Week 3 bowl projections: Alabama, Georgia meet again in Playoff

Bill Bender

Week 3 bowl projections: Alabama, Georgia meet again in Playoff image

The 2018 college football schedule features 40 bowl games between FBS teams, culminating with the College Football Playoff Championship on Jan. 7 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. This year’s semifinals will be played on Dec. 29 at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic and Capital One Orange Bowl.

So, who's going bowling this year, and where? More importantly: Who makes the 2018 College Football Playoff? We're already at Week 3 of the season, and Sporting News will have predictions every Monday from here until the pairings are announced on Dec. 2. This week, we put Alabama, Georgia, Clemson and Ohio State in the College Football Playoff. 

MORE: Week 3 College Football Playoff picture

Here are our picks for every bowl game, with a familiar national championship game.

Week 3 College football bowl projections

DateBowlProjected teams
Dec. 15Gildan New Mexico BowlWyoming vs. Southern Miss
Dec. 15AutoNation Cure BowlAppalachian State vs. Cincinnati
Dec. 15Las Vegas BowlBoise State vs. Colorado
Dec. 15Raycom Media Camellia BowlLouisiana-Monroe vs. Eastern Michigan
Dec. 15New Orleans BowlArkansas State vs. Louisiana Tech
Dec. 18Cheribundi Tart Boca Raton BowlToledo vs. FIU
Dec. 19Frisco BowlOhio vs. USF
Dec. 20Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla BowlFAU vs. Houston
Dec. 21Bahamas BowlMarshall vs. Western Michigan
Dec. 21Potato BowlNorthern Illinois vs. Colorado State
Dec. 22Birmingham BowlMemphis vs. Vanderbilt
Dec. 22Lockheed Martin Armed Forces BowlKansas State vs. Navy
Dec. 22Dollar General BowlGeorgia Southern vs. Buffalo
Dec. 22Hawai'i BowlSan Diego State vs. North Texas
Dec. 26First Responder BowlUAB vs. Maryland
Dec. 26Quick Lane BowlLouisville vs. Minnesota
Dec. 26Cheez-It BowlIowa State vs. Cal
Dec. 27Walk-On's Independence Bowl Pittsburgh vs. Tennessee
Dec. 27New Era Pinstripe BowlWake Forest vs. Nebraska
Dec. 27Foster Farms BowlNorthwestern vs. Utah
Dec. 27Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas BowlOklahoma State vs. Florida
Dec. 28Franklin American Mortgage Music City BowlFlorida State vs. Texas A&M
Dec. 28Camping World BowlTexas vs. Miami (Fla.)
Dec. 28Arizona BowlTroy vs. Fresno State
Dec. 28Valero Alamo BowlWest Virginia vs. USC
Dec. 29Chick-Fil-A Peach BowlNotre Dame vs. Penn State
Dec. 29Belk BowlN.C. State vs. Missouri
Dec. 31Military Bowl Army vs. Boston College
Dec. 31Hyundai Sun BowlDuke vs. Arizona State
Dec. 31San Francisco BowlIndiana vs. Washington State
Dec. 31AutoZone Liberty BowlTCU vs. Kentucky
Dec. 31Holiday BowlIowa vs. Oregon
Dec. 31TaxSlayer Gator BowlVirginia Tech vs. South Carolina
Jan. 1Outback BowlMichigan State vs. LSU
Jan. 1Citrus BowlMichigan vs. Mississippi State
Jan. 1PlayStation Fiesta BowlUCF vs. Stanford
Jan. 1Rose Bowl GameWisconsin vs. Washington
Jan. 1AllState Sugar BowlOklahoma vs. Auburn

College Football Playoff predictions 

Dec. 29Capital One Orange BowlGeorgia vs. Alabama
Dec. 29Goodyear Cotton Bowl ClassicClemson vs. Ohio State
Jan. 7College Football Playoff championshipAlabama vs. Clemson

Bill Bender

Bill Bender graduated from Ohio University in 2002 and started at The Sporting News as a fantasy football writer in 2007. He has covered the College Football Playoff, NBA Finals and World Series for SN. Bender enjoys story-telling, awesomely-bad 80s movies and coaching youth sports.