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CNNSI.com's latest bowl projections
Posted: Sunday November 11, 2001 9:48 PM
Updated: Tuesday November 13, 2001 12:04 PM
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Clemson's loss to Maryland Saturday puts the Tigers in a precarious position in regards to a bowl invite. AP |
By Stewart Mandel, CNNSI.com
With the events of Sept. 11 continuing to affect nearly every facet of American life -- some tremendous, some trivial -- add another from the latter area to the list: college bowl games.
As the time to announce pairings draws near, game organizers are dealing with some troublesome obstacles. For one, travel fears and restrictions are expected to prevent as many fans as usual from following their team. Bowl officials will have their sights set on nearby teams this year more than ever, but when you're the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, pitting teams from the Big Ten and Pac-10, or the Insight.com Bowl in Phoenix, with Big 12 and Big East ties, it's just not possible.
Then there's the postponements from Sept. 15. Many of those games aren't being made up until Dec. 1, less than three weeks before the first postseason game. If you're the Dec. 20 Tangerine Bowl, can you afford to wait until the 1st to see if Clemson (5-4, at South Carolina this week) beats Duke to become eligible? Or do you go ahead and invite North Carolina (5-5, vs. Duke this week) or Georgia Tech (6-3, at Wake Forest) if they get there first?
The end result? Expect to see more bowl selections than usual made for reasons besides record.
Other bowl storylines to keep an eye on this week:
Colorado State (5-5) travels to New Mexico State (5-4) this week in a game that will likely determine the third Mountain West bowl team. Air Force (5-4) is still in the mix as well. If four league teams reach six wins (remember, the NCAA is allowing 6-6 teams this season due to the extenuating circumstances), whoever finishes with the lesser record could be an at-large candidate for the Silicon Valley or Humanitarian.
The WAC still appears headed toward five bowl-eligible teams: Fresno State (8-4), Rice (7-3), Louisiana Tech (6-3), Hawaii (6-3) and Boise State (6-4). They need to start rooting for some collapses from among the major conferences (North Carolina? Georgia?), or all but Fresno and La. Tech will be left home.
Teams you've long since forgotten about who still have a shot: Wake Forest (5-4, vs. Georgia Tech, vs. Northern Illinois), USC (5-5, vs. UCLA), Oregon State (4-5, vs. Northern Arizona, at Oregon), Pittsburgh (4-5, at West Virginia, vs. UAB) and Indiana (3-5, at Penn State, vs. Purdue, vs. Kentucky).
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. 10 games:
|
| Date |
Bowl |
Team |
Team |
| Jan. 3 |
Rose |
Nebraska (BCS No. 1) |
Miami (BCS No. 2) |
| Jan. 2 |
Orange |
Maryland (ACC champ) |
Tennessee (BCS at-large) |
| Jan. 1 |
Fiesta |
Oklahoma (BCS at-large) |
Oregon (Pac-10 champ) |
| Jan. 1 |
Sugar |
Florida (SEC champ) |
Michigan (Big Ten champ) |
| Jan. 1 |
Citrus |
Illinois (Big Ten) |
Ole Miss (SEC) |
| Jan. 1 |
Cotton |
Texas (Big 12 No. 2) |
Auburn (SEC) |
| Jan. 1 |
Gator |
Florida State (ACC No. 2) |
Syracuse (Big East No. 2) |
| Jan. 1 |
Outback |
Michigan St. (Big Ten No. 3) |
Georgia (SEC) |
| Dec. 31 |
Peach |
N.C. State (ACC No. 3) |
South Carolina (SEC) |
| Dec. 31 |
Sun |
Purdue (Big Ten No. 5) |
Washington St. (Pac-10 No. 3) |
| Dec. 31 |
Liberty |
Louisville (C-USA champ) |
BYU (MWC champ) |
| Dec. 31 |
Silicon |
Fresno State (WAC No. 1) |
Georgia Tech (at-large) |
| Dec. 31 |
Humanitarian |
Louisiana Tech (WAC No. 1) |
Air Force (at-large) |
| Dec. 29 |
Alamo |
Ohio State (Big Ten No. 4) |
Texas Tech (Big 12 No. 4) |
| Dec. 29 |
Insight.com |
Virginia Tech (Big East No. 3) |
Texas A&M (Big 12 No. 5) |
| Dec. 29 |
Motor City |
Toledo (MAC No. 2) |
East Carolina (C-USA No. 2*) |
| Dec. 28 |
Holiday |
Washington (Pac-10 No. 2) |
Colorado (Big 12 No. 3) |
| Dec. 28 |
Music City |
Boston College (Big East No. 4) |
Arkansas (SEC) |
| Dec. 28 |
GalleryFurniture |
Kansas St. (Big 12 No. 7) |
Southern Miss (C-USA No. 3) |
| Dec. 27 |
Independence |
Iowa State (Big 12 No. 6) |
LSU (SEC) |
| Dec. 27 |
Seattle |
Stanford (Pac-10 No. 4) |
Clemson (ACC No. 5) |
| Dec. 25 |
Las Vegas |
UCLA (Pac-10 No. 5) |
Utah (MWC No. 2) |
| Dec. 20 |
Tangerine |
North Carolina (ACC No. 4) |
Iowa (at-large**) |
| Dec. 19 |
Mobile |
UAB (C-USA No. 4*) |
Marshall (MAC No. 1) |
| Dec. 18 |
New Orleans |
North Texas (Sun Belt champ) |
New Mexico (MWC No. 3) |
* -- Motor City and Mobile swap picks for UAB to play closer to home.
** -- in place of Big East No. 5
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