How much will conference championship weekend disrupt the College Football Playoff picture?
That will be the question. No. 2 Michigan replaces No. 5 Ohio State in our playoff picks after a 45-23 victory against the Buckeyes. Now, Ohio State must hope for a loss from either No. 3 TCU or No. 4 USC to get into the CFP.
No. 1 Georgia is a lock no matter what happens in the SEC championship game against No. 11 LSU. Playoff regulars Ohio State and No. 6 Alabama are the ones hoping for chaos on a championship weekend they will not participate in.
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For now, our CFP picks consist of the three unbeatens plus USC. We have Georgia and USC in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and Michigan and TCU meeting in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl. No. 7 Penn State and No. 9 Washington moved into our New Year’s Day Six projections.
The College Football Playoff semifinals will be on Dec. 31 this season. Those semifinals will be played at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta and the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. The College Football Playoff championship game is on Jan. 9 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
College football bowl projections for championship week
| DATE | BOWL | MATCHUP |
| Dec. 16 | Bahamas Bowl | UAB* vs. Miami, Ohio* |
| Dec. 16 | Cure Bowl | South Alabama vs. UConn |
| Dec. 17 | Wasabi Fenway Bowl | Cincinnati vs. Syracuse |
| Dec. 17 | New Mexico Bowl | BYU vs. Air Force |
| Dec. 17 | Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl | Boise State vs. Washington State |
| Dec. 17 | Lending Tree Bowl | Buffalo vs. Southern Miss |
| Dec. 17 | Las Vegas Bowl | UCLA vs. Missouri |
| Dec. 17 | Frisco Bowl | Utah State vs. East Carolina |
| Dec. 19 | Myrtle Beach Bowl | North Texas vs. Troy |
| Dec. 20 | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Bowling Green vs. Fresno State |
| Dec. 20 | Boca Raton Bowl | UCF vs. Georgia Southern |
| Dec. 21 | New Orleans Bowl | Western Kentucky vs. Appalachian State |
| Dec. 22 | Armed Forces Bowl | Kansas vs. UTSA |
| Dec. 23 | Independence Bowl | Marshall* vs. New Mexico State |
| Dec. 23 | Gasparilla Bowl | Louisiana vs San Diego State |
| Dec. 24 | Hawaii Bowl | Middle Tennessee State vs. San Jose State |
| Dec. 26 | Quick Lane Bowl | Eastern Michigan vs. Wisconsin |
| Dec. 27 | Camellia Bowl | Ohio vs. Coastal Carolina |
| Dec. 27 | First Responder Bowl | Louisville vs. SMU |
| Dec. 27 | Birmingham Bowl | Houston vs. Liberty |
| Dec. 27 | Guaranteed Rate Bowl | Baylor vs. Kentucky |
| Dec. 28 | Military Bowl | Wake Forest vs. Memphis |
| Dec. 28 | Liberty Bowl | Oklahoma vs. Arkansas |
| Dec. 28 | Holiday Bowl | Oregon vs. Pitt |
| Dec. 28 | Texas Bowl | Texas Tech vs. Florida |
| Dec. 29 | Pinstripe Bowl | Maryland vs. Duke |
| Dec. 29 | Cheez-It Bowl | Oklahoma State vs. North Carolina |
| Dec. 29 | Alamo Bowl | Texas vs. Utah |
| Dec. 30 | Duke's Mayo Bowl | Minnesota vs. Florida State |
| Dec. 30 | Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl | NC State vs. Oregon State |
| Dec. 30 | Gator Bowl | Notre Dame vs. Ole Miss |
| Dec. 30 | Arizona Bowl | Toledo vs. Wyoming |
| Dec. 31 | Music City Bowl | Iowa vs. South Carolina |
| Jan. 2 | ReliaQuest Bowl | Illinois vs. Mississippi State |
| Jan. 2 | Cheez-It Citrus Bowl | Purdue vs. LSU |
*Denotes accepted bowl bid
College football New Year's Day Six picks
| DATE | BOWL | MATCHUP |
| Dec. 30 | Capital One Orange Bowl | Clemson vs. Alabama |
| Dec. 31 | Allstate Sugar Bowl | Kansas State vs. Tennessee |
| Jan. 2 | Goodyear Cotton Bowl | Tulane vs. Penn State |
| Jan. 2 | Rose Bowl Game | Ohio State vs. Washington |
| Dec. 31 | Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (semifinal) | Georgia vs. USC |
| Dec. 31 | Fiesta Bowl (semifinal) | Michigan vs. TCU |
College Football Playoff championship pick
| DATE | BOWL | MATCHUP |
| Jan. 11 | CFP championship game | Michigan vs. Georgia |