College Football Bowl Projections 2018: Big Changes in New Year’s Six after Week 9
December 29
No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Michigan
College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
4 or 8 pm ET, ESPN – Dallas, Texas
Michigan will likely be on the outside looking in when the first playoff rankings are revealed on Tuesday, but the Wolverines very much still control their own destiny in the playoff race. LSU will likely be in their place, but one of Alabama or LSU will be going down in Baton Rouge next weekend, which should slide the Wolverines into the projected field. Nothing changed over the bye week for Jim Harbaugh and company as all roads still lead to the regular season finale in Columbus. Michigan does have a tricky home game next week against a battle-tested Penn State that could throw a wrench in their hopes.
Alabama stood idle this week as they prepare for their biggest test of the season next week in Baton Rouge against LSU. The Crimson Tide will be the number one team in the inaugural College Football Playoff rankings this week, thanks to their dominant run so far this season. The Tide has outscored its opponents by an average of 38.25 points-per-game this season, with their closest game coming in a 22 point home win over Texas A&M. Sophomore sensation Tua Tagovailoa has added a dynamic to the Alabama offense that has been missing over the last several years: a true downfield passing threat.
No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Notre Dame
College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl:
4 or 8 pm ET, ESPN – Miami, Florida
Clemson’s exhibition tour as they head toward an inevitable College Football Playoff berth continued as they decimated Florida State 59-10 in Tallahassee, handing the Seminoles their worst ever loss at Doak-Campbell Stadium. It would take a massive upset for the Tigers to not run through their regular season schedule undefeated, and there doesn’t seem to be a serious challenger coming out of the ACC Coastal to pry away Clemson’s stranglehold on the conference. They do face a potentially tricky road game in two weeks in Chestnut Hill against Boston College; the Eagles represent the best chance to knock off Clemson in the regular season.
Next. Projected Playoff rankings for Week 10. dark
Notre Dame broke out to a 27-0 lead over Navy, and then cruised to a 44-22 victory in South Bend, likely securing a spot in the committee’s top four on Tuesday. The Fighting Irish have the second easiest path to the College Football Playoff behind their potential Orange Bowl opponent. Notre Dame travels to Evanston next week to take on Northwestern, while also facing Syracuse in a few weeks at home before finishing up the regular season against USC on the road. The Irish will be heavy favorites in all of their remaining games, but they struggled against inferior opponents like Ball State, Vanderbilt, and Pittsburgh, so it’s far from a certainty that Brian Kelly’s squad makes it through unscathed.