The start of the 2015 college football season might still be nearly four months away, but it's never too early to project how things might shake out.
Each of the first bowl projections for 2015 have the same three teams playing in the College Football Playoff semifinals in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic and Capital One Orange Bowl: defending national champion Ohio State, TCU and Auburn. The fourth teams were different with Brett McMurphy choosing USC to win the Pac-12 title and Mark Schlabach choosing Oregon.
A year ago, McMurphy correctly picked three of the four teams who played in the inaugural College Football Playoff (Alabama, Ohio State and Oregon), while Schlabach correctly picked two (Alabama and Florida State).
Here are the first bowl projections for 2015:
Arizona Bowl (pending NCAA approval)
Mark Schlabach: Old Dominion vs. Wyoming
Brett McMurphy: Air Force vs. UTEP
Austin Bowl (pending NCAA approval)
MS: SMU vs. Arkansas State
BM: Temple vs. Texas State
Cure Bowl
MS: East Carolina vs. Appalachian State
BM: East Carolina vs. Appalachian State
R+L Carriers New Orleans
MS: Air Force vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
BM: Southern Miss vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
Gildan New Mexico Bowl
MS: Louisiana Tech vs. New Mexico
BM: Louisiana Tech vs. Wyoming
Royal Purple Las Vegas
MS: Washington vs. Utah State
BM: Stanford vs. Boise State
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
MS: Bowling Green vs. San Jose State
BM: Central Michigan vs. Fresno State
Raycom Media Camellia Bowl
MS: Akron vs. South Alabama
BM: Western Michigan vs. Georgia Southern
Miami Beach Bowl
MS: UCF vs. Middle Tennessee
BM: UCF vs. Western Kentucky
Boca Raton Bowl
MS: Memphis vs. Western Michigan
BM: Tulane vs. Toledo
S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
MS: San Diego State vs. Ball State
BM: San Diego State vs. North Carolina
Popeyes Bahamas Bowl
MS: Marshall vs. Toledo
BM: Middle Tennessee vs. Bowling Green
Hawaii Bowl
MS: Houston vs. BYU
BM: Houston vs. BYU
Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl
MS: Texas Tech vs. Rice
BM: Rutgers vs. Rice
Quick Lane Bowl
MS: Duke vs. Maryland
BM: Pitt vs. Indiana
St. Petersburg Bowl
MS: Cincinnati vs. Western Kentucky
BM: Cincinnati vs. Marshall
Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman
MS: North Carolina vs. Navy
BM: NC State vs. Navy
Independence Bowl
MS: Miami vs. Florida
BM: Duke vs. Florida
New Era Pinstripe Bowl
MS: NC State vs. Minnesota
BM: Miami vs. Iowa
National University Holiday Bowl
MS: UCLA vs. Michigan
BM: UCLA vs. Penn State
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
MS: Kansas State vs. Mississippi State
BM: Kansas State vs. Arkansas
Russell Athletic Bowl
MS: Georgia Tech vs. Oklahoma State
BM: Florida State vs. Texas
AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl
MS: Texas vs. Texas A&M
BM: Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
MS: Louisville vs. Ole Miss
BM: Michigan vs. Mississippi State
Belk Bowl
MS: Virginia Tech vs. Missouri
BM: Georgia Tech vs. Tennessee
Foster Farms Bowl
MS: Iowa vs. Arizona State
BM: Minnesota vs. Arizona State
Outback Bowl
MS: Tennessee vs. Wisconsin
BM: Missouri vs. Nebraska
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
MS: Rutgers vs. Colorado State
BM: Maryland vs. New Mexico
Cactus Bowl
MS: West Virginia vs. Utah
BM: West Virginia vs. Washington
Birmingham Bowl
MS: South Carolina vs. Temple
BM: South Carolina vs. Memphis
GoDaddy Bowl
MS: Northern Illinois vs. Georgia Southern
BM: Northern Illinois vs. Arkansas State
Hyundai Sun Bowl
MS: Florida State vs. Arizona
BM: Virginia Tech vs. Utah
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
MS: Clemson vs. Alabama
BM: Clemson vs. Georgia
VIZIO Fiesta Bowl
MS: Boise State vs. Notre Dame
BM: Utah State vs. Notre Dame
Rose Bowl Game Presented By Northwestern Mutual
MS: Michigan State vs. USC
BM: Michigan State vs. Oregon
Allstate Sugar Bowl
MS: Georgia vs. Baylor
BM: Alabama vs. Baylor
Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl
MS: Penn State vs. LSU
BM: Wisconsin vs. LSU
TaxSlayer Bowl
MS: Arkansas vs. Nebraska
BM: Ole Miss vs. Louisville
Valero Alamo Bowl
MS: Oklahoma vs. Stanford
BM: Oklahoma State vs. Arizona
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
MS: TCU vs. Oregon
BM: TCU vs. USC
Capital One Orange Bowl
MS: Ohio State vs. Auburn
BM: Ohio State vs. Auburn
College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T
MS: Ohio State vs. TCU
BM: Auburn vs. TCU