Full 2016 bowl projections, with LSU the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff

Full 2016 bowl projections, with LSU the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff – SB Nation

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Hello. They’re gonna do a College Football Playoff again this year, along with a bunch of other bowl games. Let’s guess who’ll be in each of those games!

Below are personal picks, filled out after picking a winner and loser for each game of the whole regular season, as is custom. Adjustments were made based on things the Playoff committee cares about (such as really basic strength-of-schedule metrics like number of bowl-eligible opponents) and things bowl committees care about (famous teams with many fans, ideally not too far away), so not everything is going to slot according to team quality, just like real life.

Last year, I … well, I had Alabama in the National Championship, at least.

I’ll try and explain each group quickly.

College Football Playoff
National Championship	LSU	Clemson	Jan. 9	Tampa	Fiesta winner vs. Peach winner
Fiesta	Clemson	Michigan	Dec. 31	Glendale, Ariz.	Playoff rankings top 4
Peach	LSU	TCU	Dec. 31	Atlanta	Playoff rankings top 4

LSU returns a whole t o n, could play 12 bowl teams in 13 games, upgraded at defensive coordinator, and gets Bama and Ole Miss at home. But the quarterback, they shout. Brandon Harris was middlin’ in the SEC as a true sophomore, has a horde of weapons, and doesn’t exactly need to throw for 5,000 yards here. To bet on a Zombie Les Miles team is to cannonball into a volcano, so I am wearing moisture-wicking garments.

Clemson’s my No. 2. Deshaun Watson’s offense is going to eat souls, and the defense can’t fall too far.

Michigan might be the safest Playoff pick in the country; I don’t think the Wolverines are the best team, but look at that schedule. 7-0 heading into East Lansing should be expected. 8-4 would be a disaster. The Wolverines should have a monstrous defense, and the only real Q is at quarterback, where there are decent options on paper.

Lastly, I think the Pac-12 will devour itself, Notre Dame’s schedule has a bump too many, and it’ll be a long time before a conference gets two teams in. So hey there, Big 12. The Frogs return a load, once you account for injuries, and the home schedule includes conference favorite Oklahoma and potential OOC prize Arkansas.

New Year’s Six bowls
Cotton	Tennessee	Houston	Jan. 1	Arlington, Texas	At-large
Rose	Ohio State	Washington	Jan. 1	Pasadena, Calif.	Big Ten 1 vs. Pac-12 1
Sugar	Oklahoma	Alabama	Jan. 1	New Orleans	Big 12 1 vs. SEC 1
Orange	Florida State	Notre Dame	Dec. 30	Miami	ACC vs. Big Ten/SEC/ND

In this year’s rotation, the whole NY6 slate is basically set by the Playoff rankings within each conference. There’s only one at-large game, and that one has to include the Group of 5 auto bid.

So, yeah. This part’s pretty easy for now.

I spent a lot of time debating Houston vs. Boise State or Western Michigan and Washington vs. its entire division.

*Bowl ( = filling another conference’s bid)**					Conference selection order, not based on standings
Foster Farms	Wisconsin	Stanford	TBA	Santa Clara, Calif.	Big Ten 5-7 vs. Pac-12 4
Outback	Nebraska	Florida	Jan. 2	Tampa	Big Ten 2-4 vs. SEC 3-8
Citrus	Penn State	Ole Miss	Dec. 31	Orlando	Big Ten 2-4/ACC vs. SEC 2
TaxSlayer	Miami	Georgia	Dec. 31	Jacksonville, Fla.	ACC 3-6/Big Ten 5-7 vs. SEC 3-8
Music City	Iowa	South Carolina	Dec. 30	Nashville	ACC 3-6/Big Ten 5-7 vs. SEC 3-8
Liberty	Texas Tech	Missouri	Dec. 30	Memphis	Big 12 5 vs. SEC 3-8
Sun	North Carolina	Oregon	Dec. 30	El Paso	ACC 3-6 vs. Pac-12 5
Arizona	Air Force	Georgia State	Dec. 30	Tucson	MWC vs. Sun Belt
Alamo	Texas	USC	Dec. 29	San Antonio	Big 12 2 vs. Pac-12 2
Belk	Virginia Tech	Auburn	Dec. 29	Charlotte	ACC 3-6 vs. SEC 3-8
Birmingham	Cincinnati	Texas A&M	Dec. 29	Birmingham, Ala.	American vs. SEC 9
Pinstripe	Pitt	Minnesota	Dec. 28	New York City	ACC 3-6 vs. Big Ten 5-7
Russell Athletic	Louisville	West Virginia	Dec. 28	Orlando	ACC 2 vs. Big 12 3
Texas	Oklahoma State	Arkansas	Dec. 28	Houston	Big 12 4 vs. SEC 3-8
Cactus	Baylor	Arizona	Dec. 27	Tempe, Ariz.	Big 12 6 vs. Pac-12 7
Heart of Dallas	Maryland	WKU	Dec. 27	Dallas	Big Ten vs. C-USA
Holiday	Michigan State	UCLA	Dec. 27	San Diego	Big Ten 2-4 vs. Pac-12 3
Military	NC State	Temple	Dec. 27	Annapolis, Md.	ACC vs. American
Independence	Northwestern*	Mississippi State	Dec. 26	Shreveport, La.	ACC vs. SEC
St. Petersburg	Georgia Tech	USF	Dec. 26	St. Petersburg, Fla.	ACC vs. American
Quick Lane	Syracuse	Indiana	Dec. 26	Detroit	ACC vs. Big Ten
Hawaii	FIU	Utah State	Dec. 24	Honolulu	C-USA vs. MWC
GoDaddy	WMU	Appalachian State	Dec. 23	Mobile, Ala.	MAC 1 vs. Sun Belt 2
Armed Forces	Washington State*	Navy	Dec. 23	Fort Worth, Texas	Big 12 vs. Navy
Bahamas	Tulsa	Ohio	Dec. 23	Nassau, BS	American vs. MAC
Potato	Toledo	Colorado State	Dec. 22	Boise, Idaho	MAC 2 vs. MWC
Poinsettia	BYU	San Diego State	Dec. 21	San Diego	BYU vs. MWC
Boca Raton	Memphis	Southern Miss	Dec. 20	Boca Raton, Fla.	American vs. C-USA
Miami Beach	UConn	CMU	Dec. 19	Miami	American vs. MAC
Las Vegas	Boise State	Utah	Dec. 17	Las Vegas	MWC 1 vs. Pac-12 6
Camelia	NIU	Georgia Southern	Dec. 17	Montgomery, Ala.	MAC 3 vs. Sun Belt 3
Celebration	N.C. Central	Grambling State	Dec. 17	Atlanta	MEAC vs. SWAC
Cure	Cal*	Troy	Dec. 17	Orlando	American vs. Sun Belt
New Mexico	Marshall	New Mexico	Dec. 17	Albuquerque	C-USA vs. MWC
New Orleans	Arkansas State	LA Tech	Dec. 17	New Orleans	Sun Belt 1 vs. C-USA