Bowl projections: Clemson improves seeding, Utah takes tumble

Clemson solidified its place in the College Football Playoff with its rout at Miami (Fla.) and Florida State’s loss to Georgia Tech. The Tigers moved up to the No. 3 seed and, though some luster is off their Nov. 7 showdown with the Seminoles, their path to an unbeaten record got cleared significantly.

Utah can no longer run the table after its startling loss to USC. Perhaps the best team during the first half of the season, the Utes fell out of a New Year’s Six bowl. They can still make it back into contention, but now have no margin for error.

A reminder: Some conferences may not fulfill their allotment. Asterisks denote a replacement pick.

Date	Bowl	Affliations	Projection
Dec. 31	Orange	CFP semifinal	Ohio State vs. Alabama
Dec. 31	Cotton	CFP semifinal	TCU vs. Clemson
Jan. 11	CFP title game	Semifinal winners	Ohio State vs. TCU
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Dec. 31	Peach	At-large vs. At-large	Memphis vs. Florida
Jan. 1	Fiesta	At-large vs. At-large	Iowa vs. Notre Dame
Jan. 1	Rose	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Michigan State vs. Stanford
Jan. 1	Sugar	Big 12 vs. SEC	Baylor vs. LSU
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Jan. 2	Cactus	Big 12 vs. Pac-12	Texas Tech vs. Arizona State
Jan. 2	Alamo	Big 12 vs. Pac-12	Oklahoma vs. Utah
Jan. 2	Liberty	Big 12 vs. SEC	Texas vs. Arkansas
Jan. 2	TaxSlayer	ACC/Big Ten/Notre Dame vs. SEC	North Carolina vs. Texas A&M
Jan. 1	Citrus	Big Ten vs. SEC	Michigan vs. Mississippi
Jan. 1	Outback	Big Ten vs. SEC	Penn State vs. Georgia
Dec. 30	Holiday	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Wisconsin vs. UCLA
Dec. 30	Music City	ACC/Notre Dame/Big Ten vs. SEC	Minnesota vs. Mississippi State
Dec. 30	Belk	ACC/Notre Dame vs. SEC	Duke vs. Tennessee
Dec. 30	Birmingham	American vs. SEC	Temple vs. Kentucky
Dec. 29	Texas	Big 12 vs. SEC	West Virginia vs. Auburn
Dec. 29	Russell Athletic	ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big 12	Florida State vs. Oklahoma State
Dec. 29	Armed Forces	Big Ten vs. Mountain West	Indiana vs. *Arizona
Dec. 29	Arizona	Conference USA vs. Mountain West	Rice vs. Air Force
Dec. 28	Military	ACC/Notre Dame vs. American	Louisville vs. Navy
Dec. 28	Quick Lane	ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big Ten	Miami (Fla.) vs. Illinois
Dec. 26	Foster Farms	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Nebraska vs. Oregon
Dec. 26	Independence	ACC/Notre Dame vs. SEC	Virginia Tech vs. *Washington
Dec. 26	Pinstripe	ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big Ten	N.C State vs. Northwestern
Dec. 26	Sun	ACC/Notre Dame vs. Pac-12	Pittsburgh vs. California
Dec. 26	St. Petersburg	American vs. Conference USA	East Carolina vs. Western Kentucky
Dec. 26	Heart of Dallas	Big 12 vs. Conference USA	Kansas State vs. Southern Miss
Dec. 24	Hawaii	American vs. Mountain West/BYU	Houston vs. BYU
Dec. 24	Bahamas	Conference USA vs. MAC	Louisiana Tech vs. Bowling Green
Dec. 23	GoDaddy	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Toledo vs. Arkansas State
Dec. 23	Poinsettia	Mountain West vs. Army	San Diego State vs. *Washington State
Dec. 22	Boca Raton	American vs. MAC	Tulsa vs. Northern Illinois
Dec. 22	Idaho Potato	MAC vs. Mountain West	Western Michigan vs. Nevada
Dec. 21	Miami Beach	American vs. Conference USA	Cincinnati vs. Florida International
Dec. 19	New Orleans	Conference USA vs. Sun Belt	Middle Tenn. vs. Appalachian State
Dec. 19	Cure	American vs. Sun Belt	South Florida vs. Georgia Southern
Dec. 19	Camelia	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Ohio vs. South Alabama
Dec. 19	Las Vegas	Mountain West/BYU vs. Pac-12	Boise State vs. Southern California
Dec. 19	New Mexico	Conference USA vs. Mountain West	Marshall vs. Utah State