018 Frisco Bowl
Frisco, TX \| AAC & At-Large
Houston vs. Southern Mississippi

College Football Bowl Projections: December 20, 2018 Games

2018 Gasparilla Bowl
Tampa, FL \| AAC & C-USA
Cincinnati vs. Louisiana Tech

College Football Bowl Projections: December 21, 2018 Games

2018 Bahamas Bowl
Nassau, Bahamas \| C-USA & MAC
Buffalo vs. Florida International
2018 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Boise, ID \| MAC & MWC
Boise State vs. Western Michigan

College Football Bowl Projections: December 22, 2018 Games

2018 Birmingham Bowl
Birmingham, AL \| SEC & AAC
Memphis vs. Eastern Michigan
2018 Armed Forces Bowl
Fort Worth, TX \| Big 12 & AAC
Arkansas State vs. Army
2018 Dollar General Bowl
Mobile, AL \| MAC & Sun Belt
Appalachian State vs. Northern Illinois
2018 Hawaii Bowl
Honolulu, HI \| C-USA & MWC
Hawaii vs. Middle Tennessee

College Football Bowl Projections: December 26, 2018 Games

2018 First Responder Bowl
Dallas, TX \| Big Ten & C-USA
North Texas vs. Toledo
2018 Quick Lane Bowl
Detroit, MI \| Big Ten & ACC
Virginia vs. Ohio
2018 Cheez-It Bowl
Phoenix, AZ \| Big 12 & Pac-12
Wyoming vs. BYU

College Football Bowl Projections: December 27, 2018 Games

2018 Independence Bowl
Shreveport, LA \| SEC & ACC
Vanderbilt vs. Miami
2018 Pinstripe Bowl
Bronx, NY \| Big Ten & ACC
Purdue vs. Pittsburgh
2018 Texas Bowl
Houston, TX \| Big 12 & SEC
Oklahoma State vs. Missouri

College Football Bowl Projections: December 28, 2018 Games

2018 Music City Bowl
SEC & ACC/Big Ten
Michigan State vs. Syracuse
2018 Camping World Bowl
Orlando, FL \| Big 12 & ACC
North Carolina State vs. Iowa State
2018 Alamo Bowl
San Antonio, TX \| Big 12 & Pac-12
Texas vs. Utah
2018 Holiday Bowl
San Diego, CA \| Big Ten & Pac-12
Iowa vs. Washington

College Football Bowl Projections: December 29, 2018 Games (Non-NY6)

2018 Belk Bowl
Charlotte, NC \| SEC & ACC
Georgia Tech vs. South Carolina
2018 Arizona Bowl
Tucson, AZ \| MWC & Sun Belt
Georgia Southern vs. San Diego State

College Football Bowl Projections: December 31, 2018 Games

2018 Military Bowl
Annapolis, MD \| AAC & ACC
Duke vs. Temple
2018 Sun Bowl
El Paso, TX \| Pac-12 & ACC
Oregon vs. Boston College
2018 Redbox Bowl
Santa Clara, CA \| Big Ten & Pac-12
Stanford vs. Fresno State
2018 Liberty Bowl
Memphis, TN \| Big 12 & SEC
Texas Tech vs. Texas A&M
2018 Gator Bowl
Jacksonville, FL \| SEC & ACC/Big Ten
Wisconsin vs. Auburn

College Football Bowl Projections: January 1, 2019 Games (Non-NY6)

2019 Outback Bowl
Tampa, FL \| Big Ten & SEC
Penn State vs. Mississippi State
2019 Citrus Bowl
Orlando, FL \| Big Ten & SEC
Kentucky vs. Northwestern

College Football Bowl Projections: New Years Six and College Football Playoff Semifinal Bowls

College Football Playoff games indicated with asterisk.

2018 Peach Bowl
Atlanta, GA
LSU vs. UCF
2018 Orange Bowl*
Miami Gardens, FL
Notre Dame vs. Clemson
2018 Cotton Bowl*
Arlington, TX
Alabama vs. Michigan
2019 Fiesta Bowl
Glendale, AZ
West Virginia vs. Florida
2019 Rose Bowl
Pasadena, CA
Washington State vs. Ohio State
2019 Sugar Bowl
New Orleans, LA
Georgia vs. Oklahoma

College Football Bowl Projections: November 11, 2018 Past Analysis

Thanks to November chaos, we are getting to a point where we feel confident that there will be at least 78 bowl-eligible teams. As of now, there are 65.

This means some will be left behind, kind of like in that book series. If your team might still realistically get to 6-6 but does not appear here, it’s nothing personal, it’s just business.

The ACC was difficult to slot this week. After Clemson, someone has to take those primo bowl positions, but none seem to want them. We had no choice but to give Syracuse the Camping World Bowl as the second-best ACC team behind the Tigers, who are going to the College Football Playoff.

In the Big Ten, they are not going to fill all their slots.

College Football Bowl Projections: November 4, 2018 Past Analysis

We’re starting to fatten up again on potential teams getting to bowls with some of the upsets that occurred this past weekend. As of the end of Week 10 in college football, there are 50 bowl-eligible teams. We need 28 more to ensure we don’t have losing records in there.

The ACC does not have the Orange Bowl this season, depriving schools like Syracuse, Boston College, and to a lesser extent North Carolina State of a once in a generation (or longer) chance to play in it. All will make bowls and probably good ones at this stage.

The SEC is top-heavy and they are going to get several teams in New Years Six bowls, drying up the numbers to fill the rest of their slots. Likewise, the Big Ten will also not fill their slots, but the ACC and the much-maligned Pac-12 may be able to help. This round of the bowl projections gave us some strange combinations, like Georgia Tech against a Group of Five team and Miami and Florida State (deservedly) in second-tier bowls, but up is down and down is up this season.

College Football Bowl Projections: October 28, 2018 Analysis

The number of teams we think will get to six wins is drying up; it may land somewhere in the mid-70s but not 78, This would mean, you guessed it, the possibility of a few 5-win teams in bowl games. Of course, some of these other schools can just step up and get to bowls on their own merits.

Hey, if 5-7 is in play, so is Nebraska!

College Football Bowl Projections: October 21, 2018 Past Analysis

Why are we starting to get the sense that there might be a 5-7 team in the bowl picture? Because it might happen, that’s why. Last week, we came up with 85 teams that we could see becoming bowl-eligible with at least a 50-50 likelihood. This week, we were right on the number at 78. Some of these middling .500 teams need to step it up.

College Football Bowl Projections: October 14, 2018 Past Analysis

Just 15 teams have claimed bowl eligibility at this stage, with lots of season to go. A total of 21 others could have it by the end of their next game. Ole Miss is the only for certain excluded team so far and nobody has seven losses yet. Nebraska is working on it, however.