College football’s new playoff format was a huge success. The four-team playoff generated huge ratings and provided what the fans wanted in a postseason: A chance to settle it on the field.

As the second season of the playoff approaches, the bowl schedule has expanded to 41 overall games including the national championship. Additionally, the semifinals will be on Dec. 31 instead of Jan. 1. The Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl will host the semifinals, while the national championship will be held in Glendale, Ariz.

With the 2015 season less than 60 days away, it’s never too early to project how the bowl games and playoff pairings may look by December.

2015 College Football Conference Predictions



Power 5: ACC | Big 12 | Big Ten | Pac-12 | SEC



Group of 5: American | C-USA | MAC | Mountain West | Sun Belt

College Football 2015 Bowl Projections

Bowl Date Tie-In Projection AutoNation Cure Dec. 19 Sun Belt vs.

American Georgia Southern vs.

UCF Gildan New Mexico Dec. 19 C-USA vs.

MW Louisiana Tech vs.

San Diego State Royal Purple

Las Vegas Dec. 19 MW/BYU vs.

Pac-12 California vs.

Utah State Raycom Media

Camellia Dec. 19 MAC vs.

Sun Belt Appalachian State vs.

Akron R+L Carriers

New Orleans Dec. 19 MW vs.

Sun Belt UTEP vs.

UL Lafayette Miami Beach Dec. 21 American vs.

C-USA WKU vs.

Cincinnati Famous Idaho Potato Dec. 22 MAC vs.

MW Bowling Green vs.

Nevada Boca Raton Dec. 22 American vs.

MAC East Carolina vs.

Toledo SDCCU Poinsettia Dec. 23 Mountain West vs.

Army Colorado State vs.

Washington* GoDaddy Dec. 23 MAC vs. Sun Belt Arkansas State vs.

Western Michigan Popeyes Bahamas Dec. 24 C-USA vs. MAC MTSU vs.

Northern Illinois Hawaii Dec. 24 American vs.

BYU/MW Temple vs.

BYU St. Petersburg Dec. 26 C-USA vs.

American Houston vs.

Marshall Hyundai Sun Dec. 26 ACC/ND vs.

Pac-12 Georgia Tech vs.

Arizona Zaxby's Heart of

Dallas Dec. 26 Big 12 vs.

C-USA Texas Tech vs.

Rice New Era Pinstripe Dec. 26 ACC/ND vs.

Big Ten Virginia Tech vs.

Michigan Independence Dec. 26 ACC/ND vs.

SEC North Carolina vs.

Kentucky Foster Farms Dec. 26 Big Ten vs.

Pac-12 Minnesota vs.

UCLA Military Dec. 28 ACC/ND vs.

American Louisville vs.

Navy Quick Lane Dec. 28 ACC/ND vs.

Big Ten Northwestern vs.

Pittsburgh Lockheed Martin

Armed Forces Dec. 29 MW vs.

Big Ten Maryland vs.

Air Force Russell Athletic Dec. 29 ACC/ND vs.

Big 12 Notre Dame vs.

West Virginia AdvoCare V100

Texas Dec. 29 Big 12 vs.

SEC LSU vs.

Oklahoma State Birmingham Dec. 30 American vs.

SEC South Carolina vs.

Memphis Belk Dec. 30 ACC/ND vs.

SEC NC State vs.

Florida Franklin American

Music City Dec. 30 ACC/ND/Big Ten vs.

SEC Iowa vs.

Missouri National University

Holiday Dec. 30 Big Ten vs.

Pac-12 Stanford vs.

Penn State Outback Jan. 1 Big Ten vs.

SEC Arkansas vs.

Nebraska Buffalo Wild Wings

Citrus Jan. 1 Big Ten vs.

SEC Wisconsin vs.

Tennessee TaxSlayer Jan. 2 ACC/ND/Big Ten vs.

SEC Clemson vs.

Texas A&M AutoZone Liberty Jan. 2 Big 12 vs.

SEC Mississippi State vs.

Texas Valero Alamo Jan. 2 Big 12 vs.

Pac-12 Arizona State vs.

Oklahoma Cactus Jan. 2 Big 12 vs.

Pac-12 Kansas State vs.

Utah Arizona TBA MW vs.

C-USA Miami* vs.

Indiana* Chick-fil-A Peach Dec. 31 At-large vs.

At-large Florida State vs.

Georgia Fiesta Jan. 1 At-large vs.

At-large Boise State vs.

Oregon Rose Jan. 1 Big Ten vs.

Pac-12 Michigan State vs.

USC Sugar Jan. 1 SEC vs.

Big 12 Ole Miss vs.

TCU Cotton Dec. 31 Playoff

Semifinal Ohio State vs.

Auburn Orange Dec. 31 Playoff

Semifinal Alabama vs.

Baylor National Championship Jan. 11 Cotton Bowl Winner vs.

Orange Bowl Winner Ohio State over

Alabama

* According to our projections, these teams will fill at-large selections as some conferences will fail to fill their allotted slots.