College football bowl projections for Week 10: Cincinnati holds fourth playoff spot (for now)

Bill Bender

College football bowl projections for Week 10: Cincinnati holds fourth playoff spot (for now) image

The first set of College Football Playoff rankings will be unveiled Tuesday, and that will give the first hint as to who the four playoff teams will be.

It's still five weeks until the selection show, and there is a lot to play out. Sporting News will have bowl projections each week leading up to the final results. This year’s bowl season includes 42 games between FBS teams. The College Football Playoff championship game is Jan. 10 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The semifinals are Dec. 31 at the Capital One Orange Bowl and Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.

Our bowl projection is for how we believe the rest of the season will play out.

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We maintained the same four teams heading into the first set of rankings. Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio State and Cincinnati are our Playoff picks for now, and that's based on the belief that the Bulldogs will give the Crimson Tide their second loss in the SEC championship game. Oregon, of course, has to lose a second game to make this happen.

We also have Georgia meeting Ohio State in the CFP championship game for the second straight week. Baylor and Michigan State moved into our New Year's Day Six. Iowa and Oklahoma State moved out.

SN has projections for all 42 bowl games here, and they will be updated throughout the season:

College football bowl projections for Week 10 

DATEBOWLMATCHUP
Dec. 17Bahamas BowlToledo vs. FAU
Dec. 17Cure BowlTroy vs. East Carolina
Dec. 18RoofClaim.com Boca Raton BowlNevada vs. Liberty*
Dec. 18New Mexico BowlSan Diego State vs. UTEP
Dec. 18Radiance Technologies Independence BowlBYU vs. UTSA
Dec. 18Lendingtree BowlNorthern Illinois vs. Coastal Carolina
Dec. 18Los Angeles BowlFresno State vs. Utah
Dec. 18R&L Carriers New Orleans BowlSouth Alabama vs. UAB
Dec. 20Myrtle Beach BowlAppalachian State vs. Western Michigan
Dec. 21Famous Idaho Potato BowlMiami, Ohio vs. Boise State
Dec. 21Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco BowlBall State vs. Utah State
Dec. 22Armed Forces BowlArmy* vs. Marshall
Dec. 23Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla BowlWashington State vs. Western Kentucky
Dec. 24Hawai'i BowlAir Force vs. UCF
Dec. 25Camellia BowlKent State vs. Louisiana
Dec. 27Quick Lane BowlSMU vs. Rutgers
Dec. 27Military BowlMiami* vs. Washington*
Dec. 28TicketSmarter Birmingham BowlHouston vs. Arkansas
Dec. 28First Responder BowlTexas Tech vs. Louisville
Dec. 28AutoZone Liberty BowlWest Virginia vs. Mississippi State
Dec. 28Holiday BowlUSC vs. North Carolina
Dec. 28Guaranteed Rate BowlSyracuse vs. Kansas State
Dec. 29Fenway BowlMemphis vs. Boston College
Dec. 29Pinstripe BowlMaryland vs. N.C. State
Dec. 29Cheez-It BowlIowa State vs. Virginia
Dec. 29Valero Alamo BowlArizona State vs. Oklahoma State
Dec. 30Duke's Mayo BowlPurdue vs. Clemson
Dec. 30Transperfect Music City BowlIowa vs. Tennessee
Dec. 30SRS Las Vegas BowlUCLA vs. Wisconsin
Dec. 31TaxSlayer Gator BowlFlorida vs. Pitt
Dec. 31Tony the Tiger Sun BowlOregon State vs. Virginia Tech
Dec. 31Arizona BowlCentral Michigan vs. San Jose State
Jan. 1Outback BowlPenn State vs. Ole Miss
Jan. 1Vrbo Citrus BowlMinnesota vs. Auburn
Jan. 4Texas BowlTexas vs. Kentucky

*Denotes not tied to bowl game

College Football New Year's Six projections

Dec. 30Chick-Fil-A Peach BowlNotre Dame vs. Wake Forest
Jan. 1PlayStation Fiesta BowlTexas A&M vs. Michigan
Jan. 1Rose Bowl GameOregon vs. Michigan State
Jan. 1Allstate Sugar BowlBaylor vs. Alabama
Dec. 31Capital One Orange Bowl (semifinal)Cincinnati vs. Georgia
Dec. 31Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (semifinal)Oklahoma vs. Ohio State

College Football Playoff championship projection

DATEBOWLMATCHUP
Jan. 10College Football Playoff championshipGeorgia vs. Ohio State

Bill Bender

Bill Bender graduated from Ohio University in 2002 and started at The Sporting News as a fantasy football writer in 2007. He has covered the College Football Playoff, NBA Finals and World Series for SN. Bender enjoys story-telling, awesomely-bad 80s movies and coaching youth sports.