Early Bowl Projections

LongJim · October 24, 2007

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl

Mountain West vs. Navy/At-Large

NAVY v. UTAH

R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl

Sun Belt No. 1 vs. C-USA

TROY v. UTEP

The winner of FAU and Troy will decide who gets the NOLA Bowl bid.

PapaJohn’s.com Bowl

Big East/MAC vs. C-USA

LOUISVILLE v. SOUTHERN MISS

You wouldn’t have guess this 8 weeks ago, but the MAC might get the BE bid in this game because UL isn’t bowl eligible.

New Mexico Bowl

Mountain West vs. WAC

NEW MEXICO v. FRESNO STATE

Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl

Mountain West No. 1 vs. Pac-10 No. 4

BYU v. UCLA

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl

C-USA vs. WAC

TULSA v. HAWAII

Motor City Bowl

Big Ten No. 7 vs. MAC

PURDUE v. MIAMI(OH)

This might be the winner of Indiana/Purdue…the Old Oaken Bucket AND a trip to the MCB, what a game.

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl

Big 12 No. 3 vs. Pac-10 No. 2

KANSAS v. CAL

Texas Bowl

Big 12 vs. C-USA

COLORADO v. HOUSTON

Texas Bowl takes the home town team.

Champs Sports Bowl

ACC No. 4 vs. Big Ten No. 4 or No. 5

MIAMI v. WISCONSIN

Champs Sports Bowl will gladly take this game, while Miami and Wisconsin fans might not be as welcoming.

Emerald Bowl

ACC No. 7 vs. Pac-10 No. 5

MARYLAND v. OREGON STATE

Meineke Car Care Bowl

ACC No. 6 vs. Big East

WAKE FOREST v. CINCINNATI

AutoZone Liberty Bowl

C-USA No. 1 vs. SEC No. 6

ECU v. AUBURN

Think the SEC in unpredictable? The CUSA is wide open right now.

Alamo Bowl

Big Ten No. 4 or No. 5 vs. Big 12 No. 4

ILLINOIS v. TEXAS A&M

The Big 10’s surprise faces a Texas A&M team that might be looking for a new coach.

Petro Sun Independence Bowl

Big 12 No. 7 vs. SEC No. 8

NEBRASKA v. ARKANSAS

While a disappointment for the fans, the Independence Bowl will gladly take a game featuring 2 rabid fan bases. A 6-6 Vandy could easily usurp a 6-6 Arkansas, which could leave Arkansas in the Ft. Worth Bowl of no 7-5 at larges avail.

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl

Mountain West vs. Pac-10

AIR FORCE v. KANSAS STATE

K-State gets the at large because of a lack of PAC 10 teams.

Sun Bowl

Big 12/Big East/Notre Dame vs. Pac-10 No. 3

TEXAS TECH v. ARIZONA STATE

See Gator Bowl, this could easily be switched an Rutgers be in El Paso.

Humanitarian Bowl

ACC No. 8 vs. WAC

GEORGIA TECH v. BOISE STATE

Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl

ACC vs. SEC No. 5

VIRGINIA v. TENNESSEE

UVA keeps on winning, but can’t keep pulling out the close ones can they?

Chick-fil-A Bowl

ACC No. 2 vs. SEC

VIRGINIA TECH v. GEORGIA

Despite a rematch of last year’s bowl game, the Chic-fil-a Bowl will take the guaranteed sellout.

Insight Bowl

Big Ten No. 6 vs. Big 12 No. 6

MICHIGAN STATE v. OKLAHOMA STATE

Outback Bowl

Big Ten No. 3 vs. SEC

PENN STATE v. SOUTH CAROLINA

PSU clearly establishes themselves as 3rd in the Big 10. Another tough SEC call, as South Carolina’s offense has had a few bye weeks.

AT&T Cotton Bowl

Big 12 No. 2 vs. SEC

TEXAS v. ALABAMA

Gator Bowl

ACC No. 3 vs. Big 12/Big East/Notre Dame

CLEMSON v. RUTGERS

Clemson stays here for now. While the Gator Bowl might want a Big 12 team so they have more flexibility the next two years, They will gladly take a Rutgers team and its fan base for a game that did terribly in attendance last year.

Capital One Bowl

Big Ten No. 2 vs. SEC No. 2

MICHIGAN v. KENTUCKY

Tough call on the SEC team that will play here as they all have the same record. UK seems to be playing the best, but Alabama could quickly move to this spot. Michigan recovers from what looked like a lost season to get a Jan 1st bid.

International Bowl

Big East/Notre Dame vs. MAC No. 4 or 5

UCONN v. CENTRAL MICHIGAN

GMAC Bowl

C-USA No. 2 vs. MAC

UCF v. BALL STATE

Rose Bowl

BCS (Big 10 Champ) vs. BCS (PAC 10 Champ)

OHIO STATE v. OREGON

Ohio State’s one loss leaves them edged out by Oklahoma for the BCS Title Game

Sugar Bowl

BCS (SEC Champ) vs. BCS (At Large)

FLORIDA (at large) v. WVU

WVU is edged out by Oklahoma for the BCS Championship spot.

