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You'll notice that there is a notable local team missing from my projections this week ...
GildanNew Mexico Bowl –Arizona vs. Nevada
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl – *Utah State vs. Western Michigan*San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl – BYU vs. San Diego State. Same as last week. If the Cougars are bowl-eligible, this is where they are headed to face the hometown Aztecs. Not a great bowl game, not a bad destination, though.
Beef O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl – UCONN vs. East Carolina
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl – Marshall vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
Maaco Bowl Las Vegas – UCLA vs. Boise State
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl – Wyoming vs. Houston
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl – Ohio vs. Iowa
Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman – Cal vs. Duke
Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl – Arizona State vs. Oklahoma State
Belk Bowl – Cincinnati vs. Georgia Tech
AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl – Wake Forest vs. Arkansas
Russell Athletic Bowl – Virginia Tech vs. Rutgers
Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas – Baylor vs. Northwestern
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl – Southern Miss vs. Air Force
New Era Pinstripe Bowl – Texas Tech vs. Pittsburgh
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl – Washington vs. Iowa State
Valero Alamo Bowl – Oklahoma vs. Stanford
Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl – TCU vs. Wisconsin. Would have never thought that a rematch between these two teams would have taken place in this bowl game.
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl – Tennessee vs. Miami (FL)
Hyundai Sun Bowl – NC State vs. Oregon State
AutoZone Liberty Bowl – Missouri vs. Central Florida
Chick-Fil-A Bowl – Mississippi State vs. Clemson
TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl – Purdue vs. Texas A&M
TicketCity Bowl – UTEP vs. Minnesota
Outback Bowl – Florida vs. Michigan
Capitol One Bowl – Georgia vs. Michigan State
AT&T Cotton Bowl – South Carolina vs. Texas
BBVA Compass Bowl – South Florida vs. Auburn
GoDaddy.com Bowl – Louisiana-Monroe vs. Toledo
BCSBowls
DiscoverBCSNational Championship Game – Alabama vs. Florida State. I’ve been holding onto LSU in this one because that’s whom I picked at the beginning of the season, but it’s getting harder by the week to not put Alabama here, so I finally gave in. Florida State has a pretty weak schedule the rest of the way so it should be these two teams there. Although, look out for Oregon here, too. They’ll have to beat USC twice, but that’s doable for the Ducks.TostitosFiesta Bowl – West Virginia vs. *USC*. I’m projecting West Virginia to win the Big 12, so that will put them here, but watch out for Kansas State. The Fiesta Bowl gets the first at-large pick this season and USC is the most appetizing team available. Although, I could see them taking Notre Dame here instead because of a bigger national fan base that travels better.
Allstate Sugar Bowl – LSU vs. Notre Dame. With Alabama going to the national title game, the Sugar Bowl will replace the SEC champion with LSU. The Sugar Bowl gets the second at-large pick and should take Notre Dame who I project to win ten games this season.
Discover Orange Bowl – Louisville vs. Kansas State. Louisville gets an automatic bid as the champion of the Big East. For once, I really like the Big East champions. They’ll take on Kansas State who gets the nod here as the second-place team out of the Big 12. Clemson may also get a look here instead of the Wildcats.
Rose Bowl Game presented byVizio– Oregon vs. Nebraska. I almost put the Ducks in the national title game but I don’t think that the Ducks will beat USC twice. They’ll get the bid here as the Pac-12 champs. Meanwhile, Ohio State is the best team in a bad Big Ten. Since the Buckeyes are ineligible for postseason play, Nebraska will get the spot in the Rose Bowl.
For more opinions, bowl projections and power rankings, including an interesting take on why Bronco Mendenhall has the toughest job in college football, go to BYUtahInsiders.com.
Trevor Amicone is the founder of byutahinsiders.com, which covers BYU, Utah and national college football with weekly polls, bowl projections, opinions and analysis. Follow its brand new Twitter page at @BYUtahInsiders and Trevor's at @TrevorAmicone.
