College Football Playoff and Bowl Projections

CBS Sports ^ | 12/7/2014

[iowamark]

College Football Playoff
Bowl	Date	Location	Matchup	Prediction
Championship Bowl	Jan. 12	Arlington, Texas	Semifinal winners	TBD
Sugar Bowl	Jan. 1	New Orleans, La.	Semifinal	Alabama* vs. Ohio State*
Rose Bowl	Jan. 1	Pasadena, Calif.	Semifinal	Oregon* vs. Florida State*

Selection Committee Bowl Games
Bowl	Date	Location	Matchup	Prediction
Cotton Bowl	Jan. 1	Arlington, Tex.	At-Large vs. At-Large	Baylor* vs. Michigan State*
Orange Bowl	Dec. 31	Miami, Fla.	ACC vs SEC/Big Ten/Notre Dame	Georgia Tech* vs. Miss. State*
Fiesta Bowl	Dec. 31	Glendale, Ariz.	At-Large vs At-Large	Arizona* vs. Boise State*
Peach Bowl	Dec. 31	Atlanta, Ga.	At-Large vs. At-Large	TCU* vs. Ole Miss*

Other Bowl Games
Bowl	Date	Location	Matchup	Prediction
GoDaddy.com Bowl	Jan. 4	Mobile, Ala.	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Toledo* vs. Ark. State*
Birmingham Bowl	Jan. 3	Birmingham, Ala.	American vs. SEC	East Carolina* vs. Florida*
Cactus Bowl	Jan. 2	Tempe, Ariz.	Big 12 vs. Pac-12	Okla. State* vs. Washington*
Alamo Bowl	Jan. 2	San Antonio, Tex.	Big 12 vs. Pac-12	Kansas State* vs. UCLA*
TaxSlayer Bowl	Jan. 2	Jacksonville, Fla.	ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC	Iowa* vs. Tennessee*
Armed Forces Bowl	Jan. 2	Fort Worth, Tex.	American vs. Army	Houston* vs. Pittsburgh*+
Outback Bowl	Jan. 1	Tampa, Fla.	Big Ten vs. SEC	Wisconsin* vs. Auburn*
Citrus Bowl	Jan. 1	Orlando, Fla.	ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC	Minnesota* vs. Missouri*
Foster Farms Bowl	Dec. 30	Santa Clara, Calif.	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Maryland* vs. Stanford*
Belk Bowl	Dec. 30	Charlotte, N.C.	ACC vs. SEC	Louisville* vs. Georgia*
Music City Bowl	Dec. 30	Nashville, Tenn.	ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC	Notre Dame* vs. LSU*
Texas Bowl	Dec. 29	Houston, Tex.	Big 12 vs. SEC	Texas* vs. Arkansas*
Russell Athletic Bowl	Dec. 29	Orlando, Fla.	ACC vs. Big 12	Clemson* vs. Oklahoma*
Liberty Bowl	Dec. 29	Memphis, Tenn.	Big 12 vs. SEC	West Virginia* vs. Texas A&M*
Holiday Bowl	Dec. 27	San Diego, Calif.	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Nebraska* vs. USC*
Pinstripe Bowl	Dec. 27	New York, N.Y.	ACC vs. Big Ten	Boston College* vs. Penn State*
Independence Bowl	Dec. 27	Shreveport, La.	SEC vs. ACC	South Carolina* vs. Miami (FL)*
Sun Bowl	Dec. 27	El Paso, Tex.	ACC vs. Pac-12	Duke* vs. Arizona State*
Military Bowl	Dec. 27	Annapolis, Md.	ACC vs. American	Virginia Tech* vs. Cincinnati*
Bitcoin Bowl	Dec. 26	St. Petersburg, Fla.	ACC vs. American	N.C. State* vs. UCF*
Quick Lane Bowl	Dec. 26	Detroit, Mich.	ACC vs. Big Ten	North Carolina* vs. Rutgers*
Heart of Dallas Bowl	Dec. 26	Dallas, Tex.	Big Ten/Big 12 vs. C-USA	Illinois* vs. Louisiana Tech*
Hawaii Bowl	Dec. 24	Honolulu, Hawaii	Mountain West vs. C-USA	Fresno State* vs. Rice*
Bahamas Bowl	Dec. 24	Nassau, Bahamas	C-USA vs. MAC	W. Kentucky* vs. C. Michigan*
Poinsettia Bowl	Dec. 23	San Diego, Calif.	Mountain West vs. Navy	San Diego State* vs. Navy*
Boca Raton Bowl	Dec. 23	Boca Raton, Fla.	C-USA vs. MAC	Marshall* vs. N. Illinois*
Miami Beach Bowl	Dec. 22	Miami, Fla.	American vs. BYU	Memphis* vs. BYU*
Camellia Bowl	Dec. 20	Montgomery, Ala.	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Bowling Green* vs. South Alabama*
Idaho Potato Bowl	Dec. 20	Boise, Idaho	MAC vs. Mountain West	W. Michigan* vs. Air Force*
Royal Purple Bowl	Dec. 20	Las Vegas, Nev.	Mountain West vs. Pac-12	Colorado State* vs. Utah*
New Mexico Bowl	Dec. 20	Albuquerque, N.M.	Mountain West vs. C-USA	Utah State* vs. Texas-El Paso*
New Orleans Bowl	Dec. 20	New Orleans, La.	Sun Belt vs. Mountain West	UL Lafayette* vs. Nevada*

