There weren’t as many surprising results during Week 9 as we’ve grown accustomed to this season, but some surprising teams continued to make their mark.
Georgia Tech remained unbeaten by thumping Syracuse, Vanderbilt beat Missouri to improve to 7-1 for its best start since 1941, Indiana rolled over UCLA to stake its claim as the best team in college football, and Navy won again, moving to 7-0.
All four of those teams are in the mix for the College Football Playoff, something few would have foreseen a couple of months ago.
As with last season’s inaugural 12-team CFP, the five highest-ranked conference champions, plus the next seven highest-ranked teams, will make the field. Unlike last year, the four highest-ranked teams (not necessarily conference champions) will be awarded first-round byes. The other eight teams will meet in first-round games at the campus sites of seeds Nos. 5 through 8.
From there, the quarterfinals and semifinals will be played in what had been the New Year’s Six bowls, with this season’s national championship game scheduled for Jan. 19 at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.
All of that is just the tip of the iceberg, though. Apart from the playoff is the 35-game slate of bowl games, beginning with the Cricket Celebration Bowl on Dec. 13.
We’re here for all of it.
ESPN bowl gurus Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach are projecting every postseason matchup, including their breakdowns of how the playoff will play out, and we’ll be back every week of the season until the actual matchups are set.
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Playoff picks | Quarterfinals
Semis, title game | Bowl season
College Football Playoff
First-round games (at campus sites)
Friday, Dec. 19/Saturday, Dec. 20
Times and networks TBD.
Bonagura: No. 12 Navy at No. 5 Oregon
Schlabach: No. 12 Navy at No. 5 Georgia
Bonagura: No. 11 Texas Tech at No. 6 Georgia
Schlabach: No. 11 Vanderbilt at No. 6 Ole Miss
Bonagura: No. 10 BYU at No. 7 Ole Miss
Schlabach: No. 10 BYU at No. 7 Georgia Tech
Bonagura: No. 9 Miami at No. 8 Georgia Tech
Schlabach: No. 9 Oregon at No. 8 Miami
First-round breakdown
Bonagura: At 7-0 (5-0 American Conference), Navy deserves some time in the spotlight, which is why I have the Midshipmen as the No. 12 seed for this week. They have earned it. But the next five games are brutal: at North Texas, at Notre Dame, South Florida, at Memphis, vs. Army. It’s one of the most difficult closing slates for any team in college football.
There is some margin of error along the way as Tulane (3-0) is the only other unbeaten team in the American and no one else in the conference has more than three league wins. A year after Army flirted with the playoff, Navy is very much in the mix.
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Schlabach: Finally, there was some order in college football this weekend, as every AP top-10 team that played won, although Alabama, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt had to rally to get it done.
I dropped Oregon three spots to No. 9 after its lackluster 21-7 win over struggling Wisconsin at home. The game was played in torrential rain at times, and star quarterback Dante Moore left in the third quarter with a face injury. The Ducks will have to play better when they travel to Iowa on Nov. 8.
I dropped Texas Tech and added Vanderbilt as my No. 11 team after the Commodores beat another ranked opponent, taking down Missouri 17-10 at home. It wasn’t pretty, but Diego Pavia and Co. figured out a way to get it done. The Commodores play at Texas on Saturday.
Unbeaten Navy replaced South Florida as my fifth conference champion, after the Bulls fell 34-31 at Memphis on Saturday. But as Kyle noted, the Midshipmen are about to hit the meat of their schedule.
CFP quarterfinals
Wednesday, Dec. 31
CFP quarterfinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
7:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 7 Ole Miss vs. No. 2 Indiana
Schlabach: No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 4 Alabama
Thursday, Jan. 1
CFP quarterfinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl
Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Gardens, Florida)
Noon, ESPN
Bonagura: No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 4 Alabama
Schlabach: No. 7 Georgia Tech vs. No. 2 Indiana
CFP quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential
Rose Bowl (Pasadena, California)
4 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 8 Georgia Tech vs. No. 1 Ohio State
Schlabach: No. 9 Oregon vs. No. 1 Ohio State
CFP quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl
Caesars Superdome (New Orleans)
8 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 6 Georgia vs. No. 3 Texas A&M
Schlabach: No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 3 Texas A&M
Quarterfinals breakdown
Bonagura: With no major upsets near the top this week, there were no changes here for me. Three Big Ten teams, four SEC teams, plus Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals.
