Bowl Predictions 2019: Projections for College Football Playoff Contenders

Vasha Hunt/Associated Press

It was expected to be another stress-free weekend for Alabama fans. The Crimson Tide hosted Tennessee, and the No. 1 team in the country was poised to win handily, which was exactly what it did.

However, it did so mostly without star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Tagovailoa suffered a high ankle sprain in Alabama's 35-13 win on Saturday, and that could affect the Tide moving forward. It's expected that Tagovailoa won't play next weekend when Alabama hosts Arkansas in its final game before its bye week.

But that could give Tagovailoa enough time to rest to be back when Alabama faces No. 2 LSU on Nov. 9, a matchup the Crimson Tide will definitely want the junior quarterback back for.

For now, Alabama remains No. 1 and projected to be the top seed in this season's College Football Playoff. Through eight weeks of the college football campaign, here's a look at which other teams are projected to make the CFP and the rest of the New Year's Six bowls.

Bowl Projections

College Football Playoff

Peach Bowl (Dec. 28): Alabama vs. Ohio State

Fiesta Bowl (Dec. 28): Clemson vs. Oklahoma

New Year's Six

Cotton Bowl (Dec. 28): Notre Dame vs. SMU

Orange Bowl (Dec. 30): Wisconsin vs. Virginia

Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1): LSU vs. Texas

Rose Bowl (Jan. 1): Oregon vs. Penn State

College Football Playoff Picture

No. 6 Wisconsin may have suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday, when it was upset on the road by Illinois, but the Badgers' loss doesn't affect the College Football Playoff landscape much. Wisconsin was likely going to need to beat Ohio State and win the Big Ten championship game to make the CFP, and it can still do that.

The same can be said about No. 7 Penn State, which improved to 7-0 with a win over No. 16 Michigan on Saturday. The Nittany Lions aren't currently in the projected CFP field, but that could easily change with a victory over Ohio State and a Big Ten title.

One of those three Big Ten teams—Ohio State, Penn State or Wisconsin—should certainly be in the College Football Playoff this season.

The other conference with an uncertain CFP landscape is the SEC. The Alabama-LSU game could go a long way toward determining which team, or teams, from the conference make this season's playoff.

Plus, Florida, Georgia and Auburn are likely all still in control of its own destiny. If any of these teams won out and captured the SEC championship, it could easily work its way into the College Football Playoff.

For now, Alabama is the only SEC team projected to make the playoff. And it should stay that way until some of these big SEC matchups are played later in the year.

Clemson and Oklahoma need to keep winning. As long as the Tigers and Sooners don't have any upset losses or too many unconvincing wins against lesser opponents, they should both play their way into the College Football Playoff.

That's especially the case for Clemson, as its remaining schedule isn't too impressive. The Tigers improved to 7-0 with a 45-10 win at Louisville on Saturday, and their final five games are all against teams that are currently unranked.

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The Sooners still have a difficult road matchup coming up, as they face No. 18 Baylor, which is undefeated, on the road on Nov. 16. That should be the only potential loss on Oklahoma's schedule, so as long as it wins out, including in the Big 12 championship game, it's in great shape.

As for Week 9, the biggest potential change in the College Football Playoff projections could come from Ohio State. The Buckeyes will host Wisconsin, which will be looking to bounce back from its surprising loss and shake up the Big Ten and CFP landscape with an upset victory.

Alabama (vs. Arkansas), Clemson (vs. Boston College) and Oklahoma (at Kansas State) should all win handily next weekend.

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