Bowl projections get major makeover: Updated matchups for every postseason game

Week 5 of the assemblage shot play featured a bid of heavyweight battles, headlined by Oregon beating Penn State successful treble overtime, Alabama posting a immense roadworthy triumph astatine Georgia, and Ole Miss knocking disconnected LSU.

But determination were surprises and adjacent calls up and down the scoreboard, resulting successful the biggest shakeup yet successful the College Football Playoff and vessel pictures.

As successful past season's inaugural 12-team CFP, the 5 highest-ranked league champions, positive the adjacent 7 highest-ranked teams, volition marque the field. Unlike past year, the 4 highest-ranked teams (not needfully league champions) volition beryllium awarded first-round byes. The different 8 teams volition conscionable successful first-round games astatine the field sites of seeds Nos. 5 done 8.

From there, the quarterfinals and semifinals volition beryllium played successful what had been the New Year's Six bowls, with this season's nationalist title crippled scheduled for Jan. 19 astatine Miami's Hard Rock Stadium.

All of that is conscionable the extremity of the iceberg, though. Apart from the playoff is the 35-game slate of vessel games, opening with the Cricket Celebration Bowl connected Dec. 13.

We're present for each of it.

ESPN vessel gurus Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach are projecting each postseason matchup, including their breakdowns of however the playoff volition play out, and we'll beryllium backmost each week of the play until the existent matchups are set.

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College Football Playoff

First-round games (at field sites)

Friday, Dec. 19/Saturday, Dec. 20

Times and networks TBD.

Bonagura: No. 12 Memphis astatine No. 5 Oklahoma
Schlabach: No. 12 South Florida astatine No. 5 Ole Miss

Bonagura: No. 11 Iowa State astatine No. 6 Penn State
Schlabach: No. 11 Penn State astatine No. 6 Texas Tech

Bonagura: No. 10 Georgia astatine No. 7 Texas Tech
Schlabach: No. 10 Georgia astatine No. 7 Oklahoma

Bonagura: No. 9 Alabama astatine No. 8 Indiana
Schlabach: No. 9 Alabama astatine No. 8 Indiana

First-round breakdown

Bonagura: For the past fewer weeks, the ACC had softly been positioning itself for a changeable astatine 2 playoff bids and possibly -- gasp! -- adjacent 3 with Miami, Florida State and Georgia Tech each rounding into awesome form. For each 3 to get in, it would person taken an improbable acceptable of circumstances, and present it seems similar that script is disconnected the table.

Florida State's nonaccomplishment to Virginia was a momentum slayer and Georgia Tech squeaked by with an uninspiring show against Wake Forest. The knee-jerk absorption from those results is to reason neither of those teams volition bash capable for an at-large bid and that the ACC is apt a one-bid league (while besides considering Louisville is inactive undefeated).

Schlabach: It was different brainsick play successful assemblage football, arsenic 3 of the apical 5 teams successful the AP canvass went down: No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 LSU and No. 5 Georgia. No. 8 Florida State besides mislaid 46-38 successful 2 overtimes astatine Virginia connected Friday night. I deliberation it was a preview arsenic to what's to travel implicit the last 9 weeks of the regular season. There's truthful overmuch much parity successful the Power 4 conferences, particularly successful the SEC, which figures to person cont...