College Football Bowl Projections Week 3: Indiana Benefits as Ohio State and Oregon Stumble

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One matchup on the college football Week 2 slate was hyped as the most exciting of the regular season, and the Ohio State Buckeyes and Texas Longhorns didn’t disappoint. But what did the close-fought victory for Steve Sarkisian’s Arch Manning-led team mean for the College Football Playoff race?

PFN’s latest college football bowl projections forecast which teams will make it to six wins, who they might face in the postseason party, and where they might play, powered by PFN’s College Football Playoff Meter (FPM).

College Football Bowl Projections | Playoff Bowls

Peach BowlOle Miss vs. Georgia

Cotton BowlTexas vs. BYU

Rose BowlNotre Dame vs. Indiana

Fiesta BowlOhio State vs. Miami (FL)

Orange BowlNotre Dame vs. Miami (FL)

Sugar BowlGeorgia vs. Texas

The College Football Playoff first-round games will once again be held on campus and aren’t technically classified as bowl games. But for those readers wondering where their favorite team is in our college football bowl projections, the Boise State Broncos, Alabama Crimson Tide, USC Trojans, and LSU Tigers are the teams to fall by the wayside short of the quarterfinals.

New Big 12 and old Big 12 collide in the Cotton Bowl as the projected conference champion, the BYU Cougars, take on the Texas Longhorns in an enticing quarterfinal matchup. The program out of Provo returned a dynamic trio of quarterback Bear Bachmeier, running back LJ Martin, and head coach Kalani Sitake for the 2026 season, but is that enough to take down a Texas team that was the story of Week 2?

College football Week 3 will see one of the most anticipated matchups of the season as the Lane Kiffin Bowl pits his current and former teams against each other, and our college football bowl projections pitch a repeat in the first round of the playoff. Don’t sleep on Pete Golding’s team this season, although a quarterfinal matchup with the Georgia Bulldogs might end their ceiling short of the semifinal stage.

PREDICT THE CFB SEASON:PFN’s Free CFB Playoff Predictor

As the Ohio State Buckeyes and Oregon Ducks stumbled and fell in Week 2, the Indiana Hoosiers set about proving that their undefeated run to a title a year ago is no fluke. Josh Hoover has comfortably stepped into the shoes left by Fernando Mendoza and Curt Cignetti’s team lineup in the Rose Bowl as the Big Ten champions in our college football bowl projections. Notre Dame awaits, in a rematch of the 2024 first-round game.

Speaking of Ohio State, their Week 2 fumble shouldn’t stop a date with postseason destiny. Awaiting them in our college football bowl projections is a Miami Hurricanes team that looks every bit an ACC champion. Jeremiah Smith vs. Malachi Toney in a battle of the nation’s top wide receivers is just one subplot to a rematch from last season’s College Football Playoff.

For a full analysis of our projected bracket, check out our College Football Playoff predictions, which include a breakdown of every round and predict a national championship winner.

College Football Bowl Projections | Non-Playoff Bowls

This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.

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