Two weeks left in the season (except for Army-Navy), and there is a major shake-up in the teams making BCS games.
This past week, Northern Illinois jumped Fresno State in the BCS rankings. With both teams in the top-16 in the BCS rankings, and an automatic-qualifying champion finishing below both teams, one of them is likely to make a BCS game.
The other deciding factor for Northern Illinois to now jump into a BCS game comes down to one game. Fresno State will finish the season playing only 12 games (including a conference championship game), while Northern Illinois will play 13. Fresno State was forced to cancel a game due to weather earlier in the season, and could not find an opponent to play a 12th game.
Looking at the other BCS games, many remain the same. Oregon’s unexpected loss to Arizona knocks them out in favor of Stanford, who will claim the Pac-12’s bid to the Rose Bowl.
With Alabama and Florida State going to the National Championship, the Orange and Sugar Bowls preserve their normal automatic bids and choose Clemson (Orange) and Auburn (Sugar) as replacement teams. Michigan State picks up the last available spot as an at-large team.
When figuring out the rest of the projections, teams potentially playing in conference championship games run the risk of slipping. A perfect example of this is South Carolina. In these projections, Missouri loses allowing the Gamecocks to reach the SEC Championship Game. If they lose, it is likely they could fall below other teams with the same amount of wins (this would include a loss this week to Clemson).
After this week, several schools should begin to accept bowl bids, allowing the bowl picture to get a little clearer.
|
BOWL |
TEAMS |
|
|
Gildan New Mexico Bowl |
Utah State |
Arizona |
|
Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl |
Fresno State |
UCLA |
|
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl |
Buffalo |
UNLV |
|
R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl |
North Texas |
Louisiana-Lafayette |
|
Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl |
Middle Tennessee |
Southern Methodist |
|
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl |
East Carolina |
Colorado State |
|
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl |
Bowling Green |
Arkansas State |
|
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl |
San Diego State |
Toledo |
|
Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman |
Tulane |
Pittsburgh |
|
Texas Bowl |
Michigan |
Texas Tech |
|
Fight Hunger Bowl |
Washington |
BYU |
|
New Era Pinstripe Bowl |
Houston |
Notre Dame |
|
Belk Bowl |
Louisville |
Georgia Tech |
|
Russell Athletic Bowl |
Virginia Tech |
Cincinnati |
|
Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl |
Minnesota |
Texas |
|
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl |
Boise State |
Navy |
|
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl |
Vanderbilt |
North Carolina |
|
Valero Alamo Bowl |
Oregon |
Oklahoma |
|
National University Holiday Bowl |
Kansas State |
USC |
|
Advocare V100 Bowl |
Boston College |
Central Michigan |
|
Hyundai Sun Bowl |
Miami (FL) |
Arizona State |
|
AutoZone Liberty Bowl |
Marshall |
Ole Miss |
|
Chick-fil-A Bowl |
Duke |
South Carolina |
|
TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl |
Iowa |
Georgia |
|
Heart of Dallas Bowl |
Ohio |
Rice |
|
Capital One Bowl |
Wisconsin |
Missouri |
|
Outback Bowl |
Nebraska |
Texas A&M |
|
Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO |
Stanford |
Ohio State |
|
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl |
Oklahoma State |
Northern Illinois |
|
Allstate Sugar Bowl |
Auburn |
UCF |
|
Discover Orange Bowl |
Clemson |
Michigan State |
|
AT&T Cotton Bowl |
Baylor |
LSU |
|
BBVA Compass Bowl |
Mississippi State |
Rutgers |
|
GoDaddy Bowl |
Western Kentucky |
Ball State |
|
VIZIO BCS National Championship |
Alabama |
Florida State |
Long Name, Amazing Thoughts 