Sporting News released its complete bowl projections for the 2026-27 season, mapping out all 47 postseason games including the 12-team College Football Playoff.
The projections include several new changes to bowl season. The Rate Bowl becomes the Cactus Bowl. The Poinsettia Bowl returns to the schedule.
The Puerto Rico Bowl joins the lineup as a new addition.
A total of 82 schools will participate in the postseason. The College Football Playoff accounts for 12 teams, while 35 traditional bowl games fill out the rest of the field.
Sporting News projects CFP semifinal matchups between Indiana and Texas, plus Notre Dame and Georgia. Those four programs combined for 17 players on the publication’s first 2027 NFL Draft Top 25 Big Board.
The College Football Playoff opens with first-round games Dec. 18-19. Quarterfinals begin at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 30.
New Year’s Day features a triple-header with the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
Semifinals take place at the Capital One Orange Bowl and Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 14-15. The championship game is set for Jan. 25 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Bowl Game Projections
The 35 bowls outside the College Football Playoff feature matchups across all conferences:
| DATE | BOWL | MATCHUP |
| Dec. 15 | IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl | Old Dominion vs. Kennesaw State |
| Dec. 15 | Frisco Football Classic | Georgia Southern vs Western Kentucky |
| Dec. 18 | Boca Raton Bowl | Troy vs. Delaware |
| Dec. 18 | Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl | Navy vs. Washington State |
| Dec. 21 | Myrtle Beach Bowl | Arkansas State vs. Liberty |
| Dec. 21 | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | North Dakota State vs. Miami, Ohio |
| Dec. 22 | Puerto Rico Bowl | Ohio vs. UConn |
| Dec. 22 | Staffdna Cure Bowl | Central Michigan vs. FIU |
| Dec. 22 | Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl | Army vs. Cal |
| Dec. 23 | New Orleans Bowl | James Madison vs. Jacksonville State |
| Dec. 23 | Lockheed Armed Forces Bowl | Nebraska vs. South Carolina |
| Dec. 23 | Frisco Bowl | Tulane vs. Buffalo |
| Dec. 24 | Isleta New Mexico Bowl | UNLV vs. Kennesaw State |
| Dec. 24 | Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl | UTSA vs. Hawai’i |
| Dec. 26 | Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl | Minnesota vs. Florida State |
| Dec. 26 | Wasabi Fenway Bowl | East Carolina vs. Virginia |
| Dec. 26 | Duke’s Mayo Bowl | Florida vs. Pitt |
| Dec. 26 | 68 Ventures Bowl | Louisiana Tech vs. Toledo |
| Dec. 26 | Cactus Bowl | Illinois vs. Kansas |
| Dec. 28 | Freedom Mortgage Military Bowl | South Florida vs. Florida State |
| Dec. 29 | JLab Birmingham Bowl | Memphis vs. Duke |
| Dec. 29 | Pop-Tarts Bowl | Texas Tech vs. Virginia Tech |
| Dec. 29 | Valero Alamo Bowl | Washington vs. Houston |
| Dec. 30 | TaxSlayer Gator Bowl | Vanderbilt vs. Clemson |
| Dec. 30 | Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl | Penn State vs. Texas A&M |
| Dec. 31 | ReliaQuest Bowl | Alabama vs. SMU |
| Dec. 31 | Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl | Fresno State vs. Wake Forest |
| Dec. 31 | Las Vegas Bowl | Iowa vs. Arizona State |
| Dec. 31 | Kinder’s Texas Bowl | Missouri vs. TCU |
| Jan. 2 | Cheez-It Citrus Bowl | Michigan vs. LSU |
| Jan. 2 | Servpro First Responder Bowl | Wisconsin vs. Baylor |
| Jan. 2 | AutoZone Liberty Bowl | Tennessee vs. Kansas State |
| TBD | Poinsettia Bowl | San Diego State vs. Air Force |
| TBD | Trust & Will Holiday Bowl | Utah vs. Louisville |
| TBD | Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl | New Mexico vs. Western Michigan |
College Football Playoff First Round
The four first-round playoff games will be played on campus sites:
| DATE | BOWL | MATCHUP |
| Dec. 18 | First-Round CFP game | No. 10 USC vs. No. 7 Miami |
| Dec. 19 | First-Round CFP game | No. 5 Texas vs. No. 12 Boise State |
| Dec. 19 | First-Round CFP game | No. 8 Ole Miss vs. No. 9 Oklahoma |
| Dec. 19 | First-Round CFP game | No. 6 Oregon vs. No. 11 BYU |
BYU and USC would make their first College Football Playoff appearances under this projection.
The Cougars are projected to win the Big 12. A first-round matchup at Oregon fits the late Saturday night television window.
USC gets a prime-time opener against Miami, the projected ACC champion. The matchup would ease pressure on Trojans coach Lincoln Riley, who went 0-3 in CFP games at Oklahoma.
Boise State would represent the eight-team Pac-12 in its return to the playoff.
NFL Draft scouts will monitor quarterbacks Arch Manning, Dante Moore, Darian Mensah, Trinidad Chambliss and John Mateer across these matchups.
Playoff Quarterfinals
The quarterfinal games move to traditional New Year’s Six bowl sites:
| DATE | BOWL | MATCHUP |
| Dec. 30 | Vrbo Fiesta Bowl | No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Texas |
| Jan. 1 | Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic | No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 6 Oregon |
| Jan. 1 | Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential | No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 8 Ole Miss |
| Jan. 1 | Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl | No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 10 USC |
The SEC and Big Ten would place seven of eight teams in the quarterfinals. Notre Dame fills out the field as the lone independent.
Texas-Ohio State represents a rematch from their Sept. 12 regular season game in Austin. It’s the fourth meeting between the programs in three seasons.
Oregon and Georgia would look to advance past the quarterfinal round for the first time in the 12-team format.
Five of these schools ranked in the top 12 in scoring defense last season. Texas (28th), Ole Miss (37th) and USC (51st) need defensive improvements to reach the semifinals.
Playoff Semifinals
The semifinal matchups return to New Year’s Six bowl sites:
| DATE | BOWL | MATCHUP |
| Jan. 14 | Capital One Orange Bowl | No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 5 Texas |
| Jan. 15 | Allstate Sugar Bowl | No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 3 Notre Dame |
Indiana would be the only returning semifinalist from last year’s field.
Texas faces the most pressure among this group. The Longhorns would reach the CFP semifinals for the third time in four seasons.
Notre Dame and Georgia meet in a rematch of the 2025 Sugar Bowl, when the Irish won 23-10.
The SEC could be denied a championship game appearance for the fourth straight season.
Championship Game Prediction
The title game takes place Jan. 25 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas:
| DATE | BOWL | MATCHUP |
| Jan. 25 | CFP championship | No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 3 Notre Dame |
Indiana would be chasing back-to-back national championships in this projection.
Notre Dame won the last meeting 27-17 in the first round of the 2024 College Football Playoff on Dec. 20, 2024.
Coaches Curt Cignetti and Marcus Freeman represent two of the most engaging personalities in college football.
