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.

[Clump]

We will see how TCU and Ole Miss comes out.
And Baylor v. Michigan State should be interesting.
The X Factor in bowl games is always whether their heads are in the game.
It seems like teams that are disappointed with their bowl game or opponent often don’t play well.
For instance Baylor played awful last year and lost to Central Florida in the Fiesta Bowl, and OU beat Alabama in the Sugar.
It’s impossible to tell how the disappointment of missing the payoff will affect them.

[yarddog]

Oklahoma State beating OU was one of the strangest upsets I have seen in some time. OSU had looked awful in the last 5 or 6 games and they were starting a true Freshman QB for the second game of his career.

I will say that Stoops made one really bad decision when he took the penalty and punted again. He admitted it later.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

They are both amazing this year. I only say TCU is #1 because of the mega offensive points they have posted. But it is hard to say. Either way they should be 1 and 2. Of course that can’t happen because they are both Big 12.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Check out Baylor’s non-conference schedule, weak is too kind a word for it . . . "

Show me a major college team that doesn't have a weak non-conference schedule? Notre Dame maybe, who play's USC every year?

[Steve_Seattle]

"Or, how about a Toilet Bowl pitting the 2 worst teams in college football against each other. That could draw a circus-freak type audience."

Don't give them any ideas!

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Ok I looked at Baylor again. It is too close to say who is best. But Baylor lost to an unranked team where TCU only lost to Baylor. Either way, they were robbed.

[Clump]

Uh yea that was weird.
In that rivalry just about anything can happen though.
That hurt Baylor and TCU, but I’m not sure it would have made a difference to the playoff committee anyways.

[lonestar67]

It really irks me that so little discussion is given to Baylor.

They beat two top ten teams.

The head to head with Tcu leaves me wondering why any of these games are even being played?

Baylor beat tcu for the big 12 title but even the big 12 director says that doesn’t matter.

Oklahoma was the preseason #2 in the nation behind Alabama. Big 12 beats big 10 and again it’s ignored.

It’s also suspect that only state schools get in while private Christian schools are shut out.

This stinks bad.

[lonestar67]

And another thing....

Baylors one loss involved an extraordinary record setting 215 yards in penalties called against Baylor at West Virginia.

It was not simply a lot of penalties called it was record setting.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Either way, they were robbed."

I don't have a dog in the fight, but I agree. It's hard not to think, "Hi, I'm from ABC, we want Ohio State."

[Clump]

The shafting of private Christian schools?
No way.
Not in America. sarc/
OU or UT with identical résumés would have been in without a doubt.
But honestly I'm not near as surprised as a lot of Baylor and TCU fans today.
After all, the people on the committee are politicians (in various senses of the word), and as such a microcosm of politicians at large.
Expecting much from them is gravely naive.

[husky ed]

I just pray the FSU beats Oregon.

Not a fan of either. But I HATE Oregon.

Ed

Did I mention I HATE Oregon?

[Steve_Seattle]

Where’s Boise State?

[Steve_Seattle]

Where’s Boise State? Never mind.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Did I mention I HATE Oregon?"

Me too, but I hope they flush FSU, the poster boys for fielding moronic "student athletes" who can't speak proper English. And Alabama isn't far behind. or

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Yes I do not care about them either. Just noticing how impressive they have been while watching K-State lose to both.

[T-Bird45]

We OKST fans are going to have a freakin’ Orange Christmas with the defeat of OU. It was especially sweet since it was due to poor gamesmanship by Medium Game Bob. It was crazy here at my house over those last 7-1/2 minutes plus the OT. That punt return was a thing of beauty!

[FamiliarFace]

A conference does need at least 12 teams to have a conference championship game.
http://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2014-12-05/changes-may-be-ahead-conference-championships-playoff-era

[dfwgator]

Most likely that cost TCU/Baylor, because it killed their Strength of Schedule. So the other OSU thanks you.

[dfwgator]

I think it is especially the case with teams full of guys about to turn pro. At that point they are more concerned with protecting their future career than winning a meaningless game.