Our title game matchup remains the same, but Stanford’s loss at USC means the Cardinal are out of the BCS picture, the Wisconsin Badgers are in and there are repercussions down the line for the rest of the Pac-12 and Big Ten. Without further ado.
(A reminder we are presuming the favorites win the remainder of their games for these projections. That is 100 percent definitely not going to happen, but it's the methodology we're going to use.)
BCS Title Game (January 6): Alabama vs. Florida State
Both teams took care of business Saturday, with Florida State’s road to Pasadena looking considerably easier than Alabama’s, as the Tide still have to deal with the Iron Bowl and either Missouri or South Carolina in the SEC Championship game. If one of these teams falter, Baylor or Ohio State would slide in.
[Watch: Wisconsin on upset alert against Minnesota]
Rose Bowl (January 1): Ohio State vs. Oregon
The Buckeyes are projected to take one slot as Big Ten champion (you could also see Michigan State here should the Spartans pull the upset in the conference title game), and they’ll likely face Oregon, given new life in the Pac-12 race with Stanford’s second league loss. This will be a rematch of the 2010 Rose.
Orange Bowl (January 3): Clemson vs. Wisconsin
Sugar Bowl (January 2): Auburn vs. Central Florida
The Sugar Bowl gets to replace No. 1 Alabama first, and does so by taking Auburn, who will be 10-2 if we presume a loss to Bama. The Orange Bowl then gets to replace Florida State, and does so by taking Tajh Boyd, Sammy Watkins and Clemson. The Orange then has the first at-large pick and takes Wisconsin, who will probably be 10-2 with their two losses being the weird game down at Arizona State and a competitive loss in Columbus.
(There are plenty of other options for the Orange here, including the Michigan State/Ohio State loser, Louisville or the Oklahoma State/Baylor loser.)
The Sugar then has to choose between American Conference champ Central Florida and Mountain West champ Fresno State. They go with the closer team geographically and bring George O’Leary’s Knights in to face the Tigers.
Fiesta Bowl (January 1): Baylor vs. Fresno State
Baylor slides in here as Big 12 champion, although that honor could still go to Oklahoma State if the Pokes win Saturday. In this scenario the Bears face Fresno State, who are in contention for an automatic BCS bid (due to being a conference champ that finished in the top 16 and ahead of another BCS conference champ). Should Fresno State fall, Northern Illinois could slide in here as long as the Huskies’ record stays unmarred.
And here are the rest of the bowls. A * denotes a team filling in for another conference that couldn’t fulfill all of its postseason obligations:
Gildan New Mexico Bowl
Albuquerque, N.M. – Dec. 21
Pac-12 No. 7 vs. MW No. 4 or 5
Arizona vs. Colorado State
Las Vegas Bowl
Las Vegas - Dec. 21
MW No. 1 vs. Pac-12 No. 5
Boise State vs. UCLA
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Boise, Idaho – Dec. 21
MAC No. 3 vs. MW No. 6
Bowling Green vs. UNLV
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
New Orleans – Dec. 21
C-USA No. 6 vs. Sun Belt No. 1
Tulane vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl St Petersburg
St Petersburg, Fla. – Dec. 23
C-USA No. 4 vs. AAC No. 6
Middle Tennessee vs. Toledo*
Sheraton Hawai`i Bowl
Honolulu – Dec. 24
C-USA No. 2 vs. MW No. 5
North Texas vs. San Jose State
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl
Detroit – Dec. 26
MAC No. 1 vs. Big Ten No. 8
Northern Illinois vs. Syracuse*
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
San Diego – Dec. 26
Army/MAC vs. MW No. 2
Buffalo vs. San Diego State
Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman
Annapolis, Md. – Dec. 27
C-USA No. 5 vs. ACC No. 8
Marshall vs. Maryland
Texas Bowl
Houston – Dec. 27
Big Ten No. 6 vs. Big 12 No. 6
Iowa vs. Kansas State
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
San Francisco – Dec. 27
BYU vs. Pac-12 No. 6
BYU vs. Washington
New Era Pinstripe Bowl
New York – Dec. 28
AAC No. 4 vs. Big 12 No. 7
Rutgers vs. Notre Dame*
Belk Bowl
Charlotte, N.C. – Dec. 28
AAC No. 3 vs. ACC No. 5
Houston vs. Miami (FL)
Russell Athletic Bowl
Orlando, Fla. – Dec. 28
ACC No. 3 vs. AAC No. 2
Georgia Tech vs. Louisville
Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl
Tempe, Ariz. – Dec. 28
Big Ten No. 4 of 5 vs. Big 12 No. 4
Michigan vs. Texas
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
Fort Worth, Texas – Dec. 30
MWC No. 3 vs. C-USA No.3/Navy
Utah State vs. Navy
Music City Bowl
Nashville, Tenn. – Dec. 30
SEC No. 7 vs. ACC No. 6
Georgia vs. North Carolina
Valero Alamo Bowl
San Antonio – Dec. 30
Pac-12 No. 2 vs. Big 12 No. 3
Stanford vs. Oklahoma
Holiday Bowl
San Diego – Dec. 30
Big 12 No. 5 vs. Pac-12 No. 3
Texas Tech vs. USC
AdvoCare V100 Bowl
Shreveport, La. – Dec. 31
ACC No. 7 vs. SEC No. 10
Boston College vs. Louisiana-Monroe*
Hyundai Sun Bowl
El Paso, Texas – Dec. 31
ACC No. 4 vs. Pac-12 No. 4
Virginia Tech vs. Arizona State
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Memphis, Tenn. – Dec. 31
C-USA No. 1 or American vs. SEC No. 8 or 9
East Carolina vs. Tennessee
Chick-fil-A Bowl
Atlanta – Dec. 31
ACC No. 2 vs. SEC No. 5
Duke vs. Missouri
TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl
Jacksonville, Fla. – Jan. 1
Big Ten No. 4 or 5 vs. SEC No. 6
Minnesota vs. Ole Miss
Heart of Dallas Bowl
Dallas – Jan. 1
Big Ten No. 7 vs C-USA
UTSA* vs. Rice
Capital One Bowl
Orlando, Fla. – Jan. 1
Big Ten No. 2 vs. SEC No. 2
Michigan State vs. Texas A&M
Outback Bowl
Tampa, Fla. – Jan. 1
Big Ten No. 3 vs. SEC No. 3
Nebraska vs. LSU
AT&T Cotton Bowl
Arlington, Texas – Jan. 3
Big 12 No. 2 vs. SEC No. 3 or 4
Oklahoma State vs. South Carolina
BBVA Compass Bowl
Birmingham, Ala – Jan. 4
SEC No. 8 or 9 vs. American No. 5
Vanderbilt vs. Cincinnati
GoDaddy Bowl
Mobile, Ala. – Jan. 5
Sun Belt No. 2 vs. MAC No. 2
Arkansas State vs. Ball State
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Teams currently not bowl eligible we’re projecting to get six wins: Colorado State, Louisiana-Monroe, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, San Jose State, Syracuse, Tennessee (must beat Vandy at home Saturday), Washington State (would certainly help to beat Utah at home Saturday).
Notables teams currently not eligible we’re projecting to fall short of six wins: Florida, Indiana, Mississippi State, Northwestern, Utah.