Sporting News' annual preseason bowl projections are here, and our College Football Playoff picks for 2023-24 feature three of the same teams from last season.
Seriously, we can't wait for the 12-team College Football Playoff and the variety that is sure to come with it. As it stands, however, we picked some of the usual suspects for the final installment of the four-team playoff.
Georgia, of course, is one of those choices. The Bulldogs have won back-to-back national championships and will be a preseason No.1 across most publications. Alabama was the last team to attempt a three-peat in 2013. The Crimson Tide's bid fell short because of the “Kick Six.” Alabama is not in our CFP projections.
BENDER: How 2024 schedules will affect SEC, Big Ten playoff bids
Michigan and Ohio State are for the second straight season – meaning we are forecasting another matchup of unbeaten teams at The Game. Last year, SN did pick Georgia and Ohio State as one of our semifinals. Why not go back to the well?
Our final Playoff pick is USC – led by second-year coach Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams. The Trojans were close last season. This year, they win the Pac-12 and break the conference's playoff drought that extends back to 2016.
The College Football Playoff semifinals will be on Jan. 1, 2024 Those semifinals will be played at the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, Calif., and the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Those locations were the sites of the first four-team playoff in 2014.
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The College Football Playoff championship game is on Jan. 9 at NRG Stadium in Houston.
SN has projections for every bowl game here, and they will be updated throughout the season:
College football bowl predictions 2023
| DATE | BOWL | PROJECTED MATCHUP |
| Dec. 16 | HomeTown Lenders Bahamas Bowl | Northern Illinois vs. New Mexico State |
| Dec. 16 | R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl | Western Kentucky vs. Troy |
| Dec. 16 | Cure Bowl | MTSU vs. Appalachian State |
| Dec. 16 | New Mexico Bowl | Louisiana Tech vs. Air Force |
| Dec. 16 | LA Bowl | Arizona State vs. Boise State |
| Dec. 16 | Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl | Oklahoma State vs. Washington State |
| Dec. 18 | Myrtle Beach Bowl | FAU vs. Coastal Carolina |
| Dec. 19 | Frisco Bowl | Army vs. Memphis |
| Dec. 21 | RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl | Liberty vs. Southern Miss |
| Dec. 22 | Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl | Auburn vs. Georgia Tech |
| Dec. 23 | Birmingham Bowl | Mississippi State vs. Wake Forest |
| Dec. 23 | Camellia Bowl | Ohio vs. Marshall |
| Dec. 23 | Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl | BYU vs. Navy |
| Dec. 23 | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Buffalo vs. Fresno State |
| Dec. 23 | 68 Ventures Bowl | Toledo vs. South Alabama |
| Dec. 23 | Distribution Las Vegas Bowl | Michigan State vs. UCLA |
| Dec. 23 | Easypost Hawai'i Bowl | North Texas vs. San Jose State |
| Dec. 26 | Quick Lane Bowl | Maryland vs. Miami, Ohio |
| Dec. 26 | Servpro First Responder Bowl | Baylor vs. SMU |
| Dec. 26 | Guaranteed Rate Bowl | Wyoming vs. Kansas |
| Dec. 27 | Military Bowl | Syracuse vs. East Carolina |
| Dec. 27 | Duke's Mayo Bowl | Nebraska vs. NC State |
| Dec. 27 | TaxAct Texas Bowl | Oklahoma vs. Florida |
| Dec. 28 | Fenway Bowl | Miami vs. Tulane |
| Dec. 28 | Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl | Illinois vs. Pitt |
| Dec. 28 | Pop-Tarts Bowl | Texas Tech vs. North Carolina |
| Dec. 28 | Valero Alamo Bowl | Kansas State vs. Utah |
| Dec. 29 | TaxSlayer Gator Bowl | Kentucky vs. Duke |
| Dec. 29 | Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl | Oregon vs. Louisville |
| Dec. 29 | AutoZone Liberty Bowl | Ole Miss vs. TCU |
| Dec. 30 | Transperfect Music City Bowl | Texas A&M vs. Minnesota |
| Dec. 30 | Barstool Arizona Bowl | Eastern Michigan vs. San Diego State |
| Jan. 1 | Reliaquest Bowl | South Carolina vs. Iowa |
| Jan. 1 | Cheez-It Citrus Bowl | Tennessee vs. Wisconsin |
| TBD | SDCCU Holiday Bowl | Oregon State vs. Notre Dame |
New Year's Day Six predictions
| DATE | BOWL | PROJECTED MATCHUP |
| Dec. 29 | Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic | LSU vs. Texas |
| Dec. 30 | Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl | Alabama vs. Clemson |
| Dec. 30 | Capital One Orange Bowl | Penn State vs. Florida State |
| Jan. 1 | Vrbo Fiesta Bowl | UTSA vs. Washington |
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: LSU vs. Texas
Texas – which hasn't won a Big 12 championship since 2009 – will take the conference title in its farewell tour. A high-powered offense led by Quinn Ewers will be the difference, but it won't be enough to get in the CFP. Brian Kelly's second season at LSU comes with even greater expectations. He delivers another 10-win season, and this serves as a teaser for the Longhorns' arrival in the SEC in 2024.
