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The 2016 season is underway, and each week at Campus Insiders I will release my updated college football bowl projections for the 2016-17 postseason.

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Below are the bowl projections of where I have your favorite program landing at the end of the year. Of course, these projections are subject to change and will start to look a little different as the season progresses and we see the true makeup of these teams. In addition, this list is free of Week 1 overreactions – it’s a long season, and each week is its own little season. But, as of now, this is how the 40-bowl (plus the national title game) postseason slate could look as we move one week closer to the third College Football Playoff.

Note: An asterisk (*) denotes that the respective league did not have enough teams eligible to fill its bowl slot, thus it went to a team from a different league.

Bowl Projections

Cure Bowl

Date: Dec. 17
Location: Orlando, Florida
Tie-ins: AAC/Sun Belt
Cure Bowl Projection: East Carolina (AAC) vs. Troy (Sun Belt)

Las Vegas Bowl

Date: Dec. 17
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Tie-ins: Mountain West/Pac-12
Las Vegas Bowl Projection: Boise State (MW) vs. Utah (Pac-12)

Camellia Bowl

Date: Dec. 17
Location: Montgomery, Alabama
Tie-ins: MAC/Sun Belt
Camellia Bowl Projection: NIU (MAC) vs. Appalachian State (Sun Belt)

New Mexico Bowl

Date: Dec. 17
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Tie-ins: Conference USA/Mountain West
New Mexico Bowl Projection: Western Kentucky (C-USA) vs. Nevada (MW)

New Orleans Bowl

Date: Dec. 17
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Tie-ins: Conference USA/Sun Belt
New Orleans Bowl Projection: Louisiana Tech (C-USA) vs. Georgia Southern (Sun Belt)

Miami Beach Bowl

Date: Dec. 19
Location: Miami, Florida
Tie-ins: AAC/MAC
Miami Beach Bowl Projection: Memphis (AAC) vs. Central Michigan (MAC)

Boca Raton Bowl

Date: Dec. 20
Location: Boca Raton, Florida
Tie-ins: AAC/Conference USA
Boca Raton Bowl Projection: Tulsa (AAC) vs. Marshall (C-USA)

Poinsettia Bowl

Date: Dec. 21
Location: San Diego, California
Tie-ins: MAC/Mountain West/BYU (BYU tied to bowl if not in CFP)
Poinsettia Bowl Projection: BYU vs. San Diego State (MW)

Idaho Potato Bowl

Date: Dec. 22
Location: Boise, Idaho
Tie-ins: MAC/Mountain West
Idaho Potato Bowl Projection: Ohio (MAC) vs. Air Force (MW)

Bahamas Bowl

Date: Dec. 23
Location: Nassau, Bahamas
Tie-ins: AAC/MAC
Bahamas Bowl Projection: UConn (AAC) vs. Toledo (MAC)

Armed Forces Bowl

Date: Dec. 23
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Tie-ins: AAC/Big 12/Navy (automatically takes spot if eligible)
Armed Forces Bowl Projection: Arizona State* (Pac-12) vs. Navy

Dollar General Bowl

Date: Dec. 23
Location: Mobile, Alabama
Tie-ins: MAC/Sun Belt
Dollar General Bowl Projection: Western Michigan (MAC) vs. Arkansas State (Sun Belt)

Hawaii Bowl

Date: Dec. 24
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Tie-ins: Conference USA/Mountain West
Hawaii Bowl Projection: Middle Tennessee (C-USA) vs. Utah State (MW)

Quick Lane Bowl

Date: Dec. 26
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Tie-ins: ACC/Big Ten
Quick Lane Bowl Projection: Boston College (ACC) vs. Indiana (Big Ten)

St. Petersburg Bowl

Date: Dec. 26
Location: St. Petersburg, Florida
Tie-ins: ACC/AAC
St. Petersburg Bowl Projection: Georgia Tech (ACC) vs. Temple (AAC)

Independence Bowl

Date: Dec. 26
Location: Shreveport, Louisiana
Tie-ins: ACC/SEC
Independence Bowl Projection: Duke (ACC) vs. Mississippi State (SEC)

Military Bowl

Date: Dec. 27
Location: Annapolis, Maryland
Tie-ins: ACC/AAC
Military Bowl Projection: NC State (ACC) vs. Cincinnati (AAC)

Holiday Bowl

Date: Dec. 27
Location: San Diego, California
Tie-ins: Big Ten/Pac-12
Holiday Bowl Projection: Michigan State (Big Ten) vs. Washington (Pac-12)

Heart of Dallas Bowl

Date: Dec. 27
Location: Dallas, Texas
Tie-ins: Big Ten/Conference USA
Heart of Dallas Bowl Projection: Minnesota (Big Ten) vs. Southern Miss (C-USA)

