2017–18 NCAA football bowl games
The 2017–18 NCAA football bowl games was a series of college football bowl games which completed the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The games began on December 16, 2017, and aside from the all-star games ended with the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship which was played on January 8, 2018.
The total of 40 team-competitive bowls in FBS, including the national championship game, was one less than the previous year, with the folding of the Poinsettia Bowl. To fill the 78 available bowl slots, a total of 15 teams with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games. This marks only the second time in seven years that no teams with losing seasons had to be invited to fill available bowl berths.
Schedule
The schedule for the 2017–18 bowl games is below. All times are EST.College Football Playoff and Championship Game
The College Football Playoff system was used to determine a national champion of Division I FBS college football. A 13-member committee of experts ranked the top 25 teams in the nation after each of the last seven weeks of the 2017 season. The top four teams in the final ranking played a single-elimination semifinal round, with the winners advancing to the National Championship game.The semifinal games were the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. Both were played on New Year's Day, as part of a yearly rotation of three pairs of six bowls, commonly referred to as the CFP New Year's Six bowl games. Their winners advanced to the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 8, 2018.
, site of the National Championship game
| Date | Game | Site | Teams | Affiliations | Results |
| Dec. 29 | Cotton Bowl Classic | AT&T Stadium Arlington, Texas 8:30pm | No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes No. 8 USC Trojans | Big Ten Pac-12 | Ohio State 24 USC 7 |
| Dec. 30 | Fiesta Bowl | University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, Arizona 4:00pm | No. 9 Penn State Nittany Lions No. 11 Washington Huskies | Big Ten Pac-12 | Penn State 35 Washington 28 |
| Dec. 30 | Orange Bowl | Hard Rock Stadium Miami Gardens, Florida 8:00pm | No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers No. 10 Miami Hurricanes | Big Ten ACC | Wisconsin 34 Miami 24 |
| Jan. 1 | Peach Bowl | Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta, Georgia 12:30pm | No. 12 UCF Knights No. 7 Auburn Tigers | American SEC | UCF 34 Auburn 27 |
| Jan. 1 | Rose Bowl | Rose Bowl Pasadena, California 5:00pm | No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners | SEC Big 12 | Georgia 54 Oklahoma 48 |
| Jan. 1 | Sugar Bowl | Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana 8:45pm | No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide No. 1 Clemson Tigers | SEC ACC | Alabama 24 Clemson 6 |
| Jan. 8 | College Football Playoff National Championship | Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta, Georgia 8:00pm | No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs | SEC SEC | Alabama 26 Georgia 23 |
Non-CFP bowl games
On April 11, 2016, the NCAA announced a freeze on new bowl games until after the 2019 season. While bowl games had been the purview of only the very best teams for nearly a century, the NCAA had to lower its postseason eligibility criteria repeatedly, eventually allowing teams with losing seasons to participate in bowls due to there being not enough bowl-eligible teams, while also having to allow teams from the same conference to meet in the 2015 Arizona Bowl due to the lack of eligible teams to meet its other tie-ins. For the 2017–18 bowl season, [|62% of the 130 teams] playing in Division I FBS were deemed eligible to participate in a bowl game, with 60% actually receiving invites to fill the 78 available slots.For the 2017–18 bowl season, changes from the prior season's bowl games include the relocation of the Miami Beach Bowl to Frisco, Texas as the Frisco Bowl, and the discontinuation of the Poinsettia Bowl. The Russel Athletic Bowl was renamed the Camping World Bowl under a new sponsorship, and after going without a sponsor for two years, the St. Petersburg Bowl was renamed the Gasparilla Bowl.