Georgia Tech still feels very much like an unknown relative to the others. The Yellow Jackets haven’t beaten a ranked team and won’t play one (Georgia) for another month before a would-be ACC title game. The unbeaten record matters, but it will be interesting to see how the selection committee slots them when those rankings are released a week from Tuesday.
Malachi Hosley takes off during Georgia Tech’s win over Syracuse, which pushed the Yellow Jackets to 8-0. AP Photo/Mike Stewart
Schlabach: My top five teams remained unchanged, although I seriously considered elevating Indiana to No. 1. The Hoosiers steamrolled UCLA 56-6 at home Saturday, piling up 475 yards of offense and forcing three turnovers. The Bruins had been red hot but couldn’t get anything going against IU.
Texas A&M was equally impressive in its 49-25 rout of LSU on the road. Tiger Stadium is one of the most difficult road venues in the country, especially at night, but the Aggies didn’t have any problems. They outscored the Tigers 35-7 after halftime and won in Baton Rouge for the first time since 1994.
There would be two SEC vs. SEC matchups in my quarterfinals, along with one Big Ten vs. Big Ten game. Hopefully, the CFP selection committee would set the seedings to avoid that, but it’s going to be difficult to do if there are four or five SEC teams and three from the Big Ten in the field.
CFP semifinals, national championship game
Thursday, Jan. 8
CFP semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Arizona)
7:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 1 Ohio State
Schlabach: No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 1 Ohio State
Friday, Jan. 9
CFP semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)
7:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 3 Texas A&M vs. No. 2 Indiana
Schlabach: No. 3 Texas A&M vs. No. 2 Indiana
Monday, Jan. 19
CFP national championship
Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Gardens, Florida)
7:45 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 2 Indiana vs. No. 1 Ohio State
Schlabach: No. 2 Indiana vs. No. 1 Ohio State
National championship breakdown
Bonagura: Here we are on Oct. 26, and Indiana has a strong case to be the No. 1 team in college football. Just as it looked like UCLA had tapped into something special, the Hoosiers calmly beat the Bruins by 50. These types of projections are always fun to go back and laugh at come playoff time, but two postseason games between Ohio State and Indiana — Big Ten title game and national championship — seem more likely every week.
Let’s also take a minute to acknowledge that it was the correct decision to go away from giving byes to the top four conference champions. It completely threw off the seeding and a natural seeding process for all teams, as is the case now, makes much more sense.
Schlabach: I feel good about the Buckeyes and Hoosiers reaching the semifinals with the way they’re currently playing. But it’s anyone’s guess as to who the other two teams might be.
Texas A&M has road games left at Missouri and Texas, and the Aggies haven’t been in this position in quite some time. Marcel Reed should be a Heisman Trophy candidate and Mike Elko has done a fantastic job bringing some bite to the defense.
I went with Georgia as my fourth team, although the Bulldogs would have to get past Alabama to reach the semifinals — and that has rarely happened lately. The Bulldogs have some obvious shortcomings on defense, but with their offensive line getting healthy, Kirby Smart’s team is going to have a chance to outscore its opponents. Gunner Stockton is playing very well, and he has plenty of weapons around him.
Complete bowl season schedule
Saturday, Dec. 13
Cricket Celebration Bowl
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)
Noon, ABC
Bonagura: Alabama State vs. North Carolina Central
Schlabach: Jackson State vs. Delaware State
LA Bowl
SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, California)
9 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Washington State vs. Boise State
Schlabach: Washington vs. Boise State
Tuesday, Dec. 16
IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl
Cramton Bowl (Montgomery, Alabama)
9 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: UConn vs. Toledo
Schlabach: Jacksonville State vs. Coastal Carolina
Wednesday, Dec. 17
StaffDNA Cure Bowl
Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida)
5 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Kennesaw State vs. Temple
Schlabach: Buffalo vs. Marshall
68 Ventures Bowl
Hancock Whitney Stadium (Mobile, Alabama)
8:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Marshall vs. Western Michigan
Schlabach: Liberty vs. Western Michigan
Friday, Dec. 19
Myrtle Beach Bowl
Brooks Stadium (Conway, South Carolina)
Noon, ESPN
Bonagura: Bowling Green vs. Old Dominion
Schlabach: East Carolina vs. James Madison
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl
Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Florida)
3:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: North Texas vs. Florida State
Schlabach: Kansas State vs. Wake Forest
Monday, Dec. 22
