Week 11 bowl projections: Alabama, Clemson remain at top of Playoff race

Bill Bender

Week 11 bowl projections: Alabama, Clemson remain at top of Playoff race image

We're now nine 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 11, and we are just one day away from the second unveiling of the first College Football Playoff rankings. Michigan remains the best one-loss team on the board, and the Wolverines are penciled in to face Alabama in the Cotton Bowl Classic — for now.

MORE: Sporting News' Week 11 Power Rankings

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. The New Year's Day Six remains the same for now.

Here are our projections for every bowl game:

Week 11 College football bowl projections

DateBowlProjected teams
Dec. 15Gildan New Mexico BowlSan Diego State vs. BYU
Dec. 15AutoNation Cure BowlLouisiana-Monroe vs. USF
Dec. 15Las Vegas BowlFresno State vs. USC
Dec. 15Raycom Media Camellia BowlTroy vs. Nevada
Dec. 15New Orleans BowlCoastal Carolina vs. Louisiana Tech
Dec. 18Cheribundi Tart Boca Raton BowlOhio vs. FIU
Dec. 19Frisco BowlEastern Michigan vs. Cincinnati
Dec. 20Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla BowlMiddle Tennessee State vs. Memphis
Dec. 21Bahamas BowlMarshall vs. Western Michigan
Dec. 21Potato BowlNorthern Illinois vs. Boise State
Dec. 22Birmingham BowlHouston vs. Oregon*
Dec. 22Lockheed Martin Armed Forces BowlArmy vs. Temple
Dec. 22Dollar General BowlGeorgia Southern vs. Buffalo
Dec. 22Hawai'i BowlHawaii vs. UAB
Dec. 26First Responder BowlNorth Texas vs. Arizona State*
Dec. 26Quick Lane BowlDuke vs. Toledo*
Dec. 26Cheez-It BowlBaylor vs. Cal
Dec. 27Walk-On's Independence Bowl Miami (Fla.) vs. Vanderbilt
Dec. 27New Era Pinstripe BowlGeorgia Tech vs. Maryland
Dec. 27Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas BowlTexas Tech vs. South Carolina
Dec. 28Franklin American Mortgage Music City BowlN.C. State vs. Missouri
Dec. 28Camping World BowlTexas vs. Pitt
Dec. 28Arizona BowlAppalachian State vs. Utah State
Dec. 28Valero Alamo BowlIowa State vs. Utah
Dec. 29Chick-Fil-A Peach BowlLSU vs. UCF
Dec. 29Belk BowlVirginia vs. Florida
Dec. 31Military Bowl SMU vs. Boston College
Dec. 31Hyundai Sun BowlSyracuse vs. Arizona
Dec. 31San Francisco BowlWisconsin vs. Stanford
Dec. 31AutoZone Liberty BowlOklahoma State vs. Texas A&M
Dec. 31Holiday BowlPurdue vs. Washington
Dec. 31TaxSlayer Gator BowlNorthwestern vs. Auburn
Jan. 1Outback BowlIowa vs. Mississippi State
Jan. 1Citrus BowlMichigan State vs. Kentucky
Jan. 1PlayStation Fiesta BowlPenn State vs. West Virginia
Jan. 1Rose Bowl GameOhio State vs. Washington State
Jan. 1AllState Sugar BowlOklahoma vs. Georgia
* reflects non-automatic bowl tie-in

MORE: SN's Week 11 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.