| Date | Game | Site | Television | Teams | Affiliations | Results |
| Dec. 16 | New Orleans Bowl | Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana 1:00 pm | ESPN | Troy Trojans North Texas Mean Green | Sun Belt C–USA | Troy 50 North Texas 30 |
| Dec. 16 | Cure Bowl | Camping World Stadium Orlando, Florida 2:30 pm | CBSSN | Georgia State Panthers Western Kentucky Hilltoppers | Sun Belt C-USA | Georgia State 27 Western Kentucky 17 |
| Dec. 16 | Las Vegas Bowl | Sam Boyd Stadium Las Vegas, Nevada 3:30 pm | ABC | No. 25 Boise State Broncos Oregon Ducks | Mountain West Pac–12 | Boise State 38 Oregon 28 |
| Dec. 16 | New Mexico Bowl | Dreamstyle Stadium Albuquerque, New Mexico 4:30 pm | ESPN | Marshall Thundering Herd Colorado State Rams | C–USA Mountain West | Marshall 31 Colorado State 28 |
| Dec. 16 | Camellia Bowl | Cramton Bowl Montgomery, Alabama 8:00 pm | ESPN | Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Arkansas State Red Wolves | C–USA Sun Belt | Middle Tennessee 35 Arkansas State 30 |
| Dec. 19 | Boca Raton Bowl | FAU Stadium Boca Raton, Florida 7:00 pm | ESPN | Florida Atlantic Owls Akron Zips | C–USA MAC | Florida Atlantic 50 Akron 3 |
| Dec. 20 | Frisco Bowl | Toyota Stadium Frisco, Texas 8:00 pm | ESPN | Louisiana Tech Bulldogs SMU Mustangs | C–USA American | Louisiana Tech 51 SMU 10 |
| Dec. 21 | Gasparilla Bowl | Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, Florida 8:00 pm | ESPN | Temple Owls FIU Panthers | American C–USA | Temple 28 FIU 3 |
| Dec. 22 | Bahamas Bowl | Thomas Robinson Stadium Nassau, Bahamas 12:30 pm | ESPN | Ohio Bobcats UAB Blazers | MAC C–USA | Ohio 41 UAB 6 |
| Dec. 22 | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Albertsons Stadium Boise, Idaho 4:00 pm | ESPN | Wyoming Cowboys Central Michigan Chippewas | Mountain West MAC | Wyoming 37 Central Michigan 14 |
| Dec. 23 | Birmingham Bowl | Legion Field Birmingham, Alabama 12:00 pm | ESPN | South Florida Bulls Texas Tech Red Raiders | American Big 12 | South Florida 38 Texas Tech 34 |
| Dec. 23 | Armed Forces Bowl | Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, Texas 3:30 pm | ESPN | Army Black Knights San Diego State Aztecs | Independent Mountain West | Army 42 San Diego State 35 |
| Dec. 23 | Dollar General Bowl | Ladd–Peebles Stadium Mobile, Alabama 7:00 pm | ESPN | Appalachian State Mountaineers Toledo Rockets | Sun Belt MAC | Appalachian State 34 Toledo 0 |
| Dec. 24 | Hawaii Bowl | Aloha Stadium Honolulu, Hawaii 8:30 pm | ESPN | Fresno State Bulldogs Houston Cougars | Mountain West American | Fresno State 33 Houston 27 |
| Dec. 26 | Heart of Dallas Bowl | Cotton Bowl Stadium Dallas, Texas 1:00 pm | ESPN | Utah Utes West Virginia Mountaineers | Pac-12 Big 12 | Utah 30 West Virginia 14 |
| Dec. 26 | Quick Lane Bowl | Ford Field Detroit, Michigan 5:15 pm | ESPN | Duke Blue Devils Northern Illinois Huskies | ACC MAC | Duke 36 Northern Illinois 14 |
| Dec. 26 | Cactus Bowl | Chase Field Phoenix, Arizona 9:00 pm | ESPN | Kansas State Wildcats UCLA Bruins | Big 12 Pac-12 | Kansas State 35 UCLA 17 |
| Dec. 27 | Independence Bowl | Independence Stadium Shreveport, Louisiana 1:30 pm | ESPN | Florida State Seminoles Southern Miss Golden Eagles | ACC C–USA | Florida State 42 Southern Miss 13 |
