Three surprise one-loss teams moved into the New Year’s Day Six in our Week 10 bowl projections.
We’re not talking about No. 2 Tennessee. The Volunteers remain in our projected College Football Playoff picks along with No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 5 Clemson.
Who are the surprise teams? No. 14 Illinois and No. 17 North Carolina are our surprise picks to reach the Orange Bowl. Bret Bielema has a physical team led by SN Midseason All-American Chase Brown, and Mack Brown has the Tar Heels rolling with quarterback Drake Maye. Both teams are good bets to make their respective conference championship games.
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No. 19 Tulane also moved into our Cotton Bowl projection. The Green Wave have November tests against No. 25 UCF and Cincinnati.
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.
MORE: Ranking CFB's top 25 quarterbacks at midseason
Week 10 College Football Bowl Projections
| DATE | BOWL | MATCHUP |
| Dec. 16 | Bahamas Bowl | North Texas vs. Bowling Green |
| Dec. 16 | Cure Bowl | Georgia Southern vs. FIU |
| Dec. 17 | Wasabi Fenway Bowl | Cincinnati vs. Louisville |
| Dec. 17 | New Mexico Bowl | BYU vs. Air Force |
| Dec. 17 | Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl | Boise State vs. SMU |
| Dec. 17 | Lending Tree Bowl | Buffalo vs. South Alabama |
| Dec. 17 | Las Vegas Bowl | Washington State vs. Texas A&M |
| Dec. 17 | Frisco Bowl | Western Kentucky vs. Houston |
| Dec. 19 | Myrtle Beach Bowl | UAB vs. Appalachian State |
| Dec. 20 | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Ball State vs. Fresno State |
| Dec. 20 | Boca Raton Bowl | East Carolina vs. Middle Tennessee State |
| Dec. 21 | New Orleans Bowl | UTSA vs. Southern Miss |
| Dec. 22 | Armed Forces Bowl | Baylor vs. Liberty |
| Dec. 23 | Independence Bowl | UNLV* vs. Army |
| Dec. 23 | Gasparilla Bowl | Troy vs Wyoming |
| Dec. 24 | Hawaii Bowl | FAU vs. San Jose State |
| Dec. 26 | Quick Lane Bowl | Ohio vs. Miami, Fla.* |
| Dec. 27 | Camellia Bowl | Toledo vs. Coastal Carolina |
| Dec. 27 | First Responder Bowl | Kansas vs. Washington |
| Dec. 27 | Birmingham Bowl | UCF vs. Arkansas |
| Dec. 27 | Guaranteed Rate Bowl | Texas Tech vs. Iowa |
| Dec. 28 | Military Bowl | Pitt vs. Memphis |
| Dec. 28 | Liberty Bowl | Oklahoma vs. South Carolina |
| Dec. 28 | Holiday Bowl | Utah vs. Florida State |
| Dec. 28 | Texas Bowl | Oklahoma State vs. Mississippi State |
| Dec. 29 | Pinstripe Bowl | Purdue vs. NC State |
| Dec. 29 | Cheez-It Bowl | Texas vs. Syracuse |
| Dec. 29 | Alamo Bowl | Kansas State vs. UCLA |
| Dec. 30 | Duke's Mayo Bowl | Minnesota vs. Duke |
| Dec. 30 | Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl | Oregon State vs. Wake Forest |
| Dec. 30 | Gator Bowl | Notre Dame vs. Florida |
| Dec. 30 | Arizona Bowl | Eastern Michigan vs. San Diego State |
| Dec. 31 | Music City Bowl | Wisconsin vs. Kentucky |
| Jan. 2 | ReliaQuest Bowl | Maryland vs. LSU |
| Jan. 2 | Citrus Bowl | Penn State vs. Ole Miss |
College football New Year's Day Six picks
| DATE | BOWL | MATCHUP |
| Dec. 30 | Capital One Orange Bowl | Illinois vs. North Carolina |
| Dec. 31 | Allstate Sugar Bowl | TCU vs. Alabama |
| Jan. 2 | Goodyear Cotton Bowl | Tulane vs. USC |
| Jan. 2 | Rose Bowl Game | Michigan vs. Oregon |
| Dec. 31 | Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl (semifinal) | Georgia vs. Clemson |
| Dec. 31 | Fiesta Bowl (semifinal) | Ohio State vs. Tennessee |
College Football Playoff championship pick
| DATE | BOWL | MATCHUP |
| Jan. 11 | CFP championship game | Ohio State vs. Georgia |