Fiesta Bowl

BCS (Big 12 Champ) vs. BCS (At Large)

MISSOURI v. USC

Oregon’s projected win over USC will give them the Rose Bowl nod.

Orange Bowl

BCS (ACC Champ) vs. BCS (At Large)

BOSTON COLLEGE v. USF

I’ll keep USF here for now, but USF has questions on whether they could bring a sufficent amount of fans to a BCS game. A one loss USF team will not be on the outside looking in though.

Allstate BCS National Championship

BCS #1 vs. BCS #2

OKLAHOMA v. LSU

Projected Bowl Eligible By Conference:

ACC:

Boston College (BCS)

Virginia Tech (Chic-fil-a)

Clemson (Gator)

Wake Forest (Meinke Car Care)

Miami ? (Champs Sports)

Virginia (Music City)

Georgia Tech ? (Humanitarian)

Maryland (Emerald)

FSU ?No Projected Bowl

Big East:

USF (Orange)

West Virginia (Sugar)

Rutgers (Gator)

Cincinnati (Meinke Car Care)

UCONN (International)

Louisville( Papa John’s)

Big 10:

Ohio State (Rose)

Michigan (Capital One)

Penn State (Outback)

Wisconsin (Champs Sports)

Illinois (Alamo)

Michigan State (Insight)

Purdue (Motor City)

Indiana ? No Projected Bowl

Big 12:

Oklahoma (BCS Championship)

Missouri (Fiesta)

Kansas (Holiday)

Texas (Cotton)

Texas Tech (Sun)

Texas A&M (Alamo)

Oklahoma State (Insight)

Nebraska (Independence)

Colorado (Texas)

Kansas State (Ft. Worth) ? No PAC 10 team available

CUSA:

ECU (Liberty)

UCF (GMAC)

Southern Miss (Papa John’s)

Tulsa (Hawaii)

Houston (Texas)

UTEP (New Orleans)

Independents:

Navy (Poinsettia)

Western Kentucky ? Not eligible

MAC:

Miami (OH) (Motor City)

Central Michigan (International)

Ball State (GMAC)

Bowling Green ? No Projected Bowl

Akron ? No Projected Bowl

MWC:

BYU (Las Vegas)

New Mexico (New Mexico)

Utah (San Diego)

Air Force (Ft. Worth)

TCU ? No Projected Bowl

Wyoming ? No Projected Bowl

PAC 10:

Oregon (Rose)

USC (Fiesta)

Cal (Holiday)

Arizona State (Sun)

UCLA (Las Vegas)

Oregon State (Emerald)

SEC:

LSU (BCS Championship)

Florida (Sugar)

Kentucky (Capital One)

South Carolina (Outback)

Alabama (Cotton)

Georgia (Chic-fil-a)

Auburn (Liberty)

Tennessee (Music City)

Arkansas (Independence)

Sunbelt:

Troy (New Orleans)

FAU ? No Projected Bowl

WAC:

Hawaii (Hawaii)

Boise State (Humanitarian)

Fresno State (New Mexico)

gksmith · October 26, 2007

Before zero-u or less-u make it to the National Title game, Ohio State has to lose. They still have to play Wisconsin and Michigan, but I would not expect OSU to lose either game. Wisconsin's defense was supposed to be the best but has failed to fill the bill. Michigan is recovering from an 0-2 start but I do not expect Michigan to beat Ohio State.

OSU stay #1 through the season, that puts choak-la-homa and/or less-u out of the game.

With as many upsets as there have been this year, I would think it is impossible to predict any bcs poll positions this early.

GoMeanGreen1999 · October 26, 2007

Before zero-u or less-u make it to the National Title game, Ohio State has to lose. They still have to play Wisconsin and Michigan, but I would not expect OSU to lose either game. Wisconsin's defense was supposed to be the best but has failed to fill the bill. Michigan is recovering from an 0-2 start but I do not expect Michigan to beat Ohio State.
OSU stay #1 through the season, that puts choak-la-homa and/or less-u out of the game.
With as many upsets as there have been this year, I would think it is impossible to predict any bcs poll positions this early.

I think OU will lose again this year before the end of the regular season. As for OSU, they could beat tomorrow night with a night game at Happy Valley.

NT80 · October 26, 2007

R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Sun Belt No. 1 vs. C-USA
TROY v. UTEP

Troy vs. UTEP = Yawn (UTEP fans don't travel)

Troy got a lousy matchup last year also with Rice. I'm glad UNT was able to play some quality programs when we went to the Bowl: Colorado State, Cincy, Southern Miss, and Memphis (when they were good) all were fun games, and all except Cincy brought decent crowds.

Edited October 26, 2007 by NT80