On multiple occasions this previous Saturday did we see the possibility of the College Football Playoff landscape looking significantly different when the committee releases their rankings later tonight. Both Alabama and Florida State were on the ropes at different points during their respective rivalry games yet figured out a way to outlast their opponent and essentially get the unanimous decision in the end. Mississippi State was the only team unable to hold serve amongst the contenders with an uninspiring Egg Bowl performance that saw college football’s top-ranked team three weeks ago all but eliminated from the national championship picture.
The biggest development amongst teams fighting for a spot in the CFP yet are not quite there took place in Columbus where Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett suffered a season-ending injury in the Buckeyes win over Michigan. Can replacement Cardale Jones lead OSU to victory in this weekend’s Big Ten championship game against Wisconsin, or will the Badgers take advantage and vault themselves into a New Year’s Six bowl? John is going to be bold this week and predict the latter.
As of right now, Boise State looks like a virtual lock to be the Group of Five team that ends up in a New Year’s Six bowl after Marshall’s hopes for an undefeated season came crashing down at the hands of a two-point conversion in the first overtime by Western Kentucky. The Broncos just came off a 50-19 shellacking of Utah State and now face 6-6 Fresno State in the Mountain West championship game which will be played on the blue turf in Boise. These two teams met earlier in the season with the Bulldogs keeping it relatively close, falling 37-27.
As of right now, 79 teams are bowl eligible with 76 slots available, meaning we will not be seeing any weird contingencies being turned to as it relates to letting teams into bowls with losing records. In the Power Five conferences, Illinois, Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh all needed to win if they wanted to have any hopes of the postseason and did so. For the Illini, their 47-33 win over a red hot Northwestern team at the time (who also needed to win to get to 6-6) may have saved coach Tim Beckman’s job.
If there’s one team that may have a gripe in this whole bowl eligibility conversation, it’s Buffalo out of the MAC. Their November 19th home game against Kent State was postponed and later cancelled due to the epic snowstorm that hit the Western New York region that week. The Bulls would eventually finish the season 5-6 after defeating UMass last week and most likely would’ve beaten the Golden Flashes who only won two games all year. Though it’s unlikely UB would’ve been selected for a bowl at .500 out of the MAC anyways, it would’ve been a nice consolation prize to do so for a program that had fired their coach midseason.
With all that in mind, let’s take a look at our penultimate bowl projection of the year. John’s picks are listed first, followed by Yesh’s. We will publish our final projection for all 38 bowls Sunday morning before the committee makes public their Playoff pairings.
LWOS Bowl Projections (after Week 14)
NATIONAL SEMIFINALS
Rose Bowl – Pasadena, CA: January 1, 2015, 5 pm
(1) Oregon vs. (4) TCU
(2) Oregon vs. (3) TCU
Sugar Bowl – New Orleans, LA: January 1, 2015, 8:30 pm
(2) Alabama vs. (3) Florida State
(1) Alabama vs. (4) Florida State
College Football Championship Game – Arlington, TX: January 12, 2015, 8:30 pm
Rose Bowl Winner vs. Sugar Bowl Winner
OTHER NEW YEAR’S SIX BOWLS
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl – Atlanta, GA: December 31, 2014, 1 pm
Georgia vs. Ohio State
Kansas State vs. Michigan State
Vizio Fiesta Bowl – Glendale, AZ: December 31, 2014, 5 pm
Boise State vs. Arizona
Boise State vs. Arizona
Capital One Orange Bowl – Miami Gardens, FL: December 31, 2014, 8:30 pm
Wisconsin vs. Georgia Tech
Mississippi State vs. Georgia Tech
