We're now through six weeks of college football, and after a WILD weekend across the sport, we're starting to get a feel for which teams are good, which teams aren't and how the puzzle pieces of the season all come together.
Because of it, for the rest of the season going forward, every Monday morning we'll take a quick look at all the major bowl projections going forward, to give you thoughts on where the playoff picture and other major bowl games stand.
As a quick refresher, this year the two college football semifinals will be played at the Orange Bowl (Miami) and Cotton Bowl (Arlington) with the rest of the games going on as scheduled. The title game will be played in Indianapolis a week later.
Here is the latest update, on Monday, October 11th from all the major outlets:
College Football Playoff:
Cotton Bowl, December 31st (Arlington, Texas): No. Michigan State vs. No. Oklahoma
Orange Bowl, December 31st (Miami, FL): No. 4 Cincinnati vs. No. 1 Georgia
Other New Year's Six Games:
Peach Bowl, December 30th (Atlanta, GA): Wake Forest vs. Ohio State
Fiesta Bowl, January 1st (Glendale, AZ): Penn State vs. Kentucky
Rose Bowl, January 1st (Pasadena, CA): Iowa vs. Arizona State
Sugar Bowl, January 1st (New Orleans, LA): Alabama vs. Oklahoma State
College Football Playoff:
Cotton Bowl, December 31st (Arlington, Texas): No. Georgia vs. No. 1 Iowa
Orange Bowl, December 31st (Miami, FL): No. 3 Alabama vs. No. 2 Oklahoma
Other New Year's Six Games:
Peach Bowl, December 30th (Atlanta, GA): NC State vs. Notre Dame
Fiesta Bowl, January 1st (Glendale, AZ): Ohio State vs. Cincinnati
Rose Bowl, January 1st (Pasadena, CA): Michigan vs. Oregon
Sugar Bowl, January 1st (New Orleans, LA): Oklahoma State vs. Kentucky
College Football Playoff:
Cotton Bowl, December 31st (Arlington, Texas): No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 2 Iowa
Orange Bowl, December 31st (Miami, FL): No. 4 Cincinnati vs. No. 1 Georgia
Other New Year's Six Games:
Peach Bowl, December 30th (Atlanta, GA): Wake Forest vs. Ole Miss
Fiesta Bowl, January 1st (Glendale, AZ): Arizona State vs. Ohio State
Rose Bowl, January 1st (Pasadena, CA): Michigan vs. Oregon
Sugar Bowl, January 1st (New Orleans, LA): Alabama vs. Oklahoma State
College Football Playoff:
Cotton Bowl, December 31st (Arlington, Texas): No. 3. Cincinnati vs. No. 2 Iowa
Orange Bowl, December 31st (Miami, FL): No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 1 Georgia
Other New Year's Six Games:
Peach Bowl, December 30th (Atlanta, GA): Wake Forest vs. Michigan State
Fiesta Bowl, January 1st (Glendale, AZ): Coastal Carolina vs. Kentucky
Rose Bowl, January 1st (Pasadena, CA): Arizona State vs. Michigan
Sugar Bowl, January 1st (New Orleans, LA): Alabama vs. Oklahoma State
College Football Playoff:
Cotton Bowl, December 31st (Arlington, Texas): No. 4 Cincinnati vs. No. 1 Georgia
Orange Bowl, December 31st (Miami, FL): No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 2 Iowa
Other New Year's Six Games:
Peach Bowl, December 30th (Atlanta, GA): Ohio State vs. Wake Forest
Fiesta Bowl, January 1st (Glendale, AZ): Notre Dame vs. Michigan
Rose Bowl, January 1st (Pasadena, CA): Penn State vs. Oregon
Sugar Bowl, January 1st (New Orleans, LA): Alabama vs. Texas
There are a few big takeaways from the Week 7 bowl projections, but the biggest one is obvious: The combination of Alabama's loss to A&M, Iowa beating Penn State and Oklahoma asserting itself in the Big 12 (thanks in large part to Caleb Williams) has resulted in a pretty clear playoff picture for the time being.
Of the five experts three have Georgia, Iowa, Oklahoma and Cincinnati as the top four teams in the sport, and in turn the four teams in the playoff. One (Brett McMurphy) still believes Alabama will get in (based on his seeding, he seems to think they'll beat Georgia in the SEC title game), while one has Michigan State replacing Iowa as the Big Ten representative.
With those results though, it had other ripple effects as well.
First off, over the last few weeks, the Sugar Bowl - which goes to the highest ranked SEC team not in the playoff - has been divided among a few different schools, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Arkansas most recently. With Alabama out of the playoff four at this very moment, it means that the Tide will now be the SEC representative in New Orleans on New Year's Day according to four of the experts. McMurphy, who has two SEC teams in the playoff (Georgia and Alabama) still has Kentucky in New Orleans on New Year's Day.
Beyond the Sugar Bowl, most of the experts seem to think at least one other SEC team will be playing in the New Year's Six. One expert has Ole Miss in a New Year's Six in the Peach in Atlanta, while two others have Kentucky in the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona.
Beyond that, there are some other changes too.
One, coming off two straight dominant wins, we now see Arizona State in the New Year's Six for the first time, with one expert projecting a trip down the road to Glendale for the Fiesta Bowl, and two others believing they will be the Pac-12 representative in the Rose Bowl.
Finally, with Iowa firmly placing itself atop the Big Ten for now, it means Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and now even Michigan State are now in the mix for New Year's Six games, with all four making an appearance in these projections. Again, this is the first time we've seen any projection with Michigan State in the playoff mix.
Wake Forest is the ACC champ in all but one projection, but because the Orange Bowl will be used for the playoff (it's where the highest-ranked ACC team goes in non-playoff years) they are spread between the Peach and Fiesta, while Notre Dame is back in the projections after a week out.
For more college football, make sure to listen to today's Aaron Torres Podcast - where Aaron talks about Bama's stunning loss, why he believes there are no great teams (outside maybe Georgia) and a recap of the Red River insanity. Also, do we know who the best team in the Big Ten is right now?