2026 Bowl Projections After Week Six

Welcome back to our weekly projections of who is in the college football playoff and all of the bowl games. A huge thank you to everyone who’s followed along so far this year. Last weekend was a big one featuring some huge games. The biggest took place in Tuscaloosa, where Georgia beat Alabama. In fact, for the first time this year we have someone new at the top of our picks. In addition, we’ve got more shuffling around not only in our playoff teams but up and down the list. This upcoming week is one of the biggest in recent college football memory with several top matchups. That will most likely change our picks once again. But that’s a next-week thing, so let’s get to why you’re here: our 2026 bowl projections after week six. As always, if you’d like to see how things change from last week, click here.

2026 Bowl Projections After Week Six

How The Process Works

Once again this year, we have a 12-team playoff with the top four still getting a first-round bye. However, the winners of the Power Four conferences don’t automatically get slots 1-4. In addition, the highest-ranked Group of Five team receives a bid. That leaves seven at-large teams. Once again, seeds 5-8 host first-round games on campus. The New Year’s Six bowls are introduced for the next round and the semifinals. Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas hosts the title game on January 25th. With the formalities out of the way, let’s get to our 2026 bowl projections after week six.

College Football Playoff First Round

Friday, December 18th- Oxford, Mississippi- (9) BYU at (8) Ole Miss– This is the only game that didn’t change from the week before. Behind another big game from Trinidad Chambliss, the Rebels blew out Vanderbilt 52-17. The Cougars got a win over Iowa State and host Notre Dame in one of the weekend’s biggest games.

Saturday, December 19th- Bloomington, Indiana- (11) Utah at (6) Indiana– This will make the Red Raider faithful unhappy, but we bumped Tech in favor of Utah this week. Curt Cignetti’s club trailed Nebraska 17-6 before running off 14 straight to get the win. They host Ohio State in a small contest on Saturday.

Saturday, December 19th- Austin, Texas- (10) UCLA at (7) Texas– One of the biggest stories in college football has been the Bruins. They rocket into our rankings after beating Oregon on the road. However, they lost starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava to injury. Arch Manning and the Longhorns fell apart in the fourth quarter, getting outscored 17-7 to lose the Red River Rivalry to Oklahoma. As a result, they drop from second to seventh.

Saturday, December 19th- Tuscaloosa, Alabama- (12) Boise St at (5) Alabama– The Broncos won a tough road game at Fresno State and remain our Group of Six squad. Despite the home loss to Georgia, we didn’t drop the Crimson Tide because we don’t think they’ll lose another regular season game.

Playoff Quarterfinals

Wednesday, December 30th- VRBO Fiesta Bowl- (6) Indiana vs. (3) Notre Dame- The Irish had no trouble with Stanford and as we mentioned earlier head to Provo for that huge matchup with BYU.

Friday, January 1st- Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl- (8) Ole Miss vs. (1) Miami– We’re picking a rematch of last year’s epic Fiesta Bowl one round earlier. Darian Mensah had the week off and hosts Florida State on Saturday.

Friday, January 1st- Rose Bowl Presented By Prudential- (5) Alabama vs. (4) Ohio State- How’s this for a Rose Bowl game? The Buckeyes took care of Maryland and head to Bloomington to battle the Hoosiers on Saturday.

Friday, January 1st- Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic- (7) Texas vs. (2) Georgia– The Bulldogs weathered not only the remnants of Hurricane Isaias but the Crimson Tide in a road win over Alabama. They move up to second.

That’s a lot to digest, but there’s still plenty more to come as we roll on with our 2026 bowl projections after week six.

College Football Playoff Semi-Finals And Finals

Thursday, January 14th- Capital One Orange Bowl- (4) Ohio State vs. (1) Miami– We are picking the Buckeyes to get past Alabama and face the Hurricanes.

Friday, January 15th- Allstate Sugar Bowl- (3) Notre Dame vs. (2) Georgia– The Irish get revenge on Indiana and set up a semifinal showdown with the Bulldogs

Monday, January 25th- College Football National Championship- (2) Georgia vs. (1) Miami–For the first time since the summer, we’ve got a different championship matchup.

That’s how we are seeing things this week. Let’s get to the rest of the bowl games with our 2026 bowl projections after week six.

Games Around The New Year

Cheez-It Citrus Bowl: January 2nd- Big Ten vs. SEC- Iowa vs. Missouri- Two big wins for the Tigers have them knocking on the door of the playoff. Speaking of the postseason, the Hawkeyes are also just out of the top 12 currently.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl- January 2nd- Big 12 vs. SEC- Baylor vs. Oklahoma

ServPro First Responder Bowl- January 2nd- AAC/ACC-Big 12- Minnesota vs. Arizona State

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. SEC- Pittsburgh vs. Tennessee

Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl: December 30th- Big Ten vs. SEC- LSU vs. Michigan- The loss to Kentucky knocked the Tigers out of the playoff.

