2023 preseason college football bowl projections - ESPN

The 2023 college football season kicks off Saturday with seven FBS games and shifts into high gear Aug. 31 with the start of the full Week 1 schedule. Although it seems like a long time between then and December, it's never too early to think about bowl season and the College Football Playoff.

Who will make the four-team playoff for the national championship? What about the other New Year's Six games and the rest of the bowl matchups?

ESPN college football reporters Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach present their projections for all 43 games, and they'll have new predictions every week as the season rolls along. They'll also explain their CFP picks and offer other insights.

All times Eastern

CFP National Championship presented by AT&T
NRG Stadium (Houston)
Monday, Jan. 8, 7:30 p.m., ESPN and the ESPN App
Bonagura: Georgia vs. Alabama
Schlabach: Georgia vs. Michigan

CFP Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game
Rose Bowl (Pasadena, California)
Monday, Jan. 1, 5 p.m., ESPN and the ESPN App
Bonagura: Michigan vs. Alabama
Schlabach: Michigan vs. USC

CFP Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl
Caesars Superdome (New Orleans)
Monday, Jan. 1, 8:45 p.m., ESPN and the ESPN App
Bonagura: Georgia vs. Florida State
Schlabach: Georgia vs. Ohio State

CFP breakdown

Bonagura: In some order, there's probably a consensus top four nationally — Georgia, Michigan, Alabama, Ohio State — but the idea that two non-champions will qualify for the playoff seems like a bad bet. With that understood, Ohio State is out and replacements are considered. There's not a clear «next team up.» It would be fitting, in a way, for the Pac-12 to qualify a team when its lack of playoff participation contributed to its death, but the parity there is still a massive hurdle. TCU