Even January-March, I use my sports blog to post my constantly updating NCAA men’s basketball tournament bracket projection. That projection is then incorporated into the nationally renowned Bracket Project. No such project exists, to my knowledge, for the College Football Playoff yet, but ever since the 12 team bracket began last fall, I have felt like its necessary to post my own projections of what the bracket will ultimately look like when the final bracket is revealed on December 6th.
Just to be clear, this is quite different than the “projected bracket” that the CFP publishes through ESPN every Tuesday night. That bracket is based on each team’s CFP rankings at the present time. Here, I am actually projecting out the rest of the season and publishing what I think the bracket will look like after all conference championship games are completed on Saturday December 5th.
First, you will see each team in my projected field listed in order of what seed I believe they will get. Below that list, you will see my projected schedule, where I place each playoff game into a projected time slot/location based on these rankings. Italicized teams are ones I am projecting to win their conference title game and thus receive automatic bids go the playoff. Also, beside each team in the rankings you will see my projected final regular season record for each team and then also commentary about how I am predicting each team gets to that particular spot in the reankings. As we get closer to Selection Sunday, I will start to include details in this commentary section about what each team has to do to essentially clinch an at-large bid into the playoff. However, no team has quite reached the stage of clincing a bid at this point in the season.
| Predicted 2026-27 Playoff Field | ||
| 1 | Georgia (12-1) | The Bulldogs will be favored to win out and earn # 1 overall seed |
| 2 | Notre Dame (11-1) | The Irish should finish season 11-1 now that they got past the Canes |
| 3 | Indiana (12-1) | Despite their recent close-calls, I think Indiana wins rest of their regular season games and then takes advantage of geographic advntage in Big Ten title game to beat UCLA |
| 4 | Utah (12-1) | I think the Utes lose at Arizona or TCU but then win out to earn Big 12 auto bid |
| 5 | Alabama (10-2) | Tide should win out but as seen in my conference championship analysis article, I have Tennessee earning SEC title game spot |
| 6 | Miami-FL (12-1) | The Canes will be tested in ACC title game by either SMU or Wake, but ultimately I think Miami wins out and claims their first ACC championship. |
| 7 | Tennessee (10-3) | Despite challenging schedule down tthe stretch, I think the Vols win rest of their regular season games but lose to Georgia in SEC title game. |
| 8 | UCLA (11-2) | As stated in my conferene championsihip article, I have the Bruins losing to either Michigan or USC down the stretch of the season and then losing to the Hoosiers in Big Ten title game. |
| 9 | Texas (9-3) | As stated in my conference championship analysis, I think Longhors lose at either LSU or A & M and end up squarely on CFP bubble. Win over full strength OSU ultimately gets them in. |
| 10 | BYU (10-2) | Cougars should win final 3 regular season games, and while I think they fall short of the Big 12 title game, I believe their win over Notre Dame catapults them into the field. |
| 11 | Iowa (10-2) | I think the Hawkeyes win out and quietly sneak into playoff, as it is tough to deny a spot to a 10 win Big Ten team. |
| 12 | Boise State (12-1) | The Broncos should win out and earn the Group of Five auto bid to the CFP. |
| Other Contenders: | ||
| Texas Tech (10-3) | Red Raiders fail to make playoffs by picking up another regular season loss and losing Big 12 title game with an already weak schedule. | |
| Kentucky (9-3) | The Cats either lose to Florida at Missouri and fall just short of CFP bid. | |
| Arizona (10-2) | An upset win over the Utes this weekend willl send the Wildcats surging up the rankings but their head-to-head loss agasint fellow bubble team BYU keeps them out. | |
| Ole Miss (9-3) | Lack of elite wins and two blowout losses keep Rebs out of playoff | |
| Oregon (9-3) | The Ducks will win out but loss to Illini will end up being their unding. | |
| Southern Cal (9-3) | I believe Trojans stun Bruins to end season but a third loss to Indiana this weekend will keep them out of the field | |
| Ohio State (9-3) | The fact the Buckeys lost head-to-head matchups with three fellow CFP bubble teams (USC, Texas, and Oregon) will ultimately cost them bid. | |
| Wake Forest (10-2) | The Deacs will lose to SMU and fail to make ACC title game by virtue of head-to-head tiebreaker loss to the Mustangs |
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Projected Game Schedule:
First Round:
(8) UCLA vs. (9) Texas- Friday December 18th, 8:00 (ESPN)
(7) Tennessee vs. (10) BYU- Saturday December 19th, 12:00 (ABC/ESPN)
(5) Alabama vs. (12) Boise State- Saturday December 19th, 3:30 (TNT/Tru TV)
(6) Miami-FL vs. (11) Iowa- 7:30 (TNT/Tru TV)
Quarterfinals:
Fiesta Bowl: (4) Utah vs. (5) Alabama/(12) Boise State winner- Wednesday December 30th, 7:30 (TNT/Tru TV)
Peach Bowl: (1) Georgia vs. (8) UCLA/(9) Texas winner- Friday January 1st, 12:00 (TNT/Tru TV)
Rose Bowl: (3) Indiana vs. (6) Miami-FL/(11) Iowa winner- Friday January 1st, 4:00 (ABC/ESPN)
Cotton Bowl: (2) Notre Dame vs. (7) Tennessee/(10) BYU winner- Friday January 1st, 8:00 (ESPN)
Semifinals:
Orange Bowl: Cotton Bowl winner vs. Rose Bowl winner- Thursday January 14th, 7:30 (TNT/Tru TV)
Sugar Bowl: Peach Bowl winner vs. Fiesta Bowl winner- Friday January 15th, 7:30 (ABC/ESPN)
Championship Game:
Sugar Bowl winner vs. Orange Bowl winner- Monday January 25th, 7:30 (ABC/ESPN)
