College Football's Post-Week 12 Bowl Projections
Connor Halliday
With 12 weeks in the books, college football’s bowl and national title picture is starting to come into focus.
Alabama and Florida State are headed for an intriguing national championship in Pasadena - provided both teams finish the season without a loss. The Crimson Tide still has to play Auburn, while the Seminoles’ toughest game is a desperate Florida team in the Swamp or the ACC Championship.
With Stanford’s loss to USC, Oregon jumps back to projected Pac-12 champion. The Ducks are projected to play Ohio State, while Wisconsin earns a second spot for the Big Ten in our BCS picks.
Washington State’s upset win over Arizona means the Cougars are just one win away from bowl eligibility. If Mike Leach’s team can knock off Utah this week, Washington State should find a home as an at-large selection. The Pac-12 will likely have more teams bowl eligible than available spots. However, with an opening in the Poinsettia and potentially the Hawaii Bowl, the Pac-12 should be able to find spots for its bowl-eligible teams.
The bowl season doesn’t start until December, but with less than one month to go in the season, it's never too early to take a look at what the matchups might look like.
The post-Week 12 bowl projections are a mixture between projections for the next few weeks, how things would look if the season ended today, and the results from the first 12 weeks of action. Expect more changes over the next few weeks. With several teams projected to be right around the six-win mark, more at-large spots in bowls should open in the next month.
A few teams barely missed the projections this week, including Syracuse and Utah from BCS conferences. And Texas State, Arkansas State, Ohio, FAU, ULM and Troy from the non-BCS ranks.
College Football's Post-Week 12 Bowl Projections for 2013
Bowl | Tie-In | Date | Projection |
New Mexico | Dec. 21 | Pac-12 vs. MWC | Colo. State vs. Oregon State |
Famous Idaho Potato | Dec. 21 | MAC vs. MWC | UNLV vs. Bowling Green |
Las Vegas | Dec. 21 | Pac-12 vs. MWC | Boise State vs. USC |
New Orleans | Dec. 21 | Sun Belt vs. CUSA | UL Lafayette vs. Tulane |
Beef 'O' Brady's | Dec. 23 | American vs. CUSA | Toledo* vs. MTSU |
Hawaii | Dec. 24 | MWC vs. CUSA | SJSU vs. Rice |
Little Caesars Pizza | Dec. 26 | MAC vs. Big Ten | No. Illinois vs. Maryland* |
Poinsettia | Dec. 26 | Army vs. MWC | Utah State vs. Buffalo* |
Military | Dec. 27 | CUSA vs. ACC | E. Carolina vs. Boston College |
Texas | Dec. 27 | Big 12 vs. Big Ten | K-State vs. Iowa |
Fight Hunger | Dec. 27 | BYU vs. Pac-12 | BYU vs. Washington |
Pinstripe | Dec. 28 | American vs. Big 12 | Cincinnati vs. Notre Dame |
Belk | Dec. 28 | American vs. ACC | Houston vs. North Carolina |
Russell Athletic | Dec. 28 | American vs. ACC | Louisville vs. Miami |
Buffalo Wild Wings | Dec. 28 | Big 12 vs. Big Ten | Texas vs. Michigan |
Armed Forces | Dec. 30 | MWC vs. Navy | Navy vs. SDSU |
Music City | Dec. 30 | ACC vs. SEC | Georgia vs. Pittsburgh |
Alamo | Dec. 30 | Big 12 vs. Pac-12 | Oklahoma vs. Stanford |
Holiday | Dec. 30 | Pac-12 vs. Big 12 | Arizona State vs. Texas Tech |
AdvoCare V100 | Dec. 31 | ACC vs. SEC | Georgia Tech vs. Arizona* |
Sun | Dec. 31 | Pac-12 vs. ACC | UCLA vs. Virginia Tech |
Liberty | Dec. 31 | SEC vs. CUSA | Tennessee vs. Marshall |
Chick-fil-A | Dec. 31 | SEC vs. ACC | South Carolina vs. Duke |
Gator | Jan. 1 | SEC vs. Big Ten | Ole Miss vs. Minnesota |
Heart of Dallas | Jan. 1 | Big Ten vs. CUSA | North Texas vs. Washington State* |
Outback | Jan. 1 | SEC vs. Big Ten | Missouri vs. Nebraska |
Capital One | Jan. 1 | SEC vs. Big Ten | Michigan State vs. Texas A&M |
Rose | Jan. 1 | BCS vs. BCS | Ohio State vs. Oregon |
Fiesta | Jan. 1 | BCS vs. BCS | Fresno State vs. Baylor |
Sugar | Jan. 2 | BCS vs. BCS | Auburn vs. UCF |
Cotton | Jan. 3 | SEC vs. Big 12 | LSU vs. Oklahoma State |
Orange | Jan. 3 | BCS vs. BCS | Clemson vs. Wisconsin |
BBVA Compass | Jan. 4 | SEC vs. American | Vanderbilt vs. Rutgers |
GoDaddy | Jan. 5 | MAC vs. Sun Belt | Ball State vs. Western Kentucky |
National Title | Jan. 6 | BCS vs. BCS | Alabama vs. Florida State |
* Indicates conference is not expected to fill its alloted bowl slots, leaving an at-large spot available.
Bold indicates team has accepted bid to bowl.
Related College Football Content
ACC Week 12 Awards and Power Rankings
Big 12 Week 12 Awards and Power Rankings
Big Ten Week 12 Awards and Power Rankings
Pac-12 Week 12 Awards and Power Rankings
SEC Week 12 Awards and Power Rankings
Stats to Know from Week 12
