A Way Too Early Look at College Football Bowl Games

College football teams reported to training camp this week which means it's not too early to start talking about bowl games. As with the case over the last four seasons, the top four teams in the College Football Playoff rankings will advance to two semifinal bowl games with the winners advancing to the national championship game the following week. The 2018 semifinals will be held at the Orange Bowl (Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, Fl.) and the Cotton Bowl (AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Tx.) with the winners meeting at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Photo Credit: Ted Gangi (CollegePressBox)

North Carolina teams competed in four different bowls, winning all four. Sun Belt co-champion Appalachian State shut out the MAC's Toledo 34-0 in the Dollar General Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. Duke also defeated a MAC opponent, Northern Illinois, in Detroit's Quick Lane Bowl by a score of 36-14. The Belk Bowl was a shootout between Wake Forest and Texas A&M with the Demon Deacons prevailing 5-52. The NC State Wolfpack wrapped up bowl action for NC teams with a 52-31 win over Arizona State in the Hyundai Sun Bowl.

Photo Credit: Ted Gangi (CollegePressBox)

Each conference has specific bowl tie-ins. Teams from North Carolina compete in four different conferences, the ACC, American, Conference USA, and the Sun Belt. The highest-ranked Group of Five (American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, and Sun Belt) team in the College Football Playoff rankings will automatically be placed in one of the New Year's Six Bowls. Bowl matchups will be released on Selection Sunday in December. Teams gain eligibility if they finish their season with a non-losing record. If not enough teams qualify, the following criteria are used.

1. Teams finishing 6-6 with one win against an FCS team
2. 6-6 teams with two wins over FCS schools
3. Teams that finish 6-7 a loss in their conference championship game
4. 6-7 teams that normally play a 13-team schedule
5. FCS teams who are in the final year of the two-year FBS transition process
6. 5-7 teams that have in order of their Academic Progress Rate (APR) score

2018 College Football Bowl Schedule

Date	Bowl	Conference Partners
Sat, Dec 15	Gildan New Mexico Bowl	Mountain West/Conference USA
	AutoNation Cure Bowl	American/Sun Belt
	Las Vegas Bowl	Mountain West/Pac-12
	Raycom Media Camellia Bowl	MAC/Sun Belt
	R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl	Sun Belt/Conference USA
Tue, Dec 18	Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl	American/Conference USA
Wed, Dec 19	Frisco Bowl	American/At-Large
Thu, Dec 20	Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl	American/ACC or Conference USA
Fri, Dec 21	Bahamas Bowl	MAC/Conference USA
	Famous Idaho Potato Bowl	Mountain West/MAC
Sat, Dec 22	Birmingham Bowl	SEC/American
	Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl	Big 12/American
	Dollar General Bowl	MAC/Sun Belt
	Hawai'I Bowl	Mountain West/Conference USA
Wed, Dec 26	Heart of Dallas Bowl	Big Ten/Conference USA
	Quick Lane Bowl	ACC or Notre Dame/Big Ten
	Cactus Bowl	Big 12/Pac-12
Thu, Dec 27	Walk-On's Independence Bowl	ACC or Notre Dame/SEC
	New Era Pinstripe Bowl	ACC or Notre Dame/Big Ten
	Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl	Big 12/SEC
Fri, Dec 28	Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl	ACC or Big Ten/SEC
	Camping World Bowl	ACC or Notre Dame/Big 12
	NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl	Mountain West/Sun Belt
	Valero Alamo Bowl	Big 12/Pac-12
Sat, Dec 29	Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl	At-Large/At-Large [New Year's Six]
	Belk Bowl	ACC or Notre Dame/SEC
	Capital One Orange Bowl	CFP Semifinal [New Year's Six]
	Goodyear Cotton Bowl	CFP Semifinal [New Year's Six]
Mon, Dec 31	Military Bowl Presented by Northwest Grumman	ACC or Notre Dame/American
	San Francisco Bowl	Pac-12/Big 10
	Hyundai Sun Bowl	ACC or Notre Dame/Pac-12
	AutoZone Liberty Bowl	Big 12/SEC
	SDCCU Holiday Bowl	Big Ten/Pac-12
	TaxSlayer Gator Bowl	ACC or Big Ten or Notre Dame/SEC
Tue, Jan 1	Outback Bowl	Big Ten/SEC
	Citrus Bowl	Big Ten/SEC
	PlayStation Fiesta Bowl	At-Large/At-Large [New Year's Six]
	Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwest Mutual	Big Ten/Pac-12 [New Year's Six]
	Allstate Sugar Bowl	Big 12/SEC [New Year's Six]
Mon, Jan 7	CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T	Semifinal Winners