2016 NCAA College Football Bowl Projections For All 41 Bowl Games — Where Could Your Team End Up?

Christmas season is something that everyone looks forward to each and every single year. Along with the food, family gatherings, and presents, there is some great holiday programming that also includes bowl games. Yes, the 2016 NCAA college football bowl season arrives in just about three weeks and the projections are close to becoming real now that the final week of the regular season is over.

A number of conference championship games remain for the ACC, SEC, Sun Belt, and many others. While those results will say a lot about which school is playing in which bowl game, some things can already be figured out as everyone looks to see where their team may end up going.

SB Nation believes there could be some problems for the college football playoff committee regarding the Big Ten. Ohio State defeated Michigan over the weekend and that means the Buckeyes will likely remain in the top two of the playoff rankings. The only problem is that Penn State defeated them earlier in the season and kept them out of the conference championship game.

If Penn State wins the Big Ten Championship, is it really fair for Ohio State to be in the playoffs when they couldn’t even win their own conference?

Please remember that these are only projections for the college bowl games and not set in stone. Only one team has accepted a bowl bid as of this writing and it is BYU to the Poinsettia Bowl for 2016 and 2018 as reported by the official school website.

Navy, as usual, will also play in the Armed Forces Bowl.

The following college football bowl projections were put together by CBS Sports and have been updated throughout the season. They are based on the current standings after the final week of the 2016 regular season. After the conference championship games, there could be a lot of changes based on bids, acceptance, and which teams are seeded where.

College Football Playoff

• Championship Game – Jan. 9, 2017: Semifinal Winners
• Fiesta Bowl – Dec. 31, 2016: Clemson vs. Ohio State (Semifinal)
• Peach Bowl – Dec. 31, 2016: Alabama vs. Washington (Semifinal)

Selection Committee Bowl Games

SUGAR BOWL
Matchup: Big 12 vs. SEC
Date: Jan. 2, 2017
Projection: Oklahoma vs. Auburn

ROSE BOWL
Matchup: Big Ten vs. Pac-12
Date: Jan. 2, 2017
Projection: Wisconsin vs. Colorado

COTTON BOWL
Matchup: At-Large vs. At-Large
Date: Jan. 2, 2017
Projection: W. Michigan vs. Penn State

ORANGE BOWL
Matchup: ACC vs. Big Ten or SEC or ND
Date: Dec. 30, 2016
Projection: Florida State vs. Michigan

Remaining Bowl Games

OUTBACK BOWL
Matchup: Big Ten vs. SEC
Date: Jan. 2, 2017
Projection: Nebraska vs. LSU

TAXSLAYER BOWL
Matchup: Dec. 31, 2016
Date: ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC
Projection: North Carolina vs. Tennessee

CITRUS BOWL
Matchup: ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC
Date: Dec. 31, 2016
Projection: Louisville vs. Florida

ARIZONA BOWL
Matchup: CUSA/Mountain West/Sun Belt
Date: Dec. 30, 2016
Projection: North Texas vs. Idaho

MUSIC CITY BOWL
Matchup: ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC
Date: Dec. 30, 2016
Projection: Iowa vs. Kentucky

SUN BOWL
Matchup: ACC vs. Big 12
Date: Dec. 30, 2016
Projection: Georgia Tech vs. Utah

LIBERTY BOWL
Matchup: Big 12 vs. SEC
Date: Dec. 30, 2016
Projection: TCU vs. Georgia

ALAMO BOWL
Matchup: Big 12 vs. Pac-12
Date: Dec. 29, 2016
Projection: West Virginia vs. USC

BELK BOWL
Matchup: ACC vs. SEC
Date: Dec. 29, 2016
Projection: Miami vs. Arkansas

BIRMINGHAM BOWL
Matchup: American vs. SEC
Date: Dec. 29, 2016
Projection: Tulsa vs. Vanderbilt

TEXAS BOWL
Matchup: Big 12 vs. SEC
Date: Dec. 28, 2016
Projection: Kansas State vs. Texas A&M

FOSTER FARMS BOWL
Matchup: Big Ten vs. Pac-12
Date: Dec. 28, 2016
Projection: Indiana vs. Stanford

