Week 13 bowl projections: Michigan's Big Ten, Playoff hopes on line in 'The Game'

Bill Bender

Week 13 bowl projections: Michigan's Big Ten, Playoff hopes on line in 'The Game' image

We're now 12 weeks through the 2018 college football schedule, meaning we're just two weeks out before the 40-game 2018 bowl schedule is announced. Sporting News, of course, has projections for all of those bowls.

It's Rivalry Week and there are only two sets of College Football Playoff rankings left. Michigan remains the best one-loss team on the board heading into The Game against Ohio State. The Wolverines are penciled in to face Alabama in the Cotton Bowl Classic, but they have to beat the Buckeyes to get there.

MORE: Sporting News' Week 13 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 title 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 13 College football bowl projections

DateBowlProjected teams
Dec. 15Gildan New Mexico BowlSan Diego State vs. North Texas
Dec. 15AutoNation Cure BowlArkansas State vs. USF
Dec. 15Las Vegas BowlUtah State vs. Oregon
Dec. 15Raycom Media Camellia BowlTroy vs. Nevada
Dec. 15New Orleans BowlLouisiana vs. Louisiana Tech
Dec. 18Cheribundi Tart Boca Raton BowlEastern Michigan vs. FAU
Dec. 19Frisco BowlWestern Michigan vs. Temple
Dec. 20Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla BowlFIU vs. Houston
Dec. 21Bahamas BowlMTSU vs. Toledo
Dec. 21Potato BowlOhio vs. Boise State
Dec. 22Birmingham BowlMemphis vs. Southern Miss*
Dec. 22Lockheed Martin Armed Forces BowlArmy vs. Cincinnati
Dec. 22Dollar General BowlGeorgia Southern vs. Buffalo
Dec. 22Hawai'i BowlHawaii vs. UAB
Dec. 26First Responder BowlMarshall vs. Louisiana-Monroe*
Dec. 26Quick Lane BowlNorthern Illinois vs. Georgia Tech
Dec. 26Cheez-It BowlTCU vs. Cal
Dec. 27Walk-On's Independence Bowl Miami (Fla.) vs. BYU
Dec. 27New Era Pinstripe BowlDuke vs. Purdue
Dec. 27Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas BowlTexas Tech vs. Texas A&M
Dec. 28Franklin American Mortgage Music City BowlPitt vs. Vanderbilt
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 BowlGeorgia vs. UCF
Dec. 29Belk BowlVirginia vs. Missouri
Dec. 31Military Bowl SMU vs. Boston College
Dec. 31Hyundai Sun BowlSyracuse vs. Arizona State
Dec. 31San Francisco BowlMichigan State vs. Stanford
Dec. 31AutoZone Liberty BowlOklahoma State vs. Auburn
Dec. 31Holiday BowlIowa vs. Washington
Dec. 31TaxSlayer Gator BowlWisconsin vs. South Carolina
Jan. 1Outback BowlPenn State vs. Mississippi State
Jan. 1Citrus BowlNorthwestern vs. Kentucky
Jan. 1PlayStation Fiesta BowlFlorida vs. West Virginia
Jan. 1Rose Bowl GameOhio State vs. Washington State
Jan. 1AllState Sugar BowlOklahoma vs. LSU
* reflects non-automatic bowl tie-in

MORE: SN's Week 13 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.