Mobile version. Acronyms are explained below. All times Eastern and PM, except where obvious. As of 01/11/2016 09:50:47 PM -0800.

Bowls When Where Time TV Teams Predictions  
New Mexico Bowl Dec. 19 Albuquerque, NM 2:00 ESPN MWC C-USA New Mexico** 10 Arizona** 34
Las Vegas Bowl Dec. 19 Las Vegas, NV 3:30 ABC Pac-12 #5 MWC #1/BYU Utah* 22 Brigham Young** 14
Camellia Bowl Dec. 19 Montgomery, AL 5:30 ESPN MAC #2/3/4/5 Sun Belt #3 Ohio** 24 Appalachian State** 34
Cure Bowl Dec. 19 Orlando, FL 7:00  CBSS AAC #7 Sun Belt #4 San Jose State* 17 Georgia State** 21
New Orleans Bowl Dec. 19 New Orleans, LA 9:00 ESPN C-USA Sun Belt #1 Louisiana Tech** 31 Arkansas State*** 45
Miami Beach Bowl Dec. 21 Miami, FL 2:30 ESPN AAC #1/2/3/4/5 C-USA South Florida* 28 Western Kentucky** 31
Potato Bowl Dec. 22 Boise, ID 3:30 ESPN MAC #2/3/4/5 MWC Akron** 10 Utah State** 21
Boca Raton Bowl Dec. 22 Boca Raton, FL 7:00 ESPN MAC #2/3/4/5 AAC #6 Toledo** 22 Temple** 17
Poinsettia Bowl Dec. 23 San Diego, CA 4:30 ESPN MWC/MAC Army/MAC Boise State** 21 Northern Illinois** 35
GoDaddy Bowl Dec. 23 Mobile, AL 8:00 ESPN MAC #1 Sun Belt #2 Bowling Green** 35 Georgia Southern* 17
Bahamas Bowl Dec. 24 Nassau, Bahamas 12:00 ESPN MAC #2/3/4/5 C-USA Western Michigan* 31 Middle Tennessee State** 14
Hawaii Bowl Dec. 24 Honolulu, HI 8:00 ESPN AAC #1/2/3/4/5 MWC/BYU Cincinnati* 21 San Diego State** 24
St. Petersburg Bowl Dec. 26 St. Petersburg, FL 11:00 ESPN AAC #1/2/3/4/5/ACC C-USA/ACC Connecticut** 10 Marshall** 28
Sun Bowl Dec. 26 El Paso, TX 2:00 CBS ACC #2/3/4/5 Pac-12 #4 Miami** 17 Washington State* 24
Heart of Dallas Bowl Dec. 26 Dallas, TX 2:20 ESPN C-USA Big 12 #6 Southern Mississippi** 10 Washington** 17
Pinstripe Bowl Dec. 26 New York, NY 3:30 ABC ACC #2/3/4/5 Big Ten #4/5/6 Duke* 17 Indiana** 24
Independence Bowl Dec. 26 Shreveport, LA 5:45 ESPN ACC #7/C-USA SEC #9/C-USA Virignia Tech* 21 Tulsa* 10
Foster Farms Bowl Dec. 26 Santa Clara, CA 9:15 ESPN Big Ten #4/5/6 Pac-12 #3 Nebraska** 20 California-Los Angeles** 24
Military Bowl Dec. 28 Annapolis, MD 2:30 ESPN AAC #1/2/3/4/5/Navy ACC #6 Navy** 35 Pittsburgh* 31
Quick Lane Bowl Dec. 28 Detroit, MI 5:00 ESPN2 ACC #8/MAC Big Ten #7/MAC Central Michigan** 14 Minnesota** 17
