We’re not talking about No. 2 Tennessee. The Volunteers remain in our projected College Football Playoff picks along with No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 5 Clemson.
Who are the surprise teams? No. 14 Illinois and No. 17 North Carolina are our surprise picks to reach the Orange Bowl. Bret Bielema has a physical team led by SN Midseason All-American Chase Brown, and Mack Brown has the Tar Heels rolling with quarterback Drake Maye. Both teams are good bets to make their respective conference championship games.
MORE: College Football Playoff picture | Heisman Trophy race
No. 19 Tulane also moved into our Cotton Bowl projection. The Green Wave have November tests against No. 25 UCF and Cincinnati.
The College Football Playoff semifinals will be on Dec. 31 this season. Those semifinals will be played at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta and the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. The College Football Playoff championship game is on Jan. 9 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
MORE: Ranking CFB’s top 25 quarterbacks at midseason
Week 10 College Football Bowl Projections
College football New Year’s Day Six picks
College Football Playoff championship pick