RUSSELL ATHLETIC BOWL
Matchup: ACC vs. Big 12
Date: Dec. 28, 2016
Projection: Virginia Tech vs. Oklahoma State

PINSTRIPE BOWL
Matchup: ACC vs. Big Ten
Date: Dec. 28, 2016
Projection: Pittsburgh vs. Northwestern

CACTUS BOWL
Matchup: Big 12 vs. Pac-12
Date: Dec. 27, 2016
Projection: Baylor vs. Air Force

HOLIDAY BOWL
Matchup: Big Ten vs. Pac-12
Date: Dec. 27, 2016
Projection: Minnesota vs. Washington State

MILITARY BOWL
Matchup: ACC vs. American
Date: Dec. 27, 2016
Projection: Army vs. Houston

HEART OF DALLAS BOWL
Matchup: Big Ten vs. CUSA
Date: Dec. 27, 2016
Projection: Colorado State vs. W. Kentucky

INDEPENDENCE BOWL
Matchup: SEC vs. ACC
Date: Dec. 26, 2016
Projection: South Carolina vs. N.C. State

QUICK LANE BOWL
Matchup: ACC vs. Big Ten
Date: Dec. 26, 2016
Projection: Boston College vs. Maryland

ST. PETERSBURG BOWL
Matchup: American vs. ACC
Date: Dec. 26, 2016
Projection: South Florida vs. Wake Forest

HAWAII BOWL
Matchup: CUSA vs. MAC
Date: Dec. 24, 2016
Projection: Old Dominion vs. Hawai’i

DOLLAR GENERAL BOWL
Matchup: MAC vs. Sun Belt
Date: Dec. 23, 2016
Projection: Ohio vs. Troy

ARMED FORCES BOWL
Matchup: Big 12 vs. Navy
Date: Dec. 23, 2016
Projection: Mississippi State vs. Navy

BAHAMAS BOWL
Matchup: CUSA vs. MAC
Date: Dec. 23, 2016
Projection: Louisiana Tech vs. Miami (OH)

IDAHO POTATO BOWL
Matchup: MAC vs. Mountain West
Date: Dec. 22, 2016
Projection: Toledo vs. Boise State

POINSETTIA BOWL
Matchup: Mountain West vs. BYU
Date: Dec. 21, 2016
Projection: Wyoming vs. BYU

BOCA RATON BOWL
Matchup: American vs. CUSA
Date: Dec. 20, 2016
Projection: Memphis vs. Southern Mississippi

MIAMI BEACH BOWL
Matchup: American vs. MAC
Date: Dec. 19, 2016
Projection: Temple vs. Central Michigan

NEW ORLEANS BOWL
Matchup: Mountain West vs. Sun Belt
Date: Dec. 17, 2016
Projection: Middle Tennessee vs. UL Lafayette

CURE BOWL
Matchup: American vs. Sun Belt
Date: Dec. 17, 2016
Projection: UCF vs. South Alabama

CAMELLIA BOWL
Matchup: MAC vs. Sun Belt
Date: Dec. 17, 2016
Projection: Eastern Michigan vs. Arkansas State

LAS VEGAS BOWL
Matchup: Mountain West vs. Pac-12
Date: Dec. 17, 2016
Projection: San Diego State vs. Appalachian State

NEW MEXICO BOWL
Matchup: CUSA vs. Mountain West
Date: Dec. 17, 2016
Projection: Texas-San Antonio vs. New Mexico

If a conference does not have enough teams qualify for their bowl game eligibility, there could be a replacement team put in their place. Examples of that in these projections are Air Force in the Cactus Bowl and Colorado State in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.

Campus Insiders agree with CBS for the most part for the SEC teams, but there are a few changes here and there. For instance, they have LSU facing Iowa in the Citrus Bowl while they put Florida in the Outback Bowl to take on Nebraska.

The 2016 NCAA college football bowl season is one of the best times of the year as it brings forth constant action for three weeks. Some of these projections are likely to change depending on the conference championship games, but there are many which could be spot on accurate. There is still time for schools to position themselves for a better bowl game and knock their rivals back into the early part of December.

[Featured Image by Bob Levey/Getty Images]