Bowlology

[buzzcut]

This is my first post dealing with the upcoming bowl season: I'll update this for the next several weeks as the end of the season approaches. Here's week one of the projections:

Notes: Conference tie-ins are in parenthesis...For the purposes of the BCS only, the Big Ten Champ is an at-large team for this year only...all projections are based on results through this past Saturday.

Rose (BCS National Championship Game): Southern California vs. Texas

Orange (ACC or Big East Champ vs. BCS at-large): Miami (FL) vs. Louisiana State

Sugar (SEC Champ vs. BCS at-large): Alabama vs. West Virginia

Fiesta (Big 12 Champ vs. Pac-10 Champ(this year only): Notre Dame vs. Penn State(Big Ten)

Capital One (Big Ten 2 vs. SEC 2): Ohio State vs. Georgia

Gator (ACC 2 vs. Big East 2 or Notre Dame): Florida State vs. Louisville

Cotton (Big 12 2 vs. SEC 3/4) Texas Tech vs. Auburn

Outback (Big Ten 3 vs. SEC 3/4): Wisconsin vs. Florida

Houston (Big 12 5/6 vs. SEC 6/7/8): Texas A&M vs. Utah*

Liberty (Conference USA Champ vs. at-large): UTEP vs. Navy

Meineke Car Care (ACC 4 vs. Big East 3): Clemson vs. Rutgers

Peach (ACC 3 vs. SEC 5): Virginia Tech vs. South Carolina

Independence (Big 12 5/6 vs. SEC 6/7/8) Nebraska vs. Iowa*

Sun (Big Ten 5 vs. Pac-10 3): Michigan vs. Oregon

Music City (Big Ten 6 vs. SEC 6/7/8): Northwestern vs. Missouri*

Holiday (Big 12 3 vs. Pac-10 2): Colorado vs. UCLA

Emerald (MWC vs. Pac-10 6): Colorado State vs. Oregon State

Alamo (Big Ten 4 vs. Big 12 4): Minnesota vs. Oklahoma

MPC Computers (WAC 1/2 vs. ACC 5/6): Boise State vs. Boston College

Insight (Big East 4 vs. Pac-10 4): South Florida vs. California

Champs Sports (ACC 5/6 vs. Big 12 7): Georgia Tech vs. Iowa State

Motor City (MAC Champ vs. Big Ten 7): Toledo vs. Michigan State

Hawaii (WAC 1/2 vs. C-USA 3): Fresno State vs. Southern Mississippi

Fort Worth (Big 12 8 vs. C-USA 5): Kansas vs. Memphis

Pointsetta (MWC vs. at-large) Texas Chrisitan vs. Maryland

Las Vegas (MWC vs. Pac-10 5): Brigham Young vs. Arizona State

GMAC (MAC 2 vs. C-USA 2): Miami(OH) vs. Central Florida

New Orleans (Sun Belt Champ vs. C-USA 4): Arkansas State vs. Tulsa

*-Fills available SEC spot

[Seadragon76]

Nice work with the bowl picks, but I do have a few issues.

-Navy would be a much better fit in the Poinsetta Bowl in large part to the large Navy presence in San Diego. Not to knock Maryland, but that would work better for the Middies.

-Now, with LSU's spot in the BCS: What made you think they were the better at-large then, say, Virginia Tech or Ohio State. You can easily make a case for those schools.

[HedleyLamarr]

Music City (Big Ten 6 vs. SEC 6/7/8): Northwestern vs. Missouri*

Don't forget that Tennessee or Vanderbilt are still able to go bowling if they get 6 wins. (Vandy-UT in Knoxville on Nov. 19 for a bowl game...who'd a thunk it?) The Music City Bowl would be a fool to reject a home state team.....

[TBGKon]

mark my words' South Florida will at least be in the Meineke Car Care Bowl or better

[HedleyLamarr]

mark my words' South Florida will at least be in the Meineke Car Care Bowl or better

If South Florida wins out, they will be BCS bound.

Who saw that one coming?

[TBGKon]

mark my words' South Florida will at least be in the Meineke Car Care Bowl or better

If South Florida wins out, they will be BCS bound.

Who saw that one coming?

good thing you said that, cuz I didnt want to jinx it

[Seadragon76]

Then allow me to jinx the USF Bulls... Hell, my Huskies are going for yet another 1 win season (2 if they can bring home what is rightfully theirs: The Apple Cup).