Armed Forces Bowl Dec. 29 Fort Worth, TX 2:00 ESPN Big Ten #8 MWC California** 42 Air Force** 28
Russell Athletic Bowl Dec. 29 Orlando, FL 5:30 ESPN ACC #1 Big 12 #2 North Carolina** 51 Baylor** 45
Arizona Bowl Dec. 29 Tuscon, AZ 7:30 CI MWC/Sun Belt C-USA/Sun Belt Colorado State** 24 Nevada* 17
Texas Bowl Dec. 29 Houston, TX 9:00 ESPN Big 12 #3 SEC #2/3/4/5/6/7 Texas Tech** 24 Louisiana State** 35
Birmingham Bowl Dec. 30 Birmingham, AL 12:00 ESPN SEC #8/ACC AAC #1/2/3/4/5/ACC Auburn** 17 Memphis** 31
Belk Bowl Dec. 30 Charlotte, NC 3:30 ESPN ACC #2/3/4/5 SEC #2/3/4/5/6/7 North Carolina State* 10 Mississippi State** 28
Music City Bowl Dec. 30 Nashville, TN 7:00 ESPN ACC #2/3/4/5/Big Ten #4/5/6? SEC #2/3/4/5/6/7 Louisville* 24 Texas A&M** 21
Holiday Bowl Dec. 30 San Diego, CA 10:30 ESPN Big Ten #1/2/3 Pac-12 #2 Wisconsin** 10 Southern California** 21
Peach Bowl Dec. 31 Atlanta, GA 12:00 ESPN CFP (At-large/GOF) CFP (At-large/GOF) Houston* 24 Florida State** 34
Orange Bowl Dec. 31 Miami Gardens, FL 4:00 ESPN CFP Semi-final CFP Semi-final Clemson (#1)** 34 Oklahoma (#4)* 31
Cotton Bowl Dec. 31 Arlington, TX 8:00 ESPN CFP Semi-final CFP Semi-final Alabama (#2)** 21 Michigan State (#3)* 7
Outback Bowl Jan. 1 Tampa, FL 12:00 ESPN2 Big Ten #1/2/3 SEC #2/3/4/5/6/7 Northwestern** 10 Tennnessee** 24
Citrus Bowl Jan. 1 Orlando, FL 1:00 ABC SEC #1 Big Ten #1/2/3 Florida** 3 Michigan** 17
Fiesta Bowl Jan. 1 Glendale, AZ 1:00 ESPN CFP (At-large/GOF) CFP (At-large/GOF) Ohio State* 21 Notre Dame** 17
Rose Bowl Jan. 1 Pasadena, CA 5:00 ESPN CFP (Big Ten) CFP (Pac-12) Iowa* 10 Stanford** 14
Sugar Bowl Jan. 1 New Orleans, LA 8:30 ESPN CFP (Big 12) CFP (SEC) Oklahoma State** 31 Mississippi** 21
Taxslayer Bowl Jan. 2 Jacksonville, FL 12:00 ESPN ACC #2/3/4/5/Big Ten #4/5/6? SEC #2/3/4/5/6/7 Pennslyvania State** 14 Georgia** 21
Liberty Bowl Jan. 2 Memphis, TN 3:20 ESPN Big 12 #4 SEC #2/3/4/5/6/7 Kansas State** 10 Arkansas** 28
Alamo Bowl Jan. 2 San Antonio, TX 6:45 ESPN Big 12 #1 Pac-12 #1 Texas Christian** 45 Oregon** 52
Cactus Bowl Jan. 2 Phoenix, AZ 10:15 ESPN Big 12 #5/MWC Pac-12 #6/MWC West Virginia** 17 Arizona State** 34
CFP Championship Game Jan. 11 Glendale, AZ 8:30 ESPN Orange Bowl Winner Cotton Bowl Winner Clemson (#1) 31 Alabama (#2) 24

