Looking Ahead to the BCS Bowls

It’s that time of year again. The college football season is down to the final weeks as teams bid for bowl games. The BCS bowls are a team’s ultimate goal. With a few weeks left, let’s see who I think will be playing in the big ones.

Bowl Projections

Orange Bowl: Cincinnati vs Clemson – And I’ve found the blow out of the bunch. Clemson will win the ACC Championship game and in doing so they will also qualify for this game. Cincinati will be the only automatic qualifier left and the Orange Bowl will have to deal with it. This game will be a total blow out if it happiness and I will be sorry for whatever bowl gets stuck with the Big East bid because the game will be very lopsided.

Fiesta Bowl: Stanford vs Oklahoma - I see Stanford winning out after their loss to Oregon. Andrew Luck came back to finish what he had started. He won’t win the National Championship like he wanted to, but a match up against a tough Oklahoma team will be his consolation. Why Oklahoma you may ask? Well, that loss to Texas Tech looks worse every week and I also see them losing to Oklahoma State. The Fiesta Bowl has the first round of picking this year. They will want a formidable opponent for the Sooners and the Cardinal will be the best bet.

Rose Bowl : Oregon vs MSU -This was an easy one; I believe both of these teams will be their respective conferences and that is all you need for a Rose Bowl. The Ducks won’t be in the National Championship, its plain to see. The only team that might lose is Oklahoma State and if they lose it will be to Oklahoma. A one loss Oklahoma beats a one loss Oregon. Another aspect to take into consideration is the fact that LSU and Oregon have already played each other.  That doesn’t look good for the ratings, but a Rose Bowl birth is another great option for the Ducks. MSU will be looking to make a splash after beating Nebraska in the Big Ten Title Game.

The Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs Boise State - Alabama is a no brainer for this one. The Sugar bowl always features a SEC team. Alabama will narrowly miss out on playing for the National Championship just because of a few missed field goals in the loss to LSU. Now Boise might be a stretch, but they will be ranked higher than Cincinnati. As a non-automatic qualifier, Boise just needs to be ranked higher than an automatic qualifier. Plus it would be great ratings for the Bowl. The only other option for the sugar bowl would be Arkansas. They won’t do that because of the SEC rematch. Boise clearly looks like the top pick for the Sugar.  

BSC National Championship: LSU vs Oklahoma State- The biggest game will come down to the SEC vs the Big 12. LSU will come in as the number one team in the nation and off a Big SEC Championship. Oklahoma State won’t have a conference title game to shine in, but they will have a big game against the rival Sooners in the bedlam game. This will be a great game and be one of the best of the year.

Thanks for reading! I will have an article up on gcmag.org tomorrow! Be sure to follow me on Twitter @Neilandsports and be sure to use the hash tag #NeilKnowsSports