College football rankings 2023: New Year's Six projections from Week 12 CFP rankings

2023-11-18 01:51

With two weeks left in the regular season, let's take a look at the New Year's Six bowl projections heading into cupcake week. Only a handful of teams have a shot at going to one of these meaningful bowl games. Who could that even be?

There are only two weeks left in the college football regular season. Yes, we still have conference championship weekend, as well as Army-Navy the week after that. But for many programs out there, it is cupcake week, rivalry week, maybe a bowl game later and that is it. However, we don't really care about those middling teams right now. This is all about the cream of the crop across college football.

Entering Week 12, there are only nine teams with any real shot of making the College Football Playoff. Those teams are Michigan and Ohio State in the Big Ten, Florida State and Louisville in the ACC, Alabama and Georgia in the SEC, Texas in the Big 12, and Oregon and Washington in the Pac-12. Of course, there are other great teams out there like Missouri, Ole Miss, Penn State, Tulane and others.

With Saturday imminently approaching, let's do ourselves a favor and take a deep dive into the latest College Football Playoff and New Year's Six Bowl game projections. At this time, there may only be upwards of 15 or 16 teams with any real shot of getting to the New Year's Six. By looking at what some of the best bowl game projectors think of the field, that number might only be around 13 or so.

So without further ado, here are the latest playoff rankings and New Year's Six bowl game projections.

College football rankings: New Year's Six Bowl projections for Week 12

Here is a look at the latest College Football Playoff and New Year's Six projections from CBS Sports, FOX Sports, The Action Network, ESPN and from yours truly at FanSided. Buckle up. Enjoy the ride!

Jerry Palm, CBS Sports

Sugar Bowl (CFP): No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 4 Texas
Rose Bowl (CFP): No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 Florida State
Cotton Bowl: Oregon vs. Alabama
Fiesta Bowl: Washington vs. Tulane
Orange Bowl: Louisville vs. Ohio State
Peach Bowl: Ole Miss vs. Penn State

Bryan Fischer, FOX Sports

Sugar Bowl (CFP): Georgia vs. Oregon
Rose Bowl (CFP): Michigan vs. Florida State
Cotton Bowl: Texas vs. Missouri
Fiesta Bowl: Washington vs. Alabama
Orange Bowl: Louisville vs. Ohio State
Peach Bowl: Tulane vs. Penn State

Brett McMurphy, The Action Network

Sugar Bowl (CFP): No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 4 Oregon
Rose Bowl (CFP): No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 Florida State
National Championship (CFP): No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 2 Michigan
Cotton Bowl: Texas vs. Missouri
Fiesta Bowl: Washington vs. Alabama
Orange Bowl: Ohio State vs. Louisville
Peach Bowl: Penn State vs. Tulane

Kyle Bonagura, ESPN

Sugar Bowl (CFP): Georgia vs. Florida State
Rose Bowl (CFP): Michigan vs. Washington
National Championship (CFP): Georgia vs. Michigan
Cotton Bowl: Ohio State vs. Texas
Fiesta Bowl: Oregon vs. Penn State
Orange Bowl: Louisville vs. Alabama
Peach Bowl: Missouri vs. Tulane

Mark Schlabach, ESPN

Sugar Bowl (CFP): Georgia vs. Florida State
Rose Bowl (CFP): Michigan vs. Oregon
National Championship (CFP): Georgia vs. Michigan
Cotton Bowl: Missouri vs. Texas
Fiesta Bowl: Washington vs. Tulane
Orange Bowl: Louisville vs. Ohio State
Peach Bowl: Alabama vs. Penn State

John Buhler, FanSided

Sugar Bowl (CFP): No.1 Georgia vs. No. 4 Texas
Rose Bowl (CFP): No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 Florida State
National Championship (CFP): No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 2 Michigan
Cotton Bowl: Oregon vs. Alabama
Fiesta Bowl: Washington vs. Tulane
Orange Bowl: Louisville vs. Ohio State
Peach Bowl: Missouri vs. Penn State

In total, the 13 teams listed above are the only ones projected to make New Year's Six games. Jerry Palm of CBS Sports is the only one who likes Ole Miss over Missouri to get a third NY6 spot out of the SEC along with Alabama and Georgia. Everybody had Tulane winning the Group of Five out of The American for the second season. There are also a few other consensuses that need to be discussed.

Georgia, Michigan and Florida State were unanimous inclusions into the playoff. Everybody had Georgia slotted to play in the Sugar Bowl and the same goes for Michigan in the Rose Bowl. Of everyone who picked a possible national championship game matchup, they all had Georgia playing Michigan. Oregon, Texas and Washington all got at least one inclusion into the four-team field as well.

Everyone has presumed ACC runner-up Louisville going to the Orange Bowl, which would be required based on bowl game affiliations. This was obvious with ACC champion Florida State going to the playoff this year instead of the Orange Bowl. While Penn State's inclusion to the New Year's Six feels very uninspired, it is interesting to see Alabama and Ohio State be unanimous inclusions there, too.

While most people don't trust Louisville to come out of the ACC by beating Miami, Kentucky and Florida State in succession, it is interesting that nobody has the stones to say Ohio State will beat Michigan in The Game to go to Indianapolis as the Big Ten East winner, as well as Alabama beating Georgia in the SEC Championship. These two scenarios are not only realistic, but very possible ones.

Other teams to keep an eye on for NY6 bowls include Iowa, Liberty, LSU, Oklahoma and Oregon State.