2018 College Football Bowl Projections, Week 8: Setting Up for a Wild November

Bowl projections? Let's do some bowl projections.

Week 8 of the 2018 college football season was relatively quiet, with the exception of Purdue blowing the doors off No. 2 Ohio State.

Here's what we've got for the College Football Playoff, remaining New Year's Six Bowls and everything else.

2018 College Football Bowl Projections, Week 8

College Football Playoff Projection

Bye, bye Buckeyes. Ohio State is still very much alive, but the defense needs serious work.

Despite each team having one loss, Michigan gets the nod over Ohio State for now. They'll decide it on the field in a month.

New Year's Six Bowl Projections

The Group of 5 spot might get really interesting down the stretch. UCF is the front-runner because of last year and its unbeaten record thus far in 2018, but there are a lot of contenders that will make a case.

Fresno State, Appalachian State and Utah State all have one loss to Power 5 teams and have dominated in-conference. Utah State and Fresno State could play in the Mountain West title game.

All Other Bowl Projections

At the request of our own Collin Wilson, I've put Liberty in the Cure Bowl, since the Flames have a deal with that game and might actually get to six wins.

Because of the high-end Group of 5 teams in the AAC and Mountain West in particular, I think we'll see some fun early bowl games.

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 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.

• 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