| Dec. 27 | Pinstripe Bowl | Yankee Stadium Bronx, New York 5:15 pm | ESPN | Iowa Hawkeyes Boston College Eagles | Big Ten ACC | Iowa 27 Boston College 20 |
| Dec. 27 | Foster Farms Bowl | Levi's Stadium Santa Clara, California 8:30 pm | Fox | Purdue Boilermakers Arizona Wildcats | Big Ten Pac-12 | Purdue 38 Arizona 35 |
| Dec. 27 | Texas Bowl | NRG Stadium Houston, Texas 9:00 pm | ESPN | Texas Longhorns Missouri Tigers | Big 12 SEC | Texas 33 Missouri 16 |
| Dec. 28 | Military Bowl | Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, Maryland 1:30 pm | ESPN | Navy Midshipmen Virginia Cavaliers | American ACC | Navy 49 Virginia 7 |
| Dec. 28 | Camping World Bowl | Camping World Stadium Orlando, Florida 5:15 pm | ESPN | No. 19 Oklahoma State Cowboys No. 22 Virginia Tech Hokies | Big 12 ACC | Oklahoma State 30 Virginia Tech 21 |
| Dec. 28 | Alamo Bowl | Alamodome San Antonio, Texas 9:00 pm | ESPN | No. 15 TCU Horned Frogs No. 13 Stanford Cardinal | Big 12 Pac-12 | TCU 39 Stanford 37 |
| Dec. 28 | Holiday Bowl | SDCCU Stadium San Diego, California 9:00 pm | FS1 | No. 16 Michigan State Spartans No. 18 Washington State Cougars | Big Ten Pac-12 | Michigan State 42 Washington State 17 |
| Dec. 29 | Belk Bowl | Bank of America Stadium Charlotte, North Carolina 1:00 pm | ESPN | Wake Forest Demon Deacons Texas A&M Aggies | ACC SEC | Wake Forest 55 Texas A&M 52 |
| Dec. 29 | Sun Bowl | Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, Texas 3:00 pm | CBS | No. 24 NC State Wolfpack Arizona State Sun Devils | ACC Pac-12 | NC State 52 Arizona State 31 |
| Dec. 29 | Music City Bowl | Nissan Stadium Nashville, Tennessee 4:30 pm | ESPN | No. 21 Northwestern Wildcats Kentucky Wildcats | Big Ten SEC | Northwestern 24 Kentucky 23 |
| Dec. 29 | Arizona Bowl | Arizona Stadium Tucson, Arizona 5:30 pm | CBSSN | New Mexico State Aggies Utah State Aggies | Sun Belt Mountain West | New Mexico State 26 Utah State 20 |
| Dec. 30 | TaxSlayer Bowl | EverBank Field Jacksonville, Florida 12:00 pm | ESPN | No. 23 Mississippi State Bulldogs Louisville Cardinals | SEC ACC | Mississippi State 31 Louisville 27 |
| Dec. 30 | Liberty Bowl | Liberty Bowl Memphis, Tennessee 12:30 pm | ABC | Iowa State Cyclones No. 20 Memphis Tigers | Big 12 American | Iowa State 21 Memphis 20 |
| Jan. 1 | Outback Bowl | Raymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida 12:00 pm | ESPN2 | South Carolina Gamecocks Michigan Wolverines | SEC Big Ten | South Carolina 26 Michigan 19 |
| Jan. 1 | Citrus Bowl | Camping World Stadium Orlando, Florida 1:00 pm | ABC | No. 14 Notre Dame Fighting Irish No. 17 LSU Tigers | Independent SEC | Notre Dame 21 LSU 17 |
All-star games
FCS bowl game
The FCS has one bowl game; they also have a championship bracket that began on November 25 and ended on January 6.| Date | Game | Site | Television | Participants | Affiliations | Results |
| Dec. 16 | Celebration Bowl | Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta, Georgia 12:00pm | ABC | North Carolina A&T Aggies Grambling State Tigers | MEAC SWAC | North Carolina A&T 21 Grambling State 14 |
Selection of the teams
CFP top 25 teams
On December 3, 2017, the College Football Playoff selection committee announced their final team rankings for the year.In the fourth year of the College Football Playoff era, this was the first time that two of the four semifinalists were from the same conference.