+ - Replacement team. * - Teams have accepted bid. One member of the Group of Five (American Athletic Conference, MAC, Mountain West, Conference-USA and Sun Belt) will be selected to play in the Cotton, Fiesta or Peach Bowl. If Army is bowl-eligible, it will play in the Armed Forces Bowl. If Navy is bowl-eligible, it will play in the Poinsettia Bowl. If BYU is bowl-eligible, it will play in the Miami Beach Bowl.

[yarddog]

Thanks, I knew I had read that somewhere.

Maybe the “Big 12” thought they could fool them by calling themselves that.

[dfwgator]

Here is one problem with the playoff system. It has essentially turned bowl games into the college football version of the NIT. Who cares?

[longhorn too]

Since TCU or Baylor did not make the pick, I will hold my nose and root for Oregon!

[Western Phil]

Gotham Bowl 1962 - http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=132

[FamiliarFace]

It’s funny, they used to have 14 teams, but lost 4 (A&M, Missouri, Colorado, and Nebraska) to other conferences once the realignment started in 2011-2012. I have no idea why they didn’t pull in two other teams at that point in the transition, other than stubbornness. Some say that it’s UT’s fault for not wanting to admit that they aren’t the powerhouse team they think they are.

[okie01]

Some say that it’s UT’s fault for not wanting to admit that they aren’t the powerhouse team they think they are.

I spent about two years of my life negotiating licenses to use the logos of, as I recall, 98 different colleges.

Only two weren't satisfied by our standard contract and insisted on a.) a higher royalty rate and b.) greater control over usage. Their position was derived from a sense of inflated importance (i.e. arrogance).

Those two universities were Notre Dame and Texas.

They finally settled for our standard deal once I'd convinced them we'd just have to sell more Texas A&M mugs to make up the difference (or Indiana, Purdue, Michigan and Michigan State, etc.).

Real assholes to deal with...

[yarddog]

I know of one school, which shall remain unnamed, who has had their logo or one very similar used by numerous other schools.

They threatened them with a lawsuit but always agreed to let them use it if they paid a nominal fee, something like $10. I guess they just wanted to maintain ownership of it.

[FamiliarFace]

Hmm...that’s an interesting story.

[okie01]

They threatened them with a lawsuit but always agreed to let them use it if they paid a nominal fee, something like $10. I guess they just wanted to maintain ownership of it.

Two stories. And I'll name names.

