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Below are my final bowl projections before the matchups begin to leak out this afternoon. Teams already known to be in a bowl are in bold.
Bowl | Team | Team |
BCS National Championship | Florida State | Auburn |
Orange | Clemson | Ohio State |
Sugar | Alabama | Oklahoma |
Fiesta | Baylor | UCF |
Rose | Michigan State | Stanford |
GoDaddy | Northern Illinois | Arkansas State |
BBVA Compass | Vanderbilt | Houston |
Cotton | Oklahoma State | Missouri |
Outback | Iowa | LSU |
Capital One | Wisconsin | South Carolina |
Heart of Dallas | North Texas | Pittsburgh |
Gator | Georgia | Minnesota |
Chick-fil-A | Duke | Texas A&M |
Liberty | Rice | Mississippi State |
Sun | Virginia Tech | UCLA |
Independence | Georgia Tech | Oregon State |
Holiday | Arizona State | Texas Tech |
Alamo | Texas | Oregon |
Music City | Boston College | Mississippi |
Armed Forces | Navy | Boise State |
Buffalo Wild Wings | Kansas State | Nebraska |
Russell Athletic | Louisville | Miami (Florida) |
Belk | Cincinnati | North Carolina |
Pinstripe | Rutgers | Notre Dame |
Fight Hugner | BYU | Arizona |
Texas | Washington State | Michigan |
Military | Marshall | Maryland |
Poinsettia | Utah State | Buffalo |
Little Caesars Pizza | Bowling Green | Syracuse |
Hawaii | Middle Tennessee | San Jose State |
Beef 'O' Brady's | Toledo | East Carolina |
New Orleans | Tulane | Louisiana |
Famous Idaho Potato | Ball State | UNLV |
Las Vegas | Fresno State | USC |
New Mexico | Washington | San Diego State |
Some notes:
- Oregon State should be in. Assuming the Big 12 puts two teams in the BCS, the major players for a Beaver at-large are either the Texas or Independence. Being the better bowl, I think the Texas chooses Washington State for the amount of fans the Cougars will bring. That leaves the Independence, who will be choosing between Oregon State and either South Alabama or Louisiana-Monroe. They took the Warhawks last season, so they should be off the table. The Jaguars are an intriguing choice because of proximity, but the Beavers have the bigger name recognition and should be able to put forward more money, so I think they get the nod.
- If Oregon goes to the Sugar instead of Oklahoma, the Texas bowl is filled with a Big 12 slot and I think the Cougs go to Shreveport instead of OSU. This leaves us on the outside looking in.
- The BCS bowls are set, more or less. Florida State-Auburn is the all but final title game. With Alabama off the table for the Orange, they'll take Clemson to stick with the traditional ACC team instead of Oregon. The Crimson Tide go to the Sugar, where they meet Oklahoma, assuming the Sooners finish inside the Top 14. The Fiesta and Rose are firm, with UCF meeting Baylor in Glendale and Michigan State facing off with Stanford in Pasadena.
- The Alamo gets Texas for a second straight season, and the Longhorns will meet Oregon this time instead of Oregon State. Pac-12 runner up Arizona State falls to the Holiday, and UCLA's reward for beating rival USC is a trip to El Paso. The Trojans will meet Fresno State in Las Vegas, and I think the Fight Hunger and New Mexico will work out some kind of deal to send Arizona up to San Francisco, avoiding the trip to Albuquerque for a second straight season. The Steve Sarkisian-less Huskies replace the Wildcats in the New Mexico.
This is your open thread for all bowl-related news. Go Beavs.
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