So, if you don't want any Bull in your BCS, root for West Virginia!

[TBGKon]

my thoughts are if (and only if) USF makes a BCS bowl unranked, that will be the end of the BCS as we know it right now

[WJMorris3]

I still say the at-larges should be LSU and Oregon (maybe Georgia) - you want the best teams in the BCS, not the mediocre (go Mountaineers -- keep the Bull out of the BCS!)

[Jigga]

Georgia's going to be the SEC Champ, friends. 'Bama's going down to both LSU and Auburn and won't sniff the BCS. Oregon deserves some at-large love, but Notre Dame moves the needle and should be an at-large if they win out.

The Big East better hope West Virginia wins out, because if not, their conference may be out at the end of the contract.

[NJTank]

Hopefully Rutgers gets in its been too long

[Shumway]

Since when was there a Pointsettia Bowl?

[NJTank]

Its a new Bowl the NCAA figured we needed another one so whamo

[HedleyLamarr]

my thoughts are if (and only if) USF makes a BCS bowl unranked, that will be the end of the BCS as we know it right now

If USF runs the table, they'll be 8-3 and most likely ranked. Their only losses are to top-ten Penn State, top-ten Miami, and Pittsburgh.

[FightinIrish11]

this is my first post here, and fortunately it's a topic that peaks my interest. i just saw the latest BCS poll and it seems Notre Dame is in the top 12 now, 11 to be exact. if they are in the top 12 and win out, they are BCS bound for sure. combine this with a penn state win over michigan state in two weeks, you know the best possible BCS bowl matchup would be Penn State and Notre Dame. two of the nation's most storied programs and both enjoying amazing seasons in their own right. if USC plays anyone other than Texas, ND-PSU will be the best bowl to watch in my opinion. think of the ratings, the money involved with this possible scenario. i'm pulling for these two to meet in the Fiesta.

[CZzyzx41]

I'd like to see BYU in the Pointsettia bowl. Nothing would piss off the 150 Aztecs fans more than seeing their long time rivals in THEIR stadium playing in a bowl game.

OH WAIT...I believe it's happened quite a lot over the last 25 years.

Ha!

[sacker12]

If Troy wins out and La.-Monroe and La.-Lafayette loses, they should win the Sun Belt and thus go to the New Orleans Bowl. Arkansas State will have to lose to us and North Texas to ensure us winning the conference. If we are in a tie with Monroe or Lafayette, they would win since they beat us.

Here are the remaining conference games for the Sun Belt teams still in contention.

Troy: 11/12 @ Arkansas State, 11/19 vs. MTSU

La. Monroe: 11/12 @ MTSU, 11/19 @ North Texas, 11/26 vs. La. Lafayette

Arkansas St.: 11/12 vs. Troy, 11/26 @ North Texas

La. Lafayette: 11/12 vs. FIU, 11/26 vs. La. Monroe

MTSU: 12/1 @ FIU

North Texas: 11/12 @ FAU, 11/19 vs. La.-Monroe, 11/26 vs. Arkansas State

To put it all in a nutshell, Troy will need to win out, and all of the other teams in contention will need to lose one or two of their remaining conference games for us to win the conference.

[ryguy3285]

well one of the things that is hard is how the PBA will pan out.............I think that Walter Ray Jr will do really well

[yh]

From the Mizzou camp, I'm hearing that the most likely destination for the Tigers is the Houston Bowl in the event they go 6-5. Should they somehow miraculously win out (which would mean a virtually unheard of win at K State) then they'd likely get bumped up to the Independence Bowl. There's a chance they might also have a chance to "opt-down" to the Champs Sports Bowl and let Kansas (whose most recent post season game was the CSB) take one of the Texas games.

Of course this excludes the very realistic possibility that Gary Pinkel continues to choke under pressure and the team simply drops its last two games to finish 5-6 once again.

[Michigan Dave]

Iowa beats Wisconsin

MSU beats PSU

Michigan beats OSU

Michigan to Fiesta.

If one of the first 2 doesn't play out (because we KNOW the third will!), Michigan will be in Orlando or Tampa. If we were to lose to OSU, we're going to San Antonio. We won't be in the Sun Bowl.