The scramble for the College Football Playoff has reached the midway point.
Sporting News' bowl projections are back, and our Week 8 playoff picks are a little different than the preseason prognostications.
We are half right, so far. Georgia and Michigan remain No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the polls, and the Bulldogs and Wolverines might be on a collision course for a CFP championship matchup.
Ohio State was another preseason pick, and the Buckeyes are still in position to challenge the Wolverines for the Big Ten championship game. We just are not sure there will be two Big Ten teams in the CFP again. Our other preseason pick – USC – took a hit when the Trojans lost 38-20 at Notre Dame in Week 7.
Who are our other teams? For now, we’ll go with Florida State – which beat LSU and Clemson in September and remains at the top of the ACC. Washington – which beat Oregon 36-33 in a Pac-12 thriller – is our pick to break a conference playoff drought that extends back to 2016.
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.
Colorado, which is sitting at 4-3 after a stunning loss to Stanford, projects out to 5-7 with a tough schedule down the stretch.
SN has projections for every bowl game here, and they will be updated each week for the remainder of the season:
MORE: CFB rankings from 1-133 | Week 8 picks for Top 25 games
Week 8 college football bowl predictions
A look at Sporting News bowl projections heading into Week 8 of the 2023 college football season:
| DATE | BOWL | PROJECTED MATCHUP |
| Dec. 16 | HomeTown Lenders Bahamas Bowl | Northern Illinois vs. New Mexico State |
| Dec. 16 | R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl | Western Kentucky vs. Troy |
| Dec. 16 | Cure Bowl | Tulsa* vs. Texas State |
| Dec. 16 | New Mexico Bowl | Louisiana Tech vs. North Texas |
| Dec. 16 | LA Bowl | Arizona vs. Fresno State |
| Dec. 16 | Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl | West Virginia vs. Washington State |
| Dec. 18 | Myrtle Beach Bowl | South Florida vs. Georgia Southern |
| Dec. 19 | Frisco Bowl | Army vs. UTSA |
| Dec. 21 | RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl | Liberty vs. Georgia State |
| Dec. 22 | Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl | Auburn vs. Boston College |
| Dec. 23 | Birmingham Bowl | Mississippi State vs. Virginia Tech |
| Dec. 23 | Camellia Bowl | Ohio vs. South Alabama |
| Dec. 23 | Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl | BYU vs. Navy |
| Dec. 23 | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Eastern Michigan vs. Boise State |
| Dec. 23 | 68 Ventures Bowl | Toledo vs. Marshall |
| Dec. 23 | SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl | Nebraska vs. UCLA |
| Dec. 23 | Easypost Hawai'i Bowl | Memphis vs. Wyoming |
| Dec. 26 | Quick Lane Bowl | Minnesota vs. Miami, Ohio |
| Dec. 26 | Servpro First Responder Bowl | Texas Tech vs. SMU |
| Dec. 26 | Guaranteed Rate Bowl | UNLV vs. Kansas |
| Dec. 27 | Military Bowl | Georgia Tech vs. FAU |
| Dec. 27 | Duke's Mayo Bowl | LSU vs. Miami |
| Dec. 27 | TaxAct Texas Bowl | Kansas State vs. Texas A&M |
| Dec. 28 | Fenway Bowl | NC State vs. Tulane |
| Dec. 28 | Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl | Rutgers vs. Syracuse |
| Dec. 28 | San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl | Oregon State vs. Notre Dame |
| Dec. 28 | Pop-Tarts Bowl | Iowa State vs. Duke |
| Dec. 28 | Valero Alamo Bowl | Oklahoma State vs. USC |
| Dec. 29 | TaxSlayer Gator Bowl | Kentucky vs. Clemson |
| Dec. 29 | Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl | Utah vs. Louisville |
| Dec. 29 | AutoZone Liberty Bowl | Tennessee vs. TCU |
| Dec. 30 | Transperfect Music City Bowl | Florida vs. Maryland |
| Dec. 30 | Barstool Arizona Bowl | Central Michigan vs. Colorado State |
| Jan. 1 | Reliaquest Bowl | Ole Miss vs. Wisconsin |
| Jan. 1 | Cheez-It Citrus Bowl | Missouri vs. Iowa |
New Year's Day Six predictions
A look at Sporting News' New Year's Day Six picks heading into Week 8 of the 2023 college football season:
| DATE | BOWL | PROJECTED MATCHUP |
| Dec. 29 | Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic | Oklahoma vs. Alabama |
| Dec. 30 | Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl | Texas vs. Ohio State |
| Dec. 30 | Capital One Orange Bowl | Penn State vs. North Carolina |
| Jan. 1 | Vrbo Fiesta Bowl | Air Force vs. Oregon |
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: Oklahoma vs. Alabama
The Sooners are atop the Big 12 and rank fourth in the FBS with 45.2 points per game. Alabama is grinding out victories in the SEC West, but a second straight trip to AT&T Stadium could be in the works. This will be an infomercial for Oklahoma's arrival in the SEC in 2024.
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: Texas vs. Ohio State
The Buckeyes and Longhorns have not met since the 2009 Fiesta Bowl, an instant classic Texas won 24-21. This would be the most glamorous matchup of the New Year’s Day Six bowls (non-CFP edition), and Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers would be the center of attention given he spent his freshman season with the Buckeyes.
Capital One Orange Bowl: Penn State vs. North Carolina
This would be the Tar Heels' second trip to the Orange Bowl in four seasons and a nod to the job Mack Brown has done in his second stint. This might feel more like a consolation prize for the Nittany Lions, who are trying to break through in the Big Ten East. Still, a fun quarterback matchup between Drake Maye and Drew Allar.
Vrbo Fiesta Bowl: Air Force vs. Oregon
The Falcons are the highest-ranked Group of 5 school and lead the FBS with 334.2 rushing yards per game. The Ducks also have a top-10 rushing attack with 221.7 yards per game. The contrast in styles between Oregon and Air Force would be amazing in this matchup – which would need extra commercials.
College Football Playoff predictions
| DATE | BOWL | PROJECTED MATCHUP |
| Jan. 1 | Rose Bowl Game (National semifinal) | Michigan vs. Washington |
| Jan. 1 | Allstate Sugar Bowl (National semifinal) | Georgia vs. Florida State |
Rose Bowl Game: No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 Washington
Washington averages 543.7 yards per game and features Heisman Trophy frontrunner Michael Penix Jr. Michigan allows 233.1 yards per game and would be making its third straight CFP appearance. This would be the fifth Rose Bowl matchup between the future Big Ten rivals, too.
Sugar Bowl: No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 4 Florida State
The Bulldogs and Seminoles have not matched up since the 2003 Sugar Bowl, but this would be a fantastic ACC-SEC matchup at the Sugar Bowl. Florida State opened the season with a victory against SEC heavyweight LSU. Could they continue that run by knocking out No. 1?
College Football Playoff championship pick
| DATE | BOWL | PROJECTED MATCHUP |
| Jan. 9 | CFP championship game | Georgia vs. Michigan |
CFP championship game (Houston): Georgia vs. Michigan
A rematch of the 2021 College Football Playoff semifinal which the Bulldogs won 34-11. There is still the second half of the season, but the two-time defending national champion Bulldogs would get a better shot from the Wolverines this time around. This would be a fitting end to the four-team College Football Playoff era.