New Year’s Six Bowl Projections 2017: San Diego State rising in Week 4

Sugar Bowl (Playoff No.2)

Sugar Bowl (Playoff No. 2): Alabama vs. Clemson
Where: Mercedes-Benz Superdome (New Orleans, La.)
When: Jan. 1, 2018, at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN
Last week’s projection: Alabama vs. Clemson 

Nothing’s changed, we’ve still got Alabama and Clemson and it seems like these two teams are playing some of the best ball out of anybody in America right now. As much as I’m impressed with Clemson, I still have some doubts about the Tigers as they seem to have gained some offensive consistency. That will be tested in a few weeks as they travel to Virginia Tech and face off against a Hokies team that is a much better matchup across the board than Louisville was.

In some ways, it feels like Alabama has two or even three game seasons. They’ve got the season opener against random traditional power and then they slog through the early cupcakes and then they’ve got the SEC. While they aren’t facing a Georgia or South Carolina, they do have Vanderbilt who is undefeated and coming off a win over Kansas State. All of the sudden, big bad Bama is coming to town. Congrats Tide, you’re gonna survive another week in the SEC.

Next: NFL Mock Draft 2018: Quarterbacks dominate first round

Week 4 Impact: Easy weeks for both Clemson and Alabama as Vanderbilt and Boston College will offer little to no resistance. The next test for Clemson is their trip to Virginia Tech on the 30th of this month. For Alabama, it’s LSU but if you have paid attention to LSU in the last week or so, you’d notice that things are not looking good for the Tigers. It’s not a matter of when, it’s a matter of if Alabama will be tested in 2017.