Reliaquest Bowl: December 31st- SEC vs. Big Ten- Kentucky vs. Nebraska- Will Stein’s Wildcats became the first team ever in college football to win back-to-back overtime games by one point after beating LSU 35-34. These two have never met on the gridiron before.

Old El Paso Sun Bowl: December 31st- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Pac-12- Virginia Tech vs. Arizona*- The Wildcats go to Texas as a legacy Pac-12 squad.

Las Vegas Bowl: December 31st- SEC vs. Pac-12- Texas A&M vs. Washington*- The Huskies go as a legacy Pac-12 squad.

Kinder’s Texas Bowl- December 31st- SEC vs. Big 12- Mississippi State vs. Oklahoma State

That’s our first group of picks. As we move along with our 2026 bowl projections after week six, let’s move to the contests after the big holiday.

Post-Christmas Games

Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl: December 26th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big Ten- Clemson vs. Penn State

Wasabi Fenway Bowl: December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. American- Louisville vs. Tulane

Duke’s Mayo Bowl: December 26th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big Ten- Duke vs. Wisconsin

68 Ventures Bowl: December 26th- Conference USA/Mid-American/Sun Belt- Delaware vs. Louisiana Tech

Cactus Bowl – December 26th: Big Ten vs. Big 12 – Northwestern vs. Kansas State

Freedom Mortgage Military Bowl: December 28th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. American- Virginia vs. Texas San-Antonio

Trust & Will Holiday Bowl- December 28th: ACC vs. Pac-12- Wake Forest vs. Oregon*- The Demon Deacons outscored North Carolina State 28-0 in the second half on the way to a 24-point win. The Ducks lost to UCLA and are most likely out of the playoff now.

JLab Birmingham Bowl: December 29th- American/ACC/SEC- North Carolina State vs. Auburn

Pop-Tarts Bowl: December 29th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big 12- SMU vs. Houston

Valero Alamo Bowl: December 29th- Big 12 vs. Pac-12- Texas Tech vs. USC*– The Trojans go to San Antonio as a legacy Pac-12 squad.

We are moving right along with our 2026 bowl projections after week six. Time now for the opening contests of bowl season.

First Week Games

Cricket Celebration Bowl- December 12th- MEAC vs. SWAC- South Carolina State vs. Alabama State

IS4S Salute To Veterans Bowl: December 15th- Conference USA/MAC/Sun Belt- Appalachian State vs. Massachusetts

Frisco Football Classic- December 15th- Conference USA vs. Sun Belt- Louisiana vs. Kennesaw State

Boca Raton Bowl: December 18th- American/Conference USA/MAC/Mountain West/Sun Belt- Liberty vs. Marshall

Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl: December 19th- American/ACC/Notre Dame/SEC- Memphis vs. Florida- Two weeks ago we had the Gators in the playoff. However, after back-to-back losses, they are headed to Tampa.

As we wrap up our 2026 bowl projections after week six, let’s move to the games before the big holiday. One thing you’ll notice is that there are a lot more games before Christmas this year.

Bowls Right Before Christmas

Myrtle Beach Bowl: December 21st- Conference USA/MAC/Sun Belt- South Alabama vs. Central Michigan

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: December 21st- Mountain West vs. MAC- Air Force vs. Toledo

Puerto Rico Bowl- December 22nd- MAC vs. American/CUSA/MWC/SBC- Miami (Ohio) vs. East Carolina

StaffDNA Cure Bowl- December 22nd- AAC/CUSA/MAC/SBC- South Florida vs. UConn

Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl- December 22nd- Big 12 vs. Conference USA/Pac 12- Central Florida vs. Georgia State+- With no Conference USA team available, we are sending the Panthers to Shreveport.

New Orleans Bowl: December 23rd- Conference USA vs. Sun Belt– Jacksonville State vs. James Madison- Not only are the Dukes hot on the heels of being the Group of Six team, but they made news by announcing they are leaving the Sun Belt for the American Conference by July of 2028.

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl- December 23rd- Big 12 vs. AAC/MWC/SBC- Cincinnati vs. Army

Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl: December 23rd- AAC/CUSA/MAC/MWC/SBC- North Carolina vs. North Texas

SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl- Pac-12 vs. Mountain West- Oregon State vs. UNLV

Isleta New Mexico Bowl- December 24th- MWC vs. AAC/CUSA/MAC/SBC- Wyoming vs. Florida International

Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl: December 24th- American vs. Mountain West- North Dakota State vs. Fresno State- The Bison lost for the first time as an FBS school, falling to UNLV.

Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl: Date TBA- MAC vs. MWC- New Mexico vs. Buffalo

Thanks for checking out our 2026 bowl projections after week six here at Last Word On College Football.

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