| Rank | Team | W–L | Conference and standing | Bowl game |
| Clemson Tigers | ACC champions | Sugar Bowl | ||
| Oklahoma Sooners | Big 12 champions | Rose Bowl | ||
| Georgia Bulldogs | SEC champions | Rose Bowl | ||
| Alabama Crimson Tide | SEC West Division co-champions | Sugar Bowl | ||
| Ohio State Buckeyes | Big Ten champions | Cotton Bowl Classic | ||
| Wisconsin Badgers | Big Ten West Division champions | Orange Bowl | ||
| Auburn Tigers | SEC West Division co-champions | Peach Bowl | ||
| USC Trojans | Pac-12 champions | Cotton Bowl Classic | ||
| Penn State Nittany Lions | Big Ten East Division second place | Fiesta Bowl | ||
| Miami Hurricanes | ACC Coastal Division champions | Orange Bowl | ||
| Washington Huskies | Pac-12 North Division co-champions | Fiesta Bowl | ||
| UCF Knights | AAC champions | Peach Bowl | ||
| Stanford Cardinal | Pac-12 North Division co-champions | Alamo Bowl | ||
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish | Independent | Citrus Bowl | ||
| TCU Horned Frogs | Big 12 second place | Alamo Bowl | ||
| Michigan State Spartans | Big Ten East Division second place | Holiday Bowl | ||
| LSU Tigers | SEC West Division third place | Citrus Bowl | ||
| Washington State Cougars | Pac-12 North Division third place | Holiday Bowl | ||
| Oklahoma State Cowboys | Big 12 third place | Camping World Bowl | ||
| Memphis Tigers | AAC West Division champions | Liberty Bowl | ||
| Northwestern Wildcats | Big Ten West Division second place | Music City Bowl | ||
| Virginia Tech Hokies | ACC Coastal Division second place | Camping World Bowl | ||
| Mississippi State Bulldogs | SEC West Division fourth place | TaxSlayer Bowl | ||
| NC State Wolfpack | ACC Atlantic Division second place | Sun Bowl | ||
| Boise State Broncos | MWC champions | Las Vegas Bowl |
Conference champions' bowl games
Three bowls featured two conference champions playing against each other—the Dollar General Bowl, Cotton Bowl Classic, and Rose Bowl. Rankings are per the above CFP standings.| Conference | Champion | W–L | Rank | Bowl game |
| ACC | Clemson Tigers | 12–1 | Sugar Bowl | |
| American | UCF Knights | 12–0 | 12 | Peach Bowl |
| Ohio State Buckeyes | 11–2 | Cotton Bowl Classic | ||
| Big 12 | Oklahoma Sooners | 12–1 | Rose Bowl | |
| C-USA | Florida Atlantic Owls | 10–3 | — | Boca Raton Bowl |
| MAC | Toledo Rockets | 11–2 | — | Dollar General Bowl |
| Mountain West | Boise State Broncos | 10–3 | 25 | Las Vegas Bowl |
| Pac-12 | USC Trojans | 11–2 | Cotton Bowl Classic | |
| SEC | Georgia Bulldogs | 12–1 | Rose Bowl | |
| Sun Belt | Appalachian State Mountaineers | — | Dollar General Bowl | |
| Sun Belt | Troy Trojans | 10–2 | — | New Orleans Bowl |
denotes a conference that named co-champions
Bowl-eligible teams
- American : Houston, Memphis, Navy, SMU, South Florida, Temple, UCF
- ACC : Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Louisville, Miami, NC State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
- Big Ten : Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
- Big 12 : Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech, West Virginia
- C-USA : FIU, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Southern Miss, UAB, UTSA, Western Kentucky
- Independent : Army, Notre Dame
- MAC : Akron, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan
- Mountain West : Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State, Wyoming
- Pac-12 : Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington, Washington State
- SEC : Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas A&M
- Sun Belt : Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Georgia State, New Mexico State, Troy
Number of bowl-eligible teams: 81
In mid-December multiple media sources reported that Florida State might not have met its bowl eligibility requirements. The team had a record of 6–6, with one of the wins – their 77–6 victory over Delaware State – against an FCS team. For such a game to count towards bowl eligibility, the FCS opponent must have used at least 90 percent of its allotted scholarships, and it was not clear that Delaware State had done so. But a few days later the Florida State administration issued a statement saying that Delaware State did in fact meet that threshold, once non-athletic scholarship funds were factored in.
Bowl-eligible teams that did not receive a berth
As there are more bowl-eligible teams than bowl berths, three bowl-eligible teams did not receive a bowl berth:- Buffalo
- UTSA
- Western Michigan
Bowl-ineligible teams
- American : Cincinnati, Connecticut, East Carolina, Tulane, Tulsa
- ACC : Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Syracuse
- Big Ten : Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, Rutgers
- Big 12 : Baylor, Kansas
- C-USA : Charlotte, Old Dominion, Rice, UTEP
- Independent : BYU, Massachusetts
- MAC : Ball State, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami
- Mountain West : Air Force, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV
- Pac-12 : California, Colorado, Oregon State
- SEC : Arkansas, Florida, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
- Sun Belt : Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Idaho, Louisiana–Lafayette, Louisiana–Monroe, South Alabama, Texas State
Television viewers and ratings
Most watched non-CFP bowl games
- CFP Rankings.
College Football Playoff