College Football Bowl Projections: Brett McMurphy’s Week 3 Bowl Picks, College Football Playoff Predictions

College Football Bowl Projections: Brett McMurphy’s Week 3 Bowl Picks, College Football Playoff Predictions article feature image
Credit:

Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images. Pictured: Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes.

With the SEC’s stranglehold at the top of this week’s Associated Press rankings, here’s a quick refresher on the new expanded College Football Playoff.

As much as it would like, the SEC cannot get 12 teams into the 12-team playoff. The maximum number of teams one conference can get in the playoff is eight teams — its league champion and seven at-large teams.

Of course, the SEC will never get eight teams into the playoff. Will it?

At least not in my bowl projections this week. I only have five SEC teams in my projected College Football Playoff.

Joining the five SEC teams in my playoff projections is a new Group of Five representative: Northern Illinois, courtesy of the Huskies’ upset at Notre Dame.

Included in my bowl projections is the projected point spread of each matchup from Action Network senior writer Collin Wilson’s betting power ratings.

Also, click on the link to download the free Action Network app. It's the perfect place to check scores, track bets, and read analysis and news.

*Conference champions projected to receive automatic bids

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Projected College Football Playoff Field

1
Georgia Bulldogs Logo

Georgia*

SEC
2
Ohio State Buckeyes Logo

Ohio State*

Big Ten
3
Miami Hurricanes Logo

Miami*

ACC
4
Utah Utes Logo

Utah*

Big 12
5
Texas Longhorns Logo

Texas

SEC
6
Alabama Crimson Tide Logo

Alabama

SEC
7
Ole Miss Rebels Logo

Ole Miss

SEC
8
Oregon Ducks Logo

Oregon

Big Ten
9
Penn State Nittany Lions Logo

Penn State

Big Ten
10
USC Trojans Logo

USC

Big Ten
11
Tennessee Volunteers Logo

Tennessee

SEC
12
Northern Illinois Huskies Logo

Northern Illinois*

MAC

College Football Playoff First Round


College Football Playoff Quarterfinals


College Football Playoff Semifinals

CFP National Championship Prediction

National Championship
Jan. 20 •
Atlanta, GA
Georgia
-8
Alabama

Projections for All Other Bowl Games


*Conference champions projected to receive automatic bids in CFP.


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About the Author
Brett is "America's College Football Insider" for The Action Network. Brett was nominated twice for a Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting, but wasn’t a nominee finalist. A long-time voter in the AP Top 25 poll and for the Heisman Trophy, Brett was named the 2019 Beat Writer of the Year by the Football Writers Association of America. Before joining The Action Network, Brett’s previous stops included ESPN, CBS Sports, the New York Times, Stadium, AOL Fanhouse and the Tampa Tribune.

Follow Brett McMurphy @Brett_McMurphy on Twitter/X.

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