College football bowl season is on the horizon as the 2021 regular season has reached its conclusion. And while the upsets that were prevalent throughout the season made this year one of the most dramatic in recent memory, Championship Week was a little more subdued — at least as far as the College Football Playoff is concerned.
The playoff field will be revealed on Sunday, and there’s likely to be little in the way of drama when it comes to figuring out which teams will be selected; rather, the seeding of the four teams should make the most headlines.
Alabama will have a strong, if not definitive, case for No. 1 after handling top-ranked Georgia 41-24 in the SEC Championship Game. But because of the work the Bulldogs did all season long, it’s hard to imagine them being ranked any lower than No. 3 come Sunday afternoon.
Michigan will have a case for a top-two spot after dispatching No. 13 Iowa 42-3 in the Big Ten Championship Game, while No. 4 Cincinnati should round out the field after winning the AAC title over Houston 35-20. No. 9 Baylor, which upset No. 5 Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship Game, may have an argument for inclusion, but is ultimately unlikely to be selected.
Check out CBS Sports expert Jerry Palm’s final College Football Playoff and bowl projections, along with our staff picks for how the teams should be seeded 1-4 in the field.
We will find out for sure how it all unfolds Sunday starting at noon ET when the CFP Selection Show airs live nationally across ESPN’s family of networks. New Year’s Six matchups (Peach, Fiesta, Rose, Sugar) will be unveiled at halftime of the NFL games, around 2:30 p.m. ET. Following that, bowl game announcements will trickle in throughout the afternoon.
On CBS Sports HQ — our live streaming sports news channel available on all connected TV devices, the CBS Sports app, and on this very site you’re reading right now — we’ll be breaking down all the bowl games with our experts. We’ll have news, analysis and early picks all throughout the day Sunday. Leave us on while you watch NFL games, and we’ll have you covered every which way on the subject of bowls and where your team is heading. Click here to watch live.
CBS Sports will be with you throughout the day covering every angle of the College Football Playoff and bowl game. Stay tuned.