Teams 6-6 or better that need at-large bids:

Overall: 24-17 (58.54%)
Scores: 4-78 (4.88%)

?=at-large because some conference couldn't fill its bids
* = Accepted invitation
** = Predicted correctly
A team in bold indicates that I predicted the winner correctly
A team in italics means that team won the game, but was not who I picked
A bold score means that I actually managed to pick the score correctly

Old predictions
Past years: 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | Index

Conference  Teams Eligible Teams With Bids
ACC 14 9 9
Big Ten 14 8 10
Big 12 10 7 7
Pac-12 12 10 10
SEC 14 10 10
AAC 12 8 8
C-USA 12* 5 5
MAC 13 7 7
MWC 12 7 8
Sun Belt 11 4 4
Indepedents 3 2 2
Totals 127 77 80/80

Above table reflects all teams that are currently bowl eligible as of when this page was last updated.
*: Conference USA member Charlotte is transitional for the 2015 season and will not be eligible for a bowl, regardless of record.

The introduction of the College Football Playoff in the 2014-2015 season changed a bunch of stuff. Below is a quick guide to the process and links to sources of information.

The College Football Playoff is a new system that includes a rotating set of six bowl games (the Chick-fil-A, Cotton, Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, and Orange) plus a championship game. Each year, two of the games will host semi-final games, which will be seeded according to a committee. The winners of those games will meet in the championship game. The rotation of the games is as such for the semi-finals:
2014-2015: Rose and Sugar Bowls
2015-2016: Orange and Cotton Bowls
2016-2017: Fiesta and Chick-fil-a Bowls
This will continue through the 2025-2026 season.

When those games aren't hosting national semi-finals, they will be the home for conference champions and other teams not selected for the semi-finals. The default matchups are:
Rose: Big Ten #1 vs. Pac-12 #1
Sugar: SEC #1 vs. Big 12 #1
Orange: ACC #1 vs. SEC #2/Big Ten #2/Notre Dame
Cotton, Fiesta, and Chick-fil-a: At-large selections or the "top team" from the Group of Five (which consists of the non-autobid conferences (the American, C-USA, MAC, Mountain West, and Sun Belt). These bowls can also host the Big Ten or SEC champions if they are not in the playoff when the Rose or Sugar bowls are part of the playoff.

Other rules:
1. Notre Dame can only appear twice as an at-large
2. If the ACC faces a rematch in the Orange Bowl, then the Orange can select the highest ranked available opponent (according to the committee) and the spurned team is placed elsewhere in the framework.
3. If a conference's champion is selected for the play-off, then the next highest ranked team from that conference assumes the berth, except in the Big 12, where the conference runner-up gets it.

"ACC #1" means "the first ACC team after the CFP selection process", not "the ACC champion".

Overall eligibility: The 2015-2016 NCAA Division I Manual (warning, PDF) bylaw 18.7.2 governs Division I FBS football eligibility. The NCAA defines a "deserving team" as a team with an equal number of wins and losses, i.e, a record of 6-6 and better against FBS opponents. For the purposes of this record, a team is also allowed to count one FCS win as well. Note that it is no longer a requirement that all above .500 teams are selected before 6-6 teams. For 2013, the NCAA added what one might call the "UCLA and Georgia Tech" rule which basically boils down to: a) winning your conference title game makes you a "deserving team" and b) losing your title game does not affect your "deserving team" status.

In addition to deserving teams, bylaw 18.7.2 also spells out what will happen if there are not enough bowl eligible teams for the 40 bowl games. Note that these criteria apply in order, and a particular bowl game may use a team from this "pool" once every four years (effective 8/2012).
1. The "counting 1 FCS win" rule only applies if the FCS team in question uses 90% of available scholarships out of 63 (so 56.7 scholarships, as FCS allows partial scholarships), so the first criteria is that any FCS school counts for the 1-win.
2. Teams that finished 6-6 with two FCS wins. No school plays two FCS teams this year.
3. Teams that finished 6-7 (this used to be the "UCLA rule" but conference championships can no longer make a team ineligible for a bowl).
5. Teams that are reclassifying to FBS and have a 6-6 record. This year this includes Charlotte.
6. Teams in the top 5 of the APR and with a 5-7 record. This year, those teams are Wisconsin, Northwestern, Duke, Michigan, and Stanford.
These provisions are in effect for the 2012 through 2015 seasons.

The ACC bowl selection criteria are buried in the massive media guide (warning: huge PDF) on page 18. The ACC no longer has a "one-win rule" and instead is using a more SEC-style "general list of criteria to emphasize regionality and quality matchups". Notre Dame is eligible for all the ACC's bowls, but must be within one win of the best available ACC team at the time.
The Big Ten selection process has its own page. The Capital One Bowl will pick an ACC team if the ACC faces a Big Ten team in the Orange Bowl (see below). See also the Big Ten bowl tracking page.
The Big 12 selection order.
The Pac-12 bowl selection order, on page 133.
The SEC bowl selection order on page 3. Note that of the "pool of six", there Liberty is the first off if there's not enough teams.
The American bowl lineup. Teams will be placed "based on best fit for the Conference and its membership".
The Mountain West media guide has their bowl games on page 29. There is no particular order, though the Las Vegas bowl claims they have the first pick (and this has usually been the case in the past).
The MAC media guide lists its bowl tie-ins on page 9. This article from last year also talks about them a bit. The MAC is also a secondary for any ESPN owned and operated bowl games.
The Sun Belt's weekly press releases list their tie-ins in selection order.
The C-USA bowl selection process. There is no selection order.
BYU will head to either Las Vegas or Honolulu, with the unlucky bowl getting the Cougars in 2019.

Other notes:

Schedule sources: CollegeFootballPoll, Matt Sarz, conference media guides (see above), and individual bowl websites.