Week 11 bowl projections: Sizing up 11 remaining College Football Playoff contenders

Contributor
Bill Bender
Week 11 bowl projections: Sizing up 11 remaining College Football Playoff contenders  image

It's Week 11, and there are 11 teams with a legitimate chance at the College Football Playoff. 

That is the list of Power 5 teams with one loss or less, and there are some complications for each conference worth watching through conference championship weekend. Will one or two conferences be left out? A quick breakdown of each conference

ACC: Florida State (9-0) and Louisville (8-1) would be the best conference championship game. The Cardinals likely will not be forgiven for the 38-21 loss to Pitt if they beat the Seminoles.

Big 12: This one is simple. Texas (8-1) is the lone one-loss team standing, and they need to avoid spoilers through the Big 12 championship game. That head-to-head victory against Alabama is huge.

MORE: Week 11 slate features two Top 10 showdowns

Big Ten: Ohio State (9-0) and Michigan (9-0) could both get in the playoff again, but Penn State (8-1) could end that thought with a victory against the Wolverines on Saturday.  

Pac-12: Washington (9-0) and Oregon (8-1) could be headed toward a Pac-12 championship rematch. Given the Huskies are on the outside looking in now, will a win here be enough? 

SEC: Georgia (9-0) and Alabama (8-1) appear headed toward another SEC championship matchup. Is there room for both in the CFP again if the Crimson Tide win? Or will Ole Miss (8-1) spoil that party with an upset of the Bulldogs. 

Our picks have not changed yet. We have Ohio State taking on Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl and Michigan and Florida State squaring off in the Rose Bowl. 

The College Football Playoff semifinals will be on Jan. 1, 2024. Those semifinals will be played at the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, Calif., and the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Those locations were the sites of the first four-team playoff in 2014. 

The College Football Playoff championship game is on Jan. 9 at NRG Stadium in Houston. 

SN has projections for every bowl game here, and they will be updated each week for the remainder of the season: 

Week 11 college football bowl predictions 

A look at Sporting News bowl projections heading into Week 10 of the 2023 college football season: 

DATEBOWLPROJECTED MATCHUP
Dec. 16HomeTown Lenders Bahamas BowlNorthern Illinois vs. Western Kentucky
Dec. 16R&L Carriers New Orleans BowlLiberty vs. Georgia State
Dec. 16Cure BowlFAU vs. Texas State
Dec. 16New Mexico BowlEastern Michigan vs. San Jose State
Dec. 16LA BowlArizona vs. Air Force
Dec. 16Radiance Technologies Independence BowlHouston vs. Washington State
Dec. 18Myrtle Beach BowlSMU vs. Georgia Southern
Dec. 19Frisco BowlLouisiana vs. South Florida
Dec. 21RoofClaim.com Boca Raton BowlNew Mexico State vs. Arkansas State
Dec. 22Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla BowlBYU vs. Appalachian State
Dec. 23Birmingham BowlMississippi State vs. Wake Forest
Dec. 23Camellia BowlToledo vs. Troy
Dec. 23Lockheed Martin Armed Forces BowlWest Virginia vs. UTSA
Dec. 23Famous Idaho Potato BowlCentral Michigan vs. Wyoming
Dec. 2368 Ventures BowlOhio vs. Coastal Carolina
Dec. 23SRS Distribution Las Vegas BowlNebraska vs. USC
Dec. 23Easypost Hawai'i BowlRice vs. Fresno State
Dec. 26Quick Lane BowlMaryland vs. Miami, Ohio
Dec. 26Servpro First Responder BowlIowa State vs. Northwestern
Dec. 26Guaranteed Rate BowlUNLV vs. Wisconsin
Dec. 27Military BowlBoston College vs. Navy
Dec. 27Duke's Mayo BowlAuburn vs. Clemson
Dec. 27TaxAct Texas BowlOklahoma vs. Texas A&M
Dec. 28Fenway BowlDuke vs. Memphis
Dec. 28Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe BowlRutgers vs. Georgia Tech
Dec. 28San Diego County Credit Union Holiday BowlUtah vs. Miami
Dec. 28Pop-Tarts BowlKansas vs. Virginia Tech
Dec. 28Valero Alamo BowlOklahoma State vs. Oregon State
Dec. 29TaxSlayer Gator BowlFlorida vs. North Carolina
Dec. 29Tony The Tiger Sun BowlUCLA vs. NC State
Dec. 29AutoZone Liberty BowlKentucky vs. Kansas State
Dec. 30Transperfect Music City BowlTennessee vs. Minnesota
Dec. 30Barstool Arizona BowlBowling Green vs. Boise State
Jan. 1Reliaquest BowlLSU vs. Notre Dame
Jan. 1Cheez-It Citrus BowlMissouri vs. Iowa

