2018 College Football Bowl Projections, Week 11: The ACC Is an Absolute Mess

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USA TODAY Sports. Pictured: Ian Book, Elijah Holyfield, Gardner Minshew

  • We're projecting all 39 college football bowl games with just a month left in the regular season.
  • We also have points spreads for those games using The Action Network power ratings.

We're less than a month from college football bowl games being announced, which marks the end of the regular season. A sad day, indeed.

Bowl projections are starting to take real shape with just three games left for most teams. There's a lot to be decided in the College Football Playoff race, but the true contenders are taking care of business.

We're projecting every bowl game, and also projecting the point spread using The Action Network power ratings.



2018 College Football Bowl Projections 

So much of the early-season projections are based on what we think we know about these teams, but now we know a little more and have real results the bowl picture is getting clearer.

College Football Playoff Projections

Our top four remains the same after all of these teams won on Saturday. Notre Dame cut it the closest, but as we've said all along, the Irish just need to keep winning.

College Football New Year's Six Bowls

The Peach Bowl gets a shakeup with Florida and Utah both losing. In their place are West Virginia and Washington, which still has a great shot to win the Pac-12.

Every Other 2018 Bowl Game Projection

The Big Ten will have a lot of movement in the next few weeks, as the West is still a bit of a mess. Same for the ACC Coastal, which Pitt is leading at the moment. Pitt! There are five teams in the Coastal with 5-6 wins, and a bunch of them play each other in the final few weeks.

Remember, most bowls don't have an obligation to take teams with better records. So if there's a whole glut of teams in a given conference with about the same body of work, the bowl brass with a higher pick will go with a fanbase that will fill seats.

College Football Bowl Tie-Ins for 2018-19

College Football Playoff

  • Cotton Bowl semifinal (Arlington, Texas)
  • Orange Bowl semifinal (Miami)

New Year's Six

  • Sugar (New Orleans): Big 12 vs. SEC
  • Rose (Pasadena, Calif.): Big Ten vs. Pac-12
  • Peach (Atlanta): At-large vs. at-large
  • Fiesta (Glendale, Ariz.): At-large vs. at-large

The highest-ranked Group of 5 team will go to either the Peach or Fiesta Bowl, depending on geography.

Every Other Bowl

Notre Dame has ACC bowl ties, so if it doesn't reach a New Year's Six Bowl (it looks very likely that it will), it will take an ACC spot.

BYU was supposed to be tied to the Poinsettia Bowl, but that no longer exists. The Cougars do have a deal with ESPN that guarantees they'll play in a bowl if eligible.

Liberty has a deal with the Cure Bowl, as well, but it might be tough for the Flames to get to six FBS wins.

  • Citrus Bowl (Orlando): SEC vs. ACC/Big Ten
  • Outback Bowl (Tampa): Big Ten vs. SEC
  • Gator Bowl (Jacksonville): SEC vs. ACC/Big Ten
  • Holiday Bowl (San Diego): Big Ten vs. Pac-12
  • Liberty Bowl (Memphis): Big 12 vs. SEC
  • Military Bowl (Annapolis): ACC vs. American
  • Alamo Bowl (San Antonio): Big 12 vs. Pac-12
  • Arizona Bowl (Tucson): Mountain West vs. Sun Belt
  • Camping World Bowl (Orlando): Big 12 vs. ACC
  • Sun Bowl (El Paso): ACC vs. Pac-12
  • Belk Bowl (Charlotte): SEC vs. ACC
  • Music City Bowl (Nashville): SEC vs. ACC/Big Ten
  • Texas Bowl (Houston): Big 12 vs. SEC
  • Pinstripe Bowl (New York City): Big Ten vs. ACC
  • Independence Bowl (Shreveport, La.): SEC vs. ACC
  • Cactus Bowl (Tempe): Big 12 vs. Pac-12
  • Quick Lane Bowl (Detroit): Big Ten vs. ACC
  • Heart of Dallas Bowl: Big Ten vs. Conference USA
  • San Francisco Bowl: Big Ten vs. Pac-12
  • Hawaii Bowl: Mountain West vs. Conference USA
  • Dollar General Bowl (Mobile): MAC vs. Sun Belt
  • Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth): Big 12 vs. American
  • Birmingham Bowl: SEC vs. American
  • Potato Bowl (Boise): Mountain West vs. MAC
  • Bahamas Bowl: Conference USA vs. MAC
  • Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa): American vs. Conference USA
  • Frisco Bowl (Texas): American vs. at-large
  • Boca Raton Bowl: American vs. Conference USA
  • New Orleans Bowl: Sun Belt vs. Conference USA
  • Cure Bowl (Orlando): American vs. Sun Belt
  • Camellia Bowl (Montgomery, Ala.): Sun Belt vs. MAC
  • Las Vegas Bowl: Pac-12 vs. Mountain West
  • New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque): Mountain West vs. Conference USA


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