First, I was shocked by how unprofessional some universities were about licensing their logo (this was in the late seventies). For example, the licensing authority at Michigan State (Michigan State!) was a student who worked part-time in the Business Office. She had repro quality B&W art of the Spartan...but, for the green color, she gave me a paint chip (a paint chip! not an ink spec!). I got the impression, too, that she was the one who had selected that particular chip...

Second, the licensing officer at Oregon told me that their logo was not trademarked. And that, institutionally, they were very nervous about using it in any kind of prominent fashion. Seems that the then President of Oregon was a fishing buddy of Walt Disney. And on a particular fishing trip on the Rogue, the president noted that, though their team name was "Ducks", they had no logo to represent it.

Walt immediately sat down and, there in the tent, proceeded to sketch a "Donald Duck", passing it to the president. "You can use this", he said.

They never signed a licensing agreement with Walt, which would've allowed them to use the character without any risk. Now, if they used Donald, they were seriously concerned about the possibility of a lawsuit from Disney Corp. As a consequence, they paid us to do a logo for the project and allow them to use it on a limited basis. They evidently had several agreements along this line -- and they used a variety of logos at the time. We chose to work with the "Webfeet" nickname and did a pair of duck tracks for them.

Oregon may have rectified the problem since -- or worked their way around it.

[tatown]

It’s almost as if the committee is trying to Engineer a ‘bye’ for both Alabama and Oregon. Pathetic......

[Impy]

Well, here we have it. Baylor is #5, TCU is #6. Committee impressed with Ohio State’s rape of Wisconsin.

[MHGinTN]

Well, regardless of the Jameis squeakers this year, FSU is not a bye for any team. Other than Arkansas, which has the biggest offensive line in ALL OF FOOTBALL including the pros, FSU has a n offensive line of giants. No, FSU is not a bye ...

As for Alabama, the Ohio State game will be a challenge because of the passing game Ohio State has finally gelled together. Auburn exposed a weakness in Bama's secondary. Ohio State has the people to exploit that. I am waiting to see how OHio State's defense handles the blocking for Henry and company. Henry is bigger than the secondary of Ohio State, so if he gets past the front line, he will be a freight train on the loose.

Amari Cooper will remain the biggest threat to the State defensive backs, and that will make for an interesting day for #4 in the flat and through the line gaps Bama may be able to generate.

IF Bama and The Ducks make it to a final game, the match-up will be problematic for Bama's secondary. ... And that's enough prognosticating from the peanut gallery.

[tatown]

Ohio St. was a 4 pt dog to the Badgers for a reason. This was QB #3’s first start. Nobody really knows why but Wisconsin did not show up (ie Arizona in the P-12 title game). I’m guessing that Alabama will show up and the pressure will result in QB #3, playing like a #3 QB. Bama will likely beat them by 10+.

FSU will get smoked by Oregon. The Ducks are better by 10+ as well IMO.

[Delta Dawn]

With the exception of, The Citadel, FSU’s opponents this year came from one of the Big 5 conferences...

[Flycatcher]

Bookmark

[MHGinTN]

FSU can only beat themselves. Oregon cannot stop the Noles offense. BUT, I doubt if FSU’s defense can handle the Duck’s wing attack.

[tatown]

As an Oregon St. alum, I have the unfortunate curse of having to listen to their fans squawking every single year. There is no sport team that I despise more than them, however, I am more than willing to admit how good they are. Their defense is gelling and their offense (with Mariota) is the best in the country. In my opinion, they will blow FSU out of the building. The game will be over by halftime. The first time FSU doesn’t score they will be playing catch up, which is no way to beat them.

I hope I’m wrong but it would not surprise me to see Oregon and Bama win by 3 or 4 TD’s. TCU and Baylor would have been better suited to compete

[tatown]

Just checked and Vegas has Bama and Oregon as 10 pt favs. Thanks to the committee’s decision we will have two sh&t games.

[Perdogg]

ping

[subterfuge]

Uh hem...that’s Florida STATE