College football Week 8 bowl projections: Tennessee, Georgia and the new two-SEC team playoff

Bill Bender

College football Week 8 bowl projections: Tennessee, Georgia and the new two-SEC team playoff image

Sporting News' Week 8 bowl projections still have two SEC teams in the College Football Playoff. 

They are in the same division, too. There is room for No. 1 Georgia and No. 3 Tennessee right now. The Bulldogs and Volunteers meet on Nov. 5, and there is a good chance the loser of that match-up could back-door into the CFP depending on how the rest of the field shakes out. The Vols do have a trump card after Saturday's 52-49 victory against No. 6 Alabama. 

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Heading into Week 8, we have No. 5 Clemson vs. Georgia in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl semifinal in a rematch of last year's 10-3 slugfest. Then, we have Ohio State vs. Tennessee in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl in a matchup of the top two scoring offenses in the FBS. That would be fun, too. 

Those were not the only shakeups in our New Year's Day Six picks. Oregon, Cincinnati and TCU moved in. Oklahoma State, Coastal Carolina and USC moved out. 

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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.

Week 8 College Football Bowl Projections

DATEBOWLMATCHUP
Dec. 16Bahamas BowlNorth Texas vs. Miami, Ohio
Dec. 16Cure BowlGeorgia Southern vs. UTEP
Dec. 17Wasabi Fenway BowlHouston vs. South Carolina*
Dec. 17New Mexico BowlBYU vs. Air Force
Dec. 17Jimmy Kimmel LA BowlUNLV vs. Arizona
Dec. 17Lending Tree BowlBuffalo vs. South Alabama
Dec. 17Las Vegas BowlWashington vs. Arkansas
Dec. 17Frisco BowlFAU vs. East Carolina
Dec. 19Myrtle Beach BowlUAB vs. Appalachian State
Dec. 20Famous Idaho Potato BowlBall State vs. Boise State
Dec. 20Boca Raton BowlUCF vs. Western Kentucky
Dec. 21New Orleans BowlUTSA vs. Old Dominion
Dec. 22Armed Forces BowlBaylor vs. Liberty
Dec. 23Independence BowlGeorgia Tech* vs. Army
Dec. 23Gasparilla BowlTroy vs Wyoming
Dec. 24Hawaii BowlRice vs. San Jose State
Dec. 26Quick Lane BowlEastern Michigan vs. Wisconsin
Dec. 27Camellia BowlToledo vs. Coastal Carolina
Dec. 27First Responder BowlTexas Tech vs. Washington State
Dec. 27Birmingham BowlTulane vs. Miami, Fla.
Dec. 27Guaranteed Rate BowlKansas vs. Michigan State
Dec. 28Military BowlPitt vs. Memphis
Dec. 28Liberty BowlKansas State vs. Florida
Dec. 28Holiday Bowl USC vs. North Carolina
Dec. 28Texas BowlOklahoma vs. Texas A&M
Dec. 29Pinstripe BowlMaryland vs. NC State
Dec. 29Cheez-It BowlTexas vs. Florida State
Dec. 29Alamo BowlOklahoma State vs. Utah
Dec. 30Duke's Mayo BowlIowa vs. Notre Dame
Dec. 30Tony the Tiger Sun BowlOregon State vs. Duke
Dec. 30Gator BowlWake Forest vs. Mississippi State
Dec. 30Arizona BowlOhio vs. San Diego State
Dec. 31Music City BowlMinnesota vs. LSU
Jan. 2ReliaQuest BowlPurdue vs. Kentucky
Jan. 2Citrus BowlIllinois vs. Ole Miss

College football New Year's Day Six picks 

DATEBOWLMATCHUP
Dec. 30Capital One Orange BowlSyracuse vs. Penn State
Dec. 31Allstate Sugar BowlTCU vs. Alabama
Jan. 2Goodyear Cotton BowlCincinnati vs. Oregon
Jan. 2Rose Bowl GameMichigan vs. UCLA
Dec. 31Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl (semifinal)Georgia vs. Clemson
Dec. 31Fiesta Bowl (semifinal)Ohio State vs. Tennessee

College Football Playoff championship pick 

DATEBOWLMATCHUP
Jan. 11CFP championship gameGeorgia 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.