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CNNSI.com's latest bowl projections
Posted: Sunday November 25, 2001 7:14 PM
Updated: Wednesday November 28, 2001 10:42 PM
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Illinois' Bobby Jackson (left) and Kurt Kittner are headed to a BCS bowl after capturing the Big Ten trophy. AP |
By Stewart Mandel, CNNSI.com
Just how crazy was Thanksgiving weekend in college football? So much so that in roughly a 28-hour span, Nebraska went from top national title contender to likely Holiday Bowl participant, then back into the mix for a BCS bowl game.
Bo
With so much happening so quickly, it's probably best we break this week's bowl projections into a conference-by-conference assessment:
ACC: Maryland is BCS-bound, while Florida State (6-4) is headed to the Gator Bowl, regardless of the outcome of Saturday's Georgia Tech game. The Jackets (7-4) are headed to the Seattle Bowl. There likely will be two more bowl-eligible teams than ACC games. One, probably Clemson (5-5, Saturday vs. Duke), should get an at-large bid elsewhere. Wake Forest (6-5) likely will be left out.
Big East: If Virginia Tech upsets Miami, the 'Canes (10-0) would slip from the Rose to the Orange Bowl, while the Hokies (8-2) have already locked up the Gator. The Gator preferred Tech and its large traveling fan base over second-place Syracuse (9-3), which heads to the Insight.com Bowl. Pittsburgh (5-5) needs a win Saturday against UAB to head to the Tangerine.
Big Ten: Following Ohio State's upset of Michigan, Illinois (10-1) is headed to the BCS and the Wolverines (8-3) and Buckeyes (7-4) are going to the Citrus and Outback bowls, in that order. Penn State (5-5) stands one win against Virginia from a once-unthinkable bowl bid, and is such a good story it would likely pass Purdue for the Alamo Bowl. Look for slumping Michigan State (5-5) to be the odd man out in this league.
Big 12: The winner of Saturday's Texas-Colorado championship game is headed to the Fiesta Bowl, unless the Horns sneak into the Rose, in which case Nebraska would be a sure at-large pick by the Fiesta. The loser slips to the Cotton or Holiday, with Oklahoma filling the other. From there, the pecking order appears to be Texas Tech-Kansas State-Iowa State-Texas A&M.;
Pac-10: This league is pretty much decided. Oregon is going to the Fiesta (or Rose), Washington to the Holiday, Washington State to the Sun, Stanford to the Seattle and USC to Las Vegas. One-time national title hopeful UCLA may be MIA. Oregon State still can sneak into the action by upsetting Oregon on Saturday.
SEC: Much will be determined by Saturday's Florida-Tennessee and LSU-Auburn games. Both the Gators (9-1) and Vols (9-1) appear BCS-bound, but in which order? The winner between the two Tigers (both 7-3) will head to the SEC championship game and, most likely, the Cotton Bowl, while the loser slips to the Music City or Independence. A wild-card is Alabama (5-5), which can become bowl-eligible by beating Southern Miss.
Below is our stab at projecting the postseason lineup, with updates to follow each week leading up the Dec. 9 official pairings.
| CNNSI.com's Bowl Projections |
|---|
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CNNSI.com's Stewart Mandel plots the 25 bowl pairings. Through Nov. 24 games:
|
| Date |
Bowl |
Team |
Team |
| Jan. 3 |
Rose |
Miami (BCS No. 1) |
Florida (BCS No. 2) |
| Jan. 2 |
Orange |
Maryland (ACC champ) |
Tennessee (BCS at-large) |
| Jan. 1 |
Fiesta |
Oregon (Pac-10 champ) |
Texas (Big 12 champ) |
| Jan. 1 |
Sugar |
Illinois (Big Ten champ) |
Nebraska (BCS at-large) |
| Jan. 1 |
Citrus |
Michigan* (Big Ten No. 2) |
South Carolina (SEC) |
| Jan. 1 |
Cotton |
Oklahoma (Big 12 No. 2) |
LSU (SEC) |
| Jan. 1 |
Gator |
Florida St.* (ACC No. 2) |
Va. Tech* (Big East No. 2) |
| Jan. 1 |
Outback |
Ohio State* (Big Ten No. 3) |
Georgia (SEC) |
| Dec. 31 |
Peach |
North Carolina (ACC No. 3) |
Ole Miss (SEC) |
| Dec. 31 |
Sun |
Purdue (Big Ten No. 5) |
Wash. St.* (Pac-10 No. 3) |
| Dec. 31 |
Liberty |
Louisville* (C-USA champ) |
BYU (MWC champ) |
| Dec. 31 |
Silicon |
Fresno State (WAC No. 2) |
Clemson (at-large) |
| Dec. 31 |
Humanitarian |
Louisiana Tech (WAC No. 1) |
Iowa (at-large) |
| Dec. 29 |
Alamo |
Penn State (Big Ten No. 4) |
Texas Tech (Big 12 No. 4) |
| Dec. 29 |
Insight.com |
Syracuse* (Big East No. 3) |
Kansas State (Big 12 No. 5) |
| Dec. 29 |
Motor City |
Toledo* (MAC No. 2) |
Cincinnati (C-USA No. 4) |
| Dec. 28 |
Holiday |
Washington* (Pac-10 No. 2) |
Colorado (Big 12 No. 3) |
| Dec. 28 |
Music City |
B. College* (Big East No. 4) |
Auburn (SEC) |
| Dec. 28 |
GalleryFurniture |
Texas A&M; (Big 12 No. 7) |
S. Miss (C-USA No. 3) |
| Dec. 27 |
Independence |
Iowa State (Big 12 No. 6) |
Arkansas (SEC) |
| Dec. 27 |
Seattle |
Stanford* (Pac-10 No. 4) |
Georgia Tech* (ACC No. 5) |
| Dec. 25 |
Las Vegas |
USC* (Pac-10 No. 5) |
Utah* (MWC No. 2) |
| Dec. 20 |
Tangerine |
N.C. State (ACC No. 4) |
Pittsburgh (Big East No. 5) |
| Dec. 19 |
Mobile |
East Carolina (C-USA No. 2) |
Marshall* (MAC No. 1) |
| Dec. 18 |
New Orleans |
N. Texas* (Sun Belt champ) |
Colorado St.* (MWC No. 3) |
* -- team has been invited
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