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic – Arlington, TX: January 1, 2014, 1 pm
Baylor vs. Mississippi Statae
Baylor vs. Ohio State
THE REST OF THE BOWLS
December 20, 2014
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl – New Orleans, LA – 11 am
Louisiana-Lafayette vs. UAB
Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Temple
Gildan New Mexico Bowl – Albuquerque, NM – 2:20 pm
San Diego State vs. UTEP
Nevada vs. Rice
Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl – Las Vegas, NV – 3:30 pm, ABC
Colorado State vs. Utah
Colorado State vs. Stanford
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl – Boise, ID – 5:45 pm
Central Michigan vs. Nevada
Central Michigan vs. San Diego State
Raycom Media Camellia Bowl – Montgomery, AL – 9:15 pm
Western Michigan vs. Texas State
Bowling Green vs. South Alabama
December 22, 2014
Miami Beach Bowl – Miami, FL – 2 pm
East Carolina vs. BYU
Houston vs. BYU
December 23, 2014
Boca Raton Bowl – Boca Raton, FL – 6 pm
Louisiana Tech vs. Bowling Green
Middle Tennessee State vs. Western Michigan
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl – San Diego, CA – 9:30 pm
Navy vs. Utah State
Navy vs. Utah State
December 24, 2014
Popeyes Bahamas Bowl – Nassau, Bahamas – noon
Marshall vs. Toledo
Louisiana Tech vs. Toledo
Hawai’i Bowl – Honolulu, HI – 8 pm
Air Force vs. Western Kentucky
Air Force vs. Marshall
December 26, 2014
Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl – Dallas, TX – 1 pm
Maryland vs. Rice
Illinois vs. Western Kentucky
Quick Lane Bowl – Detroit, MI – 4:30 pm
N.C. State vs. Illinois
Virginia Tech vs. Penn State
Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl – St. Petersburg, FL – 8 pm
UCF vs. Boston College
Cincinnati vs. North Carolina
December 27, 2014
Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman – Annapolis, MD – 1 pm
Memphis vs. Virginia Tech
Memphis vs. N.C. State
Hyundai Sun Bowl – El Paso, TX – 2 pm, CBS
Pittsburgh vs. Arizona State
Louisville vs. Utah
Duck Commander Independence Bowl – Shreveport, LA – 4 pm, ESPN2
Miami (FL) vs. Tennessee
Notre Dame vs. Tennessee
New Era Pinstripe Bowl – The Bronx, NY – 4:30 pm
Notre Dame vs. Penn State
Miami (FL) vs. Maryland
National University Holiday Bowl – San Diego, CA – 8 pm
Minnesota vs. USC
Nebraska vs. Arizona State
December 29, 2014
Autozone Liberty Bowl – Memphis, TN – 2 pm
West Virginia vs. Texas A&M
Pittsburgh vs. Florida
Russell Athletic Bowl – Orlando, FL – 5:30 pm
Louisville vs. Kansas State
Clemson vs. Texas
AdvoCare Texas Bowl – Houston, TX – 9 pm
LSU vs. Texas
Ole Miss vs. West Virginia
December 30, 2014
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl – Nashville, TN – 3 pm
North Carolina vs. Ole Miss
Duke vs. Missouri
Belk Bowl – Charlotte, NC – 6:45 pm
Duke vs. Florida
Boston College vs. Georgia
Foster Farms San Francisco Bowl – Santa Clara, CA – 10 pm
Nebraska vs. Stanford
Iowa vs. USC
January 1, 2015
Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl – Orlando, FL – 1 pm, ABC
Clemson vs. Auburn
Wisconsin vs. Auburn
Outback Bowl – Tampa, FL – 1 pm, ESPN2
Michigan State vs. Missouri
Minnesota vs. LSU
January 2, 2015
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl – Fort Worth, TX – noon
Houston vs. Arkansas
East Carolina vs. Ohio
TaxSlayer Bowl – Jacksonville, FL – 3:20 pm
Iowa vs. Auburn
Iowa vs. Texas A&M
Valero Alamo Bowl – San Antonio, TX – 6:45 pm
Oklahoma vs. UCLA
Oklahoma vs. UCLA
Cactus Bowl – Tempe, AZ – 10:15 pm
Rutgers vs. Washington
Arkansas vs. Washington
January 3, 2015
Birmingham Bowl – Birmingham, AL – 1 pm, ESPN2
Cincinnati vs. South Carolina
UCF vs. South Carolina
January 4, 2015
GoDaddy Bowl – Mobile, AL – 9 pm
Northern Illinois vs. Arkansas State
Northern Illinois vs. Arkansas State
Bowl eligible teams projected to not get invited:
John – Temple, Ohio, Middle Tennessee State, South Alabama
Yesh- UTEP, UAB
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