New Year's Day Six predictions 

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A look at our New Year's Day Six predictions for Week 11: 

DATEBOWLPROJECTED MATCHUP
Dec. 29Goodyear Cotton Bowl ClassicTexas vs. Oregon
Dec. 30Chick-fil-A Peach BowlAlabama vs. Penn State
Dec. 30Capital One Orange BowlOle Miss vs. Louisville
Jan. 1Vrbo Fiesta BowlTulane vs. Washington

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: Texas vs. Oregon

This is the same matchup as last week. The Longhorns side-stepped an upset bid from Kansas State with a 33-30 overtime win. The Ducks are barreling toward a rematch with Washington in the Pac-12 championship game. Former Nick Saban assistant Steve Sarkisian vs. former Kirby Smart assistant Dan Lanning. This matchup would be fun. 

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: Alabama vs. Penn State

An all-time classic uniform matchup. Will the Crimson Tide be the highest-ranked one-loss team in the next CFP rankings? Saban continues to win, and seeing Jalen Milroe and Drew Allar against the tough defenses in this matchup would be intriguing. The Crimson Tide and Nittany Lions still have good shots at the CFP, too. 

Capital One Orange Bowl: Ole Miss vs. Louisville 

The Rebels continue to win in the SEC West, and Lane Kiffin has this program on pace for a second New Year's Day Six appearance in three seasons. Louisville has been the most-surprising one-loss team in the FBS under first-year coach Jeff Brohm. Jawhar Jordan and Quinshon Judkins on the same field would be fun, too. 

Vrbo Fiesta Bowl: Tulane vs. Washington 

The Green Wave was the highest-ranked team in the initial CFP rankings, but Liberty would be a candidate to get to this bowl if the Flames stay unbeaten in Conference-USA. Michael Pratt ranks fifth in the FBS in passer efficiency (175.8). The Huskies remain unbeaten in Pac-12 play, and Michael Penix Jr. remains in the Heisman Trophy conversation. 

MORE: Breaking down the Michael Penix-Caleb Williams shootout

College Football Playoff predictions 

DATEBOWLPROJECTED MATCHUP
Jan. 1Rose Bowl Game (National semifinal)Michigan vs. Florida State
Jan. 1Allstate Sugar Bowl (National semifinal)Georgia vs. Ohio State

Rose Bowl Game: No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 Florida State

The Wolverines are still facing scrutiny for a sign-stealing scandal, but they have outscored Michigan State and Purdue by a combined total of 90-13 the last two weeks. Florida State continues to cruise in the ACC. The Wolverines and Seminoles are both in the top five in the FBS in fewest turnovers. The quarterback matchup between J.J. McCarthy and Jordan Travis would be as advertised. 

MORE: What to know about fired Michigan staffer Connor Stalions

Sugar Bowl: No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 4 Ohio State 

Wait, aren't the Buckeyes the No. 1 team in the latest rankings? True, but that also makes them a good bet to slip in the CFP even if they lose the regular-season finale against Michigan. The Wolverines do not have the same safety net. Georgia is inching toward the No. 1 ranking – and victories against Ole Miss and Tennessee the next two weeks would make that happen. This would be a fantastic rematch of last year's CFP semifinal. 

College Football Playoff championship pick 

DATEBOWLPROJECTED MATCHUP
Jan. 9CFP championship gameGeorgia vs. Michigan

CFP championship game (Houston): Georgia vs. Michigan 

Despite the CFP rankings, there is no reason to adjust this yet. Georgia and Michigan are two of the three teams in the FBS that rank in the top 10 in scoring offense and scoring defense. Both teams have top-10 opponents in Week 11, and the Wolverines face Penn State, the other team with a top-10 scoring offense and defense.