2017–18 NCAA football bowl games
Rank Team W-L Conference and standing Bowl game
1 Clemson Tigers 12-1 ACC champions Sugar Bowl
2 Oklahoma Sooners 12-1 Big 12 champions Rose Bowl
3 Georgia Bulldogs 12-1 SEC champions Rose Bowl
4 Alabama Crimson Tide 11-1 SEC West Division co-champions Sugar Bowl
5 Ohio State Buckeyes 11-2 Big Ten champions Cotton Bowl Classic
6 Wisconsin Badgers 12-1 Big Ten West Division champions Orange Bowl
7 Auburn Tigers 10-3 SEC West Division co-champions Peach Bowl
8 USC Trojans 11-2 Pac-12 champions Cotton Bowl Classic
9 Penn State Nittany Lions 10-2 Big Ten East Division second place ( tie ) Fiesta Bowl
10 Miami Hurricanes 10-2 ACC Coastal Division champions Orange Bowl
11 Washington Huskies 10-2 Pac-12 North Division co-champions Fiesta Bowl
12 UCF Knights 12-0 AAC champions Peach Bowl
13 Stanford Cardinal 9-4 Pac-12 North Division co-champions Alamo Bowl
14 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9-3 Independent Citrus Bowl
15 TCU Horned Frogs 10-3 Big 12 second place Alamo Bowl
16 Michigan State Spartans 9-3 Big Ten East Division second place ( tie ) Holiday Bowl
17 LSU Tigers 9-3 SEC West Division third place Citrus Bowl
18 Washington State Cougars 9-3 Pac-12 North Division third place Holiday Bowl
19 Oklahoma State Cowboys 9-3 Big 12 third place Camping World Bowl
20 Memphis Tigers 10-2 AAC West Division champions Liberty Bowl
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 . [ 9 ] 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 ( Georgia and Alabama of the SEC ) .
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 (19% of all participants) with non-winning (6-6) seasons participated in bowl games. This marks only the second time in seven years that no teams with losing seasons (6-7 or 5-7) had to be invited to fill available bowl berths.