Last updated Dec. 20 at 3:48 p.m. ET

Because of multiple teams opting out of playing in a bowl this season, there will be three bowls canceled on Sunday, sources told Stadium. The bowls not expected to be played are the Military, Guaranteed Rate and Independence, sources said.

Entering this weekend, there were 32 bowls remaining; 11 previously had been canceled. But recent decisions by several teams – including Nebraska, Penn State, USC and Arizona State – to decline a bowl bid will cause more cancelations.

Stadium is projecting only 58 teams will accept a bid – 31 Power Five teams, 24 Group of Five teams and three Independents – for only 29 bowl games this season.

Because several teams opted out of playing in a bowl game, BYU, Liberty, and the Sun Belt conference had discussions about playing in two bowls this season to help fill each bowl game, but ultimately the schools chose not to for various reasons, sources told Stadium. That’s how desperate bowls were to secure teams, but it’s doubtful the NCAA would have allowed it to happen even if any teams would have agreed to play in multiple bowls.

With the opts outs, only two Pac-12 teams – Oregon and Colorado – will be playing in a bowl game. Also, only six of 15 ACC teams will play, even though NCAA rules this year allowed any team regardless of win-loss record to play in a bowl game. The common thread among teams opting out was a fatigue about playing this season impacted by COVID and a desire to be able to return home to see family.

“This has been a challenging nine months, but we are proud of how our student-athletes have navigated these difficult times,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “As you know, we rely on our captains and Leadership Council to provide a voice for our team, and our student-athletes made the difficult choice not to participate in a bowl this year in order to spend time with loved ones.”

Entering Sunday’s official announcement, I’m projecting the College Football Playoff field to consist of Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Notre Dame. The committee will give Notre Dame the slight nod over Texas A&M.

Here are my latest projections.

College Football Playoff

Championship – Jan. 11 (CFP semifinal winners)
Projection: Alabama vs. Clemson

Semifinals
Arlington, TX – Jan. 1 (CFP semifinal)
Projection: Alabama (No. 1 seed) vs. Notre Dame (No. 4 seed)

Sugar Bowl – Jan. 1 (CFP semifinal)
Projection: Clemson (No. 2 seed) vs. Ohio State (No. 3 seed)

New Year’s 6 Bowls

Orange Bowl – Jan. 2 (ACC vs. SEC/Big Ten)
Projection: North Carolina vs. Texas A&M

Fiesta Bowl – Jan. 2 (at-large vs. at-large)
Projection: Oregon vs. Iowa State

Peach Bowl – Jan. 1 (at-large vs. at-large)
Projection: Georgia vs. Cincinnati*

Cotton Bowl – Dec. 30 (at-large vs. at-large)
Projection: Oklahoma vs. Florida

Other Bowls

Gator Bowl – Jan. 2 (ACC vs. SEC)
Projection: NC State vs. Kentucky

Outback Bowl – Jan. 2 (Big Ten vs. SEC)
Projection: Northwestern vs. Missouri

Birmingham Bowl – Jan. 1 (AAC vs. SEC)
Projection: Tulsa vs. Liberty

Citrus Bowl – Jan. 1 (Big Ten vs. SEC)
Projection: Indiana vs. Auburn

Arizona Bowl – Dec. 31 (MAC vs. Mountain West)
Projection: Ball State vs. San Jose State

Armed Forces Bowl – Dec. 31 (SEC vs. Pac-12)
Projection: Mississippi State vs. Boise State

Liberty Bowl – Dec. 31 (Big 12 vs. SEC)
Projection: West Virginia vs. Arkansas

Texas Bowl – Dec. 31 (Big 12 vs. SEC)
Projection: TCU vs. Ole Miss

Duke’s Mayo Bowl – Dec. 30 (ACC vs. Big Ten)
Projection: Wake Forest vs. Wisconsin

Music City Bowl – Dec. 30 (Big Ten vs. SEC)
Projection: Iowa vs. Tennessee

Alamo Bowl – Dec. 29 (Big 12 vs. Pac-12)
Projection: Texas vs. Colorado

Cheez-It Bowl – Dec. 29 (ACC vs. Big 12)
Projection: Miami vs. Oklahoma State

Military Bowl – Dec. 28 (ACC vs. AAC)
Projection: Not official, but could be among bowl games not played.

Cure Bowl – Dec. 26 (C-USA vs. Sun Belt)
Projection: Army vs. Coastal Carolina

First Responder Bowl – Dec. 26 (Big 12 vs. Group of 5)
Projection: Louisiana vs. UTSA

Gasparilla Bowl – Dec. 26 (ACC vs. SEC)
Projection: UAB vs. South Carolina

Guaranteed Rate Bowl – Dec. 26 (Big Ten vs. Big 12)
Projection: Not official, but could be among bowl games not played.

Independence Bowl – Dec. 26 (Army vs. Pac-12)
Projection: Not official, but could be among bowl games not played.

LendingTree Bowl – Dec. 26 (MAC/C-USA vs. Sun Belt)
Projection: Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State

Camellia Bowl – Dec. 25 (MAC vs. Sun Belt)
Projection: Buffalo vs. Marshall

New Mexico Bowl – Dec. 24 (Mountain West vs. Group of 5)
Projection: Hawaii vs. Houston

**Montgomery Bowl – Dec. 23 (Group of 5)
Projection: Memphis vs. Florida Atlantic

New Orleans Bowl – Dec. 23 (C-USA vs. Sun Belt)
Projection: Louisiana Tech vs. Georgia Southern

Boca Raton Bowl – Dec. 22 (ACC vs. AAC)
Projection: BYU vs. UCF

Idaho Potato Bowl – Dec. 22 (AAC vs. Mountain West)
Projection: Tulane vs. Nevada

Myrtle Beach Bowl – Dec. 21 (C-USA vs. Sun Belt)
Projection: North Texas vs. Appalachian State

Bowls that have been canceled this year:
•Bahamas Bowl
•Fenway Bowl
•Frisco Bowl
•Hawaii Bowl
•Holiday Bowl
•Las Vegas Bowl
•Los Angeles Bowl
•Redbox Bowl
•Pinstripe Bowl
•Quick Lane Bowl
•Sun Bowl

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Teams in bold have already officially accepted bid.

*The highest rated champion from the Group of Five conferences (American, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West and Sun Belt) will be selected to play in either the Cotton, Fiesta or Peach Bowl.

**Replacing Fenway Bowl for this season only.