Week 9 bowl projections: Michigan, Alabama Playoff matchup is on for now

Bill Bender

Week 9 bowl projections: Michigan, Alabama Playoff matchup is on for now image

We're now eight weeks through the 2018 college football schedule, meaning we're one week closer to the 40-game 2018 bowl season. Sporting News, of course, has projections for all of those bowls. 

It's Week 9, and we are one week away from the unveiling of the first College Football Playoff rankings. We have a major shakeup in the matchups after Ohio State's loss to Purdue. Michigan is the best one-loss team on the board for now, and the Wolverines are penciled in to face Alabama in the Cotton Bowl Classic — for now.

MORE: Best storylines yet to come 

Notre Dame and Clemson are slated to face off in the Capital One Orange Bowl. The winners will play in the College Football Playoff championship game in Santa Clara, Calif., on Jan. 7.

Here are our projections for every bowl game:

Week 9 College football bowl projections

DateBowlProjected teams
Dec. 15Gildan New Mexico BowlBoise State vs. Louisiana Tech
Dec. 15AutoNation Cure BowlArkansas State vs. Cincinnati
Dec. 15Las Vegas BowlFresno State vs. USC
Dec. 15Raycom Media Camellia BowlGeorgia Southern vs. Nevada*
Dec. 15New Orleans BowlCoastal Carolina vs. UAB
Dec. 18Cheribundi Tart Boca Raton BowlOhio vs. FIU
Dec. 19Frisco BowlEastern Michigan vs. Houston
Dec. 20Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla BowlSouthern Miss vs. USF
Dec. 21Bahamas BowlMarshall vs. Western Michigan
Dec. 21Potato BowlNorthern Illinois vs. San Diego State
Dec. 22Birmingham BowlMemphis vs. Cal*
Dec. 22Lockheed Martin Armed Forces BowlBYU* vs. Temple
Dec. 22Dollar General BowlAppalachian State vs. Buffalo
Dec. 22Hawai'i BowlHawaii vs. Middle Tennessee State
Dec. 26First Responder BowlNorth Texas vs. Indiana
Dec. 26Quick Lane BowlSyracuse vs. Toledo*
Dec. 26Cheez-It BowlOklahoma State vs. Stanford
Dec. 27Walk-On's Independence Bowl Duke vs.Tennessee
Dec. 27New Era Pinstripe BowlVirginia vs. Purdue
Dec. 27Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas BowlTCU vs. Vanderbilt
Dec. 28Franklin American Mortgage Music City BowlBoston College vs. Missouri
Dec. 28Camping World BowlIowa State vs N.C. State
Dec. 28Arizona BowlTroy vs. Utah State
Dec. 28Valero Alamo BowlTexas Tech vs. Oregon
Dec. 29Chick-Fil-A Peach BowlGeorgia vs. UCF
Dec. 29Belk BowlMiami (Fla.) vs. South Carolina
Dec. 31Military Bowl Army vs. Virginia Tech
Dec. 31Hyundai Sun BowlFlorida State vs. Colorado
Dec. 31San Francisco BowlMichigan State vs. Utah
Dec. 31AutoZone Liberty BowlWest Virginia vs. Auburn
Dec. 31Holiday BowlNorthwestern vs. Washington
Dec. 31TaxSlayer Gator BowlWisconsin vs. Texas A&M
Jan. 1Outback BowlPenn State vs. Mississippi State
Jan. 1Citrus BowlIowa vs. Kentucky
Jan. 1PlayStation Fiesta BowlFlorida vs. Oklahoma
Jan. 1Rose Bowl GameOhio State vs. Washington State
Jan. 1AllState Sugar BowlTexas vs. LSU

MORE: SN's Week 9 Playoff picture

College Football Playoff predictions 

Dec. 29Goodyear Cotton Bowl ClassicMichigan vs. Alabama
Dec. 29Capital One Orange BowlClemson vs. Notre Dame
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.