Bowl Projections: Week 14

It's the last round of projections before the actual selections are announced next week. Barring any major upsets this weekend, most teams have at least a good feel for where they'll be headed.

It would be interesting to see how the bowl matchups would shake up if Tennessee pulled the minor upset this weekend and knocked off LSU. The Vols would obviously wind up in the Sugar Bowl, but would the Cotton take LSU over Arkansas even thought the Hogs just beat LSU straight up in Baton Rouge? If not, would LSU fall from a likely berth in the BCS Championship Game all the way down to a spot in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl?

Bowl Projections: Week 13

More and more consistency arising in the bowl projections. LSU and Georgia seem locked into BCS berths, while Kentucky is apparently heading to Atlanta. It will interesting to see what happens if Vanderbilt can pull the mild upset this weekend and knock off Wake Forest. That would mean 11 bowl-eligible teams from the SEC and only 9 tie-ins.

Bowl Projections: Week 12

Putting these out a couple of days earlier than normal, since bowl talk seems to be the hot topic these days.

Most notable in this whole equation is, of the 3 pundits listed so far, none has South Carolina reaching a bowl with an SEC tie in. They're predicted to end up in the Texas Bowl or Armed Forces Bowls, only because the PAC-10 and Conference WhoAreThey USA won't have enough bowl eligible members. This is a Gamecock team that was #6 in the country at one point and some people... ahem... actually thought they'd win the East. Now they're relegated to the leftover scraps of bowl games.

*UPDATE (11/14)*: I added in the Fox Sports predictions, though I'm now confused. Last week, Fox Sports had Georgia slated for a Sugar Bowl appearance. This week, despite the 'Dawgs smacking around one of the hottest teams in the country in Auburn, UGA is demoted (in their eyes) to a Cotton Bowl appearance. Not winning the East is the best thing possible for the 'Dawgs' bowl chances. As well as they've played lately, they're a lock for the Sugar Bowl unless they lose. They close with Kentucky and Georgia Tech, 2 teams they should handle, which would leave them 10-2 and a Top 10 team. As long as LSU beats Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Tennessee, no way UGA heads west to Dallas.


Bowls, Polls, and Tattered Souls: Tackling the Chaos and Controversy that Reign Over College Football

Bowl Predictions: Week 11

There's really starting to be some balance, at least across the top, as ESPN, CBS, and Fox are all projecting LSU in the BCS Championship game and Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. If Auburn knocks off the 'Dawgs this weekend though, all that will be thrown out the window. Bubble teams like Mississippi State are hoping that the SEC manages to get two teams into BCS bowls, thus opening up another bowl spot in the regular bowl rotation.

My biggest problem with these projections is Ivan Maisel putting Mississippi State in the Independence Bowl and leaving South Carolina at home for the holidays. South Carolina will finish with a better overall record - 7-5 to 6-6 - and, more importantly, will have a head-to-head victory this season. That may all change by Saturday night though as there are five conference games this weekend.

Bowl Predictions: Week 10

We're headed for a very muddled mess when it comes to end of the year bowl selections. There is a good chance that 11 teams will be bowl-eligible when the regular season concludes in less than a month. Teams like Arkansas, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt may all be jockeying for one remaining bowl spot in Shreveport.

As for the rest of the league, as you can see, no one is really sure where they'll end up. Every team has at least 2 options projected, while Tennessee and Kentucky have a different projection from each "expert".


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Bowl Predictions: Week 9

A little bit more consistency throughout the projections, well… until you see that Fox Sports projects Arkansas to play in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. They also have WVU/tOSU in the BCS Championship Game, so take that for what it’s worth.

While no team is unanimous across the board, both writers from ESPN and the guys from CBS Sportsline agree on LSU, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn, and Arkansas. While I’ve said previously that I believe that South Carolina would take the Sugar Bowl spot, that’s more wide open than ever now. If the Gamecocks can’t get up to beat the teams they’re supposed to beat, how are they going to get to a BCS game?

As usual, the highlighted cells are BCS games...


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Week 8 Bowl Predictions

Despite LSU's loss to Kentucky, CBS Sportsline, Fox Sports, and Mark Schlabach of ESPN still believe they'll play their back to the BCS Championship game. Kentucky and South Carolina are also being projected to make BCS bowls now by some. I agree that South Carolina winds up in the Sugar Bowl, but I see Kentucky winding up in the Outback Bowl.

Ivan Maisel of ESPN even believes that Mississippi State becomes bowl-eligible while Arkansas doesn't. He projects the Bullies to be headed to Shreveport for New Year's Eve.

The grey highlighted cells are BCS Bowl Games.


Bowls, Polls, and Tattered Souls: Tackling the Chaos and Controversy that Reign Over College Football

Bowl Predictions: Week 7

Now that we're basically halfway through the regular season, I think intelligible Bowl Predictions can be made. It's such a crap shoot in the early season, that until everybody has played a few games in conference, I won't even look at them myself.

Anyway, here's the Bowl Predictions from ESPN, CBS Sportsline, and Fox Sports. They all agree that LSU will be in the BCS Championship Game and that Florida will join them in the BCS in the Sugar Bowl. I still think South Carolina wins the East and takes that Sugar Bowl spot, but we'll see...


Sport's Illustrated, SEC 75th Anniversary Commemorative 2007 Issue