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: Alabama vs. Clemson
The Crimson Tide and Tigers have met four times in the CFP — including a semifinal and three CFP championship games. This time, the programs meet in the New Year's Day Six, and this matchup outside the playoff ramps up speculation about the future of Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney and whether the Clemson coach will be Saban's successor down the line. How soon is that? On the field, they have split those last four meetings.
Capital One Orange Bowl: Penn State vs. Florida State
The Nittany Lions and Seminoles both are popular CFP picks in 2023. The Seminoles are coming off a 10-win season, and Jordan Travis leads an offense that averaged 36.1 points per game. The Nittany Lions are looking to break through in the Big Ten with an offense led by Drew Allar and Nick Singleton and a defense ready to challenge Ohio State and Michigan. James Franklin is 3-1 in New Year's Day Six games.
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Vrbo Fiesta Bowl: Washington vs. UTSA
The Huskies will be one of the main challengers for USC in the Pac-12 – and Michael Penix Jr. is a value pick for the Heisman Trophy. The Nov. 4 showdown with the Trojans will be huge. It's still a step in the right direction for second-year coach Kalen DeBoer. The Roadrunners are making the move to the American Athletic Conference. Quarterback Frank Harris – in his seventh season – leads the Roadrunners to a New Year's Day Six bowl.
College Football Playoff predictions
| DATE | BOWL | PROJECTED MATCHUP |
| Jan. 1 | Rose Bowl Game (Semifinal) | Michigan vs. USC |
| Jan. 1 | Allstate Sugar Bowl (Semifinal) | Georgia vs. Ohio State |
Rose Bowl Game: No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 USC
The Wolverines and Trojans play their 10th head-to-head Rose Bowl matchup before the Trojans head to the Big Ten. Will Caleb Williams be a two-time Heisman Trophy winner at this point? Will J.J. McCarthy be considered a first-round pick? Michigan returns to the playoff for the third straight season, which puts the pressure on Jim Harbaugh to win now more than ever. USC reaches the playoff for the first time under Lincoln Riley. Harbaugh and Riley are a combined 0-5 in CFP semifinals.
Sugar Bowl: No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 4 Ohio State
It's a rematch of last year's 42-41 thriller between the Bulldogs and Buckeyes at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, and a tenuous one knowing the committee might opt to pass on Ohio State if they lose to the Wolverines for a third straight season. Rematches haven't stopped the committee before, however, and these should be the two most-talented teams in 2023. Of course, Alabama will be in the conversation until the end.
College Football Playoff championship pick
| DATE | BOWL | PROJECTED MATCHUP |
| Jan. 9 | CFP championship game | Michigan vs. Georgia |
CFP championship game (Houston): Georgia vs. Michigan
The four-team CFP era ends with a SEC vs. Big Ten matchup – perhaps a harbinger of things to come for the 12-team era. From the BCS era through the four-team era, the Big Ten is 0-3 against the SEC in championship games. This is Michigan’s first chance at it, however, and we’ll see how much improvement the Wolverines have made since the 34-11 loss to the Bulldogs in the CFP semifinal at the Orange Bowl two years ago. Georgia, meanwhile, will go for the three-peat under Kirby Smart. Is anything going to stop the Bulldogs along the way?