The CFP committee is going to have an interesting debate for the final spot if the chalk holds for the next three weeks.
Which 40-point offense deserves the last playoff spot? No. 5 Tennessee is the answer, at least for now.
The Vols are back in the CFP in Sporting News Week 12 bowl projection. Tennessee leads the FBS with 47.4 points per game, and that will be part of the reason they are the most-attractive one-loss team at the end of the deliberations.
MORE: College Football Playoff picture entering Week 12
All four unbeaten teams have 40-point offenses, too. No. 1 Georgia (40.6), No. 2 Ohio State (46.8), No. 3 Michigan (41.4) and No. 4 TCU (40.5) can score. Two other one-loss contenders – No. 7 USC (42.4) and No. 13 North Carolina (40.1) fit that description, too.
If the debate comes down to Tennessee, the Michigan-Ohio State loser, USC and North Carolina, the team with the best offense will be a talking point. Right now, that is the Vols.
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SN has the Bulldogs and Vols in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and Ohio State and TCU in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl. No. 17 UCF and No. 19 Kansas State moved into our New Year's Day Six picks.
The College Football Playoff semifinals will be on Dec. 31 this season. Those semifinals will be played at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta and the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. The College Football Playoff championship game is on Jan. 9 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
Week 12 College Football Bowl Projections
| DATE | BOWL | MATCHUP |
| Dec. 16 | Bahamas Bowl | North Texas vs. Bowling Green |
| Dec. 16 | Cure Bowl | South Alabama vs. Rice |
| Dec. 17 | Wasabi Fenway Bowl | Houston vs. Louisville |
| Dec. 17 | New Mexico Bowl | BYU vs. Air Force |
| Dec. 17 | Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl | Boise State vs. Cincinnati |
| Dec. 17 | Lending Tree Bowl | Buffalo vs. Georgia Southern |
| Dec. 17 | Las Vegas Bowl | Washington State vs. Missouri |
| Dec. 17 | Frisco Bowl | Middle Tennessee State vs. East Carolina |
| Dec. 19 | Myrtle Beach Bowl | UAB vs. Troy |
| Dec. 20 | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Ball State vs. Fresno State |
| Dec. 20 | Boca Raton Bowl | Tulane vs. UTSA |
| Dec. 21 | New Orleans Bowl | Western Kentucky vs. Appalachian State |
| Dec. 22 | Armed Forces Bowl | Texas Tech vs. Liberty |
| Dec. 23 | Independence Bowl | Marshall* vs. UConn |
| Dec. 23 | Gasparilla Bowl | Louisiana vs San Diego State |
| Dec. 24 | Hawaii Bowl | FAU vs. Wyoming |
| Dec. 26 | Quick Lane Bowl | Ohio vs. Maryland |
| Dec. 27 | Camellia Bowl | Toledo vs. Coastal Carolina |
| Dec. 27 | First Responder Bowl | Duke vs. Oregon State |
| Dec. 27 | Birmingham Bowl | Memphis vs. Michigan State* |
| Dec. 27 | Guaranteed Rate Bowl | Kansas vs. Wisconsin |
| Dec. 28 | Military Bowl | Pitt vs. SMU |
| Dec. 28 | Liberty Bowl | Baylor vs. South Carolina |
| Dec. 28 | Holiday Bowl | UCLA vs. Wake Forest |
| Dec. 28 | Texas Bowl | Oklahoma vs. Mississippi State |
| Dec. 29 | Pinstripe Bowl | Iowa vs. NC State |
| Dec. 29 | Cheez-It Bowl | Texas vs. Florida State |
| Dec. 29 | Alamo Bowl | Oklahoma State vs. Washington |
| Dec. 30 | Duke's Mayo Bowl | Minnesota vs. Notre Dame |
| Dec. 30 | Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl | Oregon State vs. Syracuse |
| Dec. 30 | Gator Bowl | Clemson vs. Florida |
| Dec. 30 | Arizona Bowl | Eastern Michigan vs. San Diego State |
| Dec. 31 | Music City Bowl | Illinois vs. Arkansas |
| Jan. 2 | ReliaQuest Bowl | Purdue vs. Kentucky |
| Jan. 2 | Citrus Bowl | Penn State vs. Ole Miss |
College football New Year's Day Six picks
| DATE | BOWL | MATCHUP |
| Dec. 30 | Capital One Orange Bowl | North Carolina vs. Alabama |
| Dec. 31 | Allstate Sugar Bowl | Kansas State vs. LSU |
| Jan. 2 | Goodyear Cotton Bowl | UCF vs. Utah |
| Jan. 2 | Rose Bowl Game | Michigan vs. USC |
| Dec. 31 | Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (semifinal) | Georgia vs. Tennessee |
| Dec. 31 | Fiesta Bowl (semifinal) | Ohio State vs. TCU |
College Football Playoff championship pick
| DATE | BOWL | MATCHUP |
| Jan. 11 | CFP championship game | Ohio State vs. Georgia |