Cactus Bowl

Date: Dec. 27
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Tie-ins: Big 12/Pac-12
Cactus Bowl Projection: Texas (Big 12) vs. Arizona (Pac-12)

Texas Bowl

Date: Dec. 28
Location: Houston, Texas
Tie-ins: Big 12/SEC
Texas Bowl Projection: Baylor (Big 12) vs. Arkansas (SEC)

Russell Athletic Bowl

Date: Dec. 28
Location: Orlando, Florida
Tie-ins: ACC/Big 12
Russell Athletic Bowl Projection: Miami (ACC) vs. West Virginia (Big 12)

Pinstripe Bowl

Date: Dec. 28
Location: New York, New York
Tie-ins: ACC/Big Ten
Pinstripe Bowl Projection: Pitt (ACC) vs. Northwestern (Big Ten)

Foster Farms Bowl

Date: Dec. 28
Location: Santa Clara, California
Tie-ins: Big Ten/Pac-12
Foster Farms Bowl Projection: Wisconsin (Big Ten) vs. UCLA (Pac-12)

Birmingham Bowl

Date: Dec. 29
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Tie-ins: AAC/SEC
Birmingham Bowl Projection: USF (AAC) vs. Missouri (SEC)

Belk Bowl

Date: Dec. 29
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Tie-ins: ACC/SEC
Belk Bowl Projection: North Carolina (ACC) vs. Auburn (SEC)

Alamo Bowl

Date: Dec. 29
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Tie-ins: Big 12/Pac-12
Alamo Bowl Projection: Oklahoma State (Big 12) vs. USC (Pac- 12)

NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl

Date: Dec. 30
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Tie-ins: Mountain West/Sun Belt
Arizona Bowl Projection: Colorado State (MW) vs. Georgia State (Sun Belt)

Sun Bowl

Date: Dec. 30
Location: El Paso, Texas
Tie-ins: ACC/Pac-12
Sun Bowl Projection: Virginia Tech (ACC) vs. Oregon (Pac-12)

Liberty Bowl

Date: Dec. 30
Location: Memphis, Tennessee
Tie-ins: Big 12/SEC
Liberty Bowl Projection: Texas Tech (Big 12) vs. South Carolina (SEC)

Music City Bowl

Date: Dec. 31
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Tie-ins: ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC
Music City Bowl Projection: Penn State (Big Ten) vs. Texas A&M (SEC)

TaxSlayer Bowl

Date: Dec. 31
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
Tie-ins: ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC
TaxSlayer Bowl Projection: Louisville (ACC) vs. Tennessee (SEC)

Citrus Bowl

Date: Dec. 31
Location: Orlando, Florida
Tie-ins: ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC
Citrus Bowl Projection: Iowa (Big Ten) vs. LSU (SEC)

Outback Bowl

Date: Jan. 2
Location: Tampa, Florida
Tie-ins: Big Ten/SEC
Outback Bowl Projection: Nebraska (Big Ten) vs. Florida (SEC)

New Year’s Six Bowl Projections

Orange Bowl

Date: Dec. 30
Location: Miami, Florida
Tie-ins: ACC vs. Big Ten/SEC/Notre Dame
Orange Bowl Projection: Clemson (ACC) vs. Notre Dame

Rose Bowl

Date: Jan. 2
Location: Pasadena, California
Tie-ins: Big Ten/Pac-12
Rose Bowl Projection: Michigan (Big Ten) vs. Stanford (Pac-12)

Sugar Bowl

Date: Jan. 2
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Tie-ins: Big 12/SEC
Sugar Bowl Projection: Oklahoma (Big 12) vs. Ole Miss (SEC)

Cotton Bowl

Date: Jan. 2
Location: Arlington, Texas
Tie-ins: At-Large/At-Large
Cotton Bowl Projection: Georgia (SEC) vs. Houston (AAC)

College Football Playoff Projections

Semifinal No. 1 – Fiesta Bowl

Date: Dec. 31
Location: Glendale, Arizona
Tie-ins: CFP No. 2/CFP No. 3
Fiesta Bowl Projection: No. 2 Florida State vs. No. 3 Ohio State

Deondre Francois is a different type of player than Jameis Winston, but the redshirt freshman will have similar success in his first season as the starting quarterback.

J.T. Barrett is back as the unquestioned No. 1 quarterback in Columbus, and that’s bad news for the rest of the Big Ten.

Semifinal No. 2 – Peach Bowl

Date: Dec. 31
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Tie-ins: CFP No. 1/CFP No. 4
Peach Bowl Projection: No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 TCU

Did you see what the Tide did to USC on Saturday night? Enough said.

TCU looked sloppy defensively in Week 1, but that was an aberration.

College Football National Championship Game

Date: Jan. 9
Location: Tampa, FL
Tie-ins: Semifinal winners
Championship Game Projection: No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 2 Florida State

MORE: Projected AP Top 25 Rankings – Week 2