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Albertsons Stadium (Boise, Idaho)
2 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Ohio vs. San Diego State
Schlabach: Ohio vs. Utah State
Tuesday, Dec. 23
Editor’s Picks
2 Related
Boca Raton Bowl
Flagler Credit Union Stadium (Boca Raton, Florida)
2 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Southern Miss vs. Jacksonville State
Schlabach: Temple vs. Toledo
New Orleans Bowl
Caesars Superdome (New Orleans)
5:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Western Kentucky vs. Troy
Schlabach: Western Kentucky vs. Southern Miss
Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl
Ford Center at The Star (Frisco, Texas)
9 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Fresno State vs. Baylor
Schlabach: North Texas vs. Kennesaw State
Wednesday, Dec. 24
Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl
Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex (Honolulu)
8 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: New Mexico vs. California
Schlabach: Hawai’i vs. Tulane
Friday, Dec. 26
GameAbove Sports Bowl
Ford Field (Detroit)
1 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Maryland vs. Miami (Ohio)
Schlabach: Maryland vs. Central Michigan
Rate Bowl
Chase Field (Phoenix)
4:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: UCF vs. Northwestern
Schlabach: Iowa State vs. Minnesota
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl
Gerald J. Ford Stadium (Dallas)
8 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Texas State vs. Central Michigan
Schlabach: San Diego State vs. Miami (Ohio)
Saturday, Dec. 27
Go Bowling Military Bowl
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (Annapolis, Maryland)
11 a.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Clemson vs. Tulane
Schlabach: Clemson vs. South Florida
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl
Yankee Stadium (Bronx, New York)
Noon, ABC
Bonagura: SMU vs. Minnesota
Schlabach: Pittsburgh vs. Northwestern
Wasabi Fenway Bowl
Fenway Park (Boston)
2:15 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Wake Forest vs. South Florida
Schlabach: NC State vs. Memphis
Pop-Tarts Bowl
Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida)
3:30 p.m., ABC
Bonagura: Virginia vs. Houston
Schlabach: Louisville vs. Cincinnati
Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl
Arizona Stadium (Tucson, Arizona)
4:30 p.m., CW Network
Bonagura: Buffalo vs. Hawai’i
Schlabach: Washington State vs. Fresno State
Isleta New Mexico Bowl
University Stadium (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
5:45 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: UNLV vs. Arizona
Schlabach: New Mexico vs. Arizona
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
EverBank Stadium (Jacksonville, Florida)
7:30 p.m. ABC
Bonagura: Notre Dame vs. LSU
Schlabach: Virginia vs. LSU
Kinder’s Texas Bowl
NRG Stadium (Houston)
9:15 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: TCU vs. Oklahoma
Schlabach: Houston vs. Oklahoma
Monday, Dec. 29
JLab Birmingham Bowl
Protective Stadium (Birmingham, Alabama)
2 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Memphis vs. James Madison
Schlabach: Troy vs. UConn
Tuesday, Dec. 30
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl
Independence Stadium (Shreveport, Louisiana)
2 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Kansas vs. Louisiana Tech
Schlabach: Kansas vs. Louisiana Tech
Music City Bowl
Nissan Stadium (Nashville, Tennessee)
5:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Nebraska vs. Texas
Schlabach: Illinois vs. Auburn
Valero Alamo Bowl
Alamodome (San Antonio)
9 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Houston vs. Washington
Schlabach: Texas Tech vs. USC
Wednesday, Dec. 31
ReliaQuest Bowl
Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Florida)
Noon, ESPN
Bonagura: Illinois vs. Missouri
Schlabach: Iowa vs. Tennessee
Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl
Sun Bowl Stadium (El Paso, Texas)
2 p.m., CBS
Bonagura: Duke vs. Arizona State
Schlabach: SMU vs. Arizona State
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl
Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida)
3 p.m., ABC
Bonagura: Michigan vs. Vanderbilt
Schlabach: Michigan vs. Texas
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl
Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas)
3:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Iowa vs. Utah
Schlabach: Nebraska vs. California
Friday, Jan. 2
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Amon G. Carter Stadium (Fort Worth, Texas)
1 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Kansas State vs. East Carolina
Schlabach: Baylor vs. Army
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium (Memphis, Tennessee)
4:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Iowa State vs. Auburn
Schlabach: TCU vs. UNLV
Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, North Carolina)
8 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Pitt vs. Tennessee
Schlabach: Duke vs. Missouri
Holiday Bowl
Snapdragon Stadium (San Diego)
8 p.m., Fox
Bonagura: Louisville vs. USC
Schlabach: Notre Dame vs. Utah
