Week 12 bowl projections: Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Michigan hold in top spots

Bill Bender

Week 12 bowl projections: Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Michigan hold in top spots image

We're now 11 weeks through the 2018 college football schedule, meaning we're just three weeks out before the 40-game 2018 bowl season is announced. Sporting News, of course, has projections for all of those bowls.

It's Week 12, and the third College Football Playoff rankings will be unveiled this week. 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 12 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 12 College football bowl projections

DateBowlProjected teams
Dec. 15Gildan New Mexico BowlSan Diego State vs. FAU
Dec. 15AutoNation Cure BowlLouisiana-Monroe vs. USF
Dec. 15Las Vegas BowlUtah State vs. USC
Dec. 15Raycom Media Camellia BowlTroy vs. Nevada
Dec. 15New Orleans BowlLouisiana vs. Louisiana Tech
Dec. 18Cheribundi Tart Boca Raton BowlOhio vs. FIU
Dec. 19Frisco BowlEastern Michigan vs. Temple
Dec. 20Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla BowlMiddle Tennessee State vs. Memphis
Dec. 21Bahamas BowlMarshall vs. Northern Illinois
Dec. 21Potato BowlToledo vs. Boise State
Dec. 22Birmingham BowlHouston vs. Oregon*
Dec. 22Lockheed Martin Armed Forces BowlArmy vs. Cincinnati
Dec. 22Dollar General BowlGeorgia Southern vs. Buffalo
Dec. 22Hawaii BowlHawaii vs. UAB
Dec. 26First Responder BowlNorth Texas vs. BYU
Dec. 26Quick Lane BowlIndiana vs. Western Michigan
Dec. 26Cheez-It BowlBaylor vs. Cal
Dec. 27Walk-On's Independence Bowl Miami (Fla.) vs. South Carolina
Dec. 27New Era Pinstripe BowlGeorgia Tech vs. Purdue
Dec. 27Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas BowlTexas Tech vs. Texas A&M
Dec. 28Franklin American Mortgage Music City BowlDuke vs. Missouri
Dec. 28Camping World BowlIowa State vs. N.C. State
Dec. 28Arizona BowlAppalachian State vs. Fresno State
Dec. 28Valero Alamo BowlTexas vs. Utah
Dec. 29Chick-Fil-A Peach BowlLSU vs. UCF
Dec. 29Belk BowlVirginia vs. Auburn
Dec. 31Military Bowl SMU vs. Boston College
Dec. 31Hyundai Sun BowlPitt vs. Arizona State
Dec. 31San Francisco BowlIowa vs. Stanford
Dec. 31AutoZone Liberty BowlOklahoma State vs. Tennessee
Dec. 31Holiday BowlWisconsin vs. Washington
Dec. 31TaxSlayer Gator BowlMichigan State vs. Kentucky
Jan. 1Outback BowlNorthwestern vs. Mississippi State
Jan. 1Citrus BowlPenn State vs. Florida
Jan. 1PlayStation Fiesta BowlSyracuse 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 12 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.