To some, the Pop-Tarts Bowl has become one of the postseason’s marquee non-CFP bowl trips. Will Tullos / The Athletic; Julio Aguilar / Getty Images
As we pass the college football regular season’s midpoint, around 35 teams still harbor College Football Playoff hopes. For more than 90 other programs, hopes of playing in a bowl game are the next-best thing.
Below, we project the CFP lineup plus the traditional bowl matchups. For the bracket, we used Scott Dochterman’s projections that were published on Sunday morning but replaced USC with Notre Dame as the No. 11 seed. This is the final year the Big Ten and SEC champions will be automatically slotted to the Rose and Sugar bowls, respectively.
A couple of things to remember:
The former Pac-12 schools are still subject to the league’s bowl agreements. That means teams in the current Big 12 could play each other in the Alamo Bowl, Big Ten comrades could meet in Vegas and ACC teams could face off in San Diego.
This is the final contract year with the conferences’ bowl alignments, but it could extend by a year depending on what happens with the CFP.
One significant change to this year’s CFP format: The top four ranked teams earn first-round byes without regard to championship status. Those teams will slot into the Cotton (Dec. 31), Orange (Jan. 1), Rose (Jan. 1) and Sugar (Dec. 31) bowls on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. Teams seeded 5-8 will host seeds 9-12 on Dec. 19-20.
Finally, ESPN Events has yet to announce where the bowl formerly staged in the Bahamas will be played later this year, but it should be known soon.
BowlMatchup
Playoff
Dec. 19, 2025
7 Ole Miss
10 LSU
Playoff
Dec. 20, 2025
5 Alabama
12 Memphis
Playoff
Dec. 20, 2025
6 Texas Tech
11 Notre Dame
Playoff
Dec. 20, 2025
8 Oregon
9 Georgia
Cotton
Dec. 31, 2025
3 Indiana
TxTech/ND winner
Orange
Jan. 1, 2026
2 Miami (Fla.)
Ole Miss/LSU winner
Rose
Jan. 1, 2026
1 Ohio State
Oregon/UGA winner
Sugar
Jan. 1, 2026
4 Texas A&M
Bama/Memphis winner
Fiesta
Jan. 8, 2026
QF winner
QF winner
Peach
Jan. 9, 2026
QF winner
QF winner
Championship
Jan. 19, 2026
SF winner
SF winner
BowlMatchup
LA
Dec. 13, 2025
Pac-12 6 Washington State
MWC 1 Boise State
Salute to Veterans
Dec. 16, 2025
Sun Belt Troy
MAC Ohio
Cure
Dec. 17, 2025
Sun Belt Old Dominion
MAC Toledo
68 Ventures
Dec. 17, 2025
Sun Belt Appalachian State
MAC Ball State
Myrtle Beach
Dec. 19, 2025
Sun Belt James Madison
Open UConn
Gasparilla
Dec. 19, 2025
SEC/ACC/AAC NC State
American/SEC/ACC USF
Famous Idaho Potato
Dec. 22, 2025
MWC San Diego State
MAC Miami (OH)
Boca Raton
Dec. 23, 2025
Open Wake Forest
Open Maryland
New Orleans
Dec. 23, 2025
Sun Belt Southern Miss
CUSA Louisiana Tech
Frisco
Dec. 23, 2025
G5 Fresno State
G5/Open Texas State
Hawai’i
Dec. 24, 2025
MWC Hawaii
American Tulane
GameAbove Sports
Dec. 26, 2025
Big Ten 8 Minnesota
MAC Western Michigan
Rate
Dec. 26, 2025
Big Ten 7 Northwestern
Big 12 6 Baylor
First Responder
Dec. 26, 2025
Open Cal
Open North Texas
Military
Dec. 27, 2025
American Navy
ACC 8 Louisville
Pinstripe
Dec. 27, 2025
Big Ten 6 Penn State
ACC 5-7 Pittsburgh
Fenway
Dec. 27, 2025
ACC 9 Syracuse
American East Carolina
Arizona
Dec. 27, 2025
MWC UNLV
MAC 2 Bowling Green
Pop-Tarts
Dec. 27, 2025
Big 12 3 BYU
ACC 2-4 Duke
New Mexico
Dec. 27, 2025
MWC New Mexico
Open Arizona
Gator
Dec. 27, 2025
ACC 2-4 Virginia
SEC 3-8 Tennessee
Texas
Dec. 27, 2025
Big 12 4 Iowa State
SEC 3-8 Oklahoma
Birmingham
Dec. 29, 2025
ACC/SEC/American SMU
SEC/American/ACC Florida
Independence
Dec. 30, 2025
Big 12 7 Houston
CUSA Western Kentucky
Music City
Dec. 30, 2025
Big Ten 5 Illinois
SEC 3-8 Vanderbilt
Alamo
Dec. 30, 2025
Big 12 2 TCU
Pac-12 2 USC
ReliaQuest
Dec. 31, 2025
Big Ten 3 Iowa
SEC 3-8 Texas
Sun
Dec. 31, 2025
ACC 5-7 Florida State
Pac-12 5 Arizona State
Citrus
Dec. 31, 2025
Big Ten 2 Nebraska
SEC 2 Missouri
Las Vegas
Dec. 31, 2025
Pac-12 3 Utah
Big Ten 4 Michigan
Armed Forces
Jan. 2, 2026
Open Kansas
American Army
Liberty
Jan. 2, 2026
Big 12 5 Cincinnati
SEC 3-8 Mississippi State
Duke’s Mayo
Jan. 2, 2026
SEC 3-8 Auburn
ACC 5-7 Duke
Holiday
Jan. 2, 2026
ACC 2-4 Clemson
Pac-12 4 Washington
Bahamas/TBD
undefined NaN, NaN
MAC Marshall
CUSA Kennesaw State
Oct 17, 2025
Connections: Sports Edition
Spot the pattern. Connect the terms
Find the hidden link between sports terms
Play today’s puzzle