November 25, 2009

Rivals.com Staff

Here are Rivals.com's bowl projections this week. We update these weekly, as situations obviously change.

A few notes:

Boise State's BCS situation bears watching. There is continued talk that if Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma, it would get a BCS at-large berth. Astute readers will note that we have Boise State in a BCS game. That's because we think Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State. But if the Cowboys win, there seems to be a better than 50-50 chance that they will get a BCS at-large slot.
A bowl's tie-in with a league doesn't necessarily mean it will get the third-, fourth-, fifth-, etc., place team from the league; rather, it means it gets the third, fourth, fifth, etc., selection from that league.
Notre Dame is part of the Big East's bowl lineup when it comes to the Gator Bowl only.
An asterisk denotes a team that will be in the bowl because a league will not be able to fulfill its obligation. This week, we're saying the ACC, Big Ten and Mountain West fall short of filling their bowl slots. In some situations, other conferences have deals to provide teams if the "original" conference can't fill its spots; in those instances, the fill-in conference first fills its own bowl slots. If the fill-in conference doesn't have enough bowl-eligible teams, the bowl then is allowed to pick an at-large team that is bowl eligible.

THE PROJECTIONS

NEW MEXICO BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 19/4:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Albuquerque, N.M.
MATCHUP: Western Athletic vs. Mountain West No. 4
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Fresno State vs. Wyoming

ST. PETERSBURG BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 19/8 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: St. Petersburg, Fla.
MATCHUP: Big East No. 6 vs. Conference USA
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: USF vs. UCF

NEW ORLEANS BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 20/8:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: New Orleans
MATCHUP: Conference USA vs. Sun Belt No. 1
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: East Carolina vs. Troy

LAS VEGAS BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 22/8 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Las Vegas
MATCHUP: Mountain West No. 1 vs. Pac-10 No. 4/5
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Utah vs. Oregon State

POINSETTIA BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 23/8 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: San Diego
MATCHUP: Mountain West No. 2 vs. Pac-10 No. 6
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: BYU vs. Arizona

HAWAII BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 24/8 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Honolulu
MATCHUP: Conference USA vs. Western Athletic
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: SMU vs. Nevada

LITTLE CAESARS PIZZA BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 26/1 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Detroit
MATCHUP: Big Ten No. 7 vs. Mid-American
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Middle Tennessee* vs. Northern Illinois

MEINEKE CAR CARE

DATE/TIME: Dec. 26/4:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Charlotte
MATCHUP: ACC No. 6 vs. Big East No. 3
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Boston College vs. Rutgers

EMERALD BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 26/8 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: San Francisco
MATCHUP: ACC No. 7 vs. Pac-10 No. 4/5
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Florida State vs. Stanford

MUSIC CITY BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 27/8:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Nashville, Tenn.
MATCHUP: ACC No. 5 vs. SEC No. 6/7
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: North Carolina vs. Kentucky

INDEPENDENCE BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 28/5 p.m.
TV: ESPN2
SITE: Shreveport, La.
MATCHUP: Big 12 No. 7 vs. SEC No. 8
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Iowa State vs. Georgia

EAGLEBANK BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 29/4:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Washington, D.C.
MATCHUP: Army/C-USA vs. ACC No. 8
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Marshall vs. Ohio U.*

CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 29/8 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Orlando, Fla.
MATCHUP: ACC No. 4 vs. Big Ten No. 5
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Miami vs. Minnesota

HUMANITARIAN BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 30/4:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Boise, Idaho
MATCHUP: Western Athletic vs. Mountain West No. 5
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Idaho vs. Bowling Green*

HOLIDAY BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 30/8 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: San Diego
MATCHUP: Big 12 No. 3 vs. Pac-10 No. 2
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Nebraska vs. USC

ARMED FORCES BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 31/noon
TV: ESPN
SITE: Fort Worth, Texas
MATCHUP: Conference USA vs. Mountain West No. 3
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Southern Miss vs. Air Force

SUN BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 31/2 p.m.
TV: CBS
SITE: El Paso, Texas
MATCHUP: Big 12 No. 5 vs. Pac-10 No. 3
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Texas Tech vs. California

TEXAS BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 31/3:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Houston
MATCHUP: Navy vs. Big 12 No. 8
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Navy vs. Texas A&M

INSIGHT BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 31/6 p.m.
TV: NFL Network
SITE: Tempe, Ariz.
MATCHUP: Big Ten No. 6 vs. Big 12 No. 6
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Michigan State vs. Missouri

CHICK-FIL-A BOWL

DATE/TIME: Dec. 31/7:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Atlanta
MATCHUP: ACC No. 2 vs. SEC No. 5
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Clemson vs. Auburn

OUTBACK BOWL

DATE/TIME: Jan. 1/11 a.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Tampa, Fla.
MATCHUP: Big Ten No. 3 vs. SEC No. 3/4
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Wisconsin vs. Tennessee

CAPITAL ONE BOWL

DATE/TIME: Jan. 1/1 p.m.
TV: ABC
SITE: Orlando, Fla.
MATCHUP: Big Ten No. 2 vs. SEC No. 2
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Penn State vs. Ole Miss

GATOR BOWL

DATE/TIME: Jan. 1/1 p.m.
TV: CBS
SITE: Jacksonville, Fla.
MATCHUP: ACC No. 3 vs. Big East No. 2
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Virginia Tech vs. Pittsburgh

INTERNATIONAL BOWL

DATE/TIME: Jan. 2/noon
TV: ESPN2
SITE: Toronto
MATCHUP: Big East No. 4 vs. Mid-American
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: West Virginia vs. Temple

PAPAJOHNS.COM BOWL

DATE/TIME: Jan. 2/2 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Birmingham, Ala.
MATCHUP: Big East No. 5 vs. SEC No. 9
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Connecticut vs. South Carolina

COTTON BOWL

DATE/TIME: Jan. 2/2 p.m.
TV: Fox
SITE: Dallas
MATCHUP: Big 12 No. 2 vs. SEC No. 3/4
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Oklahoma State vs. LSU

LIBERTY BOWL

DATE/TIME: Jan. 2/5:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Memphis, Tenn.
MATCHUP: Conference USA No. 1 vs. SEC No. 6/7
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Houston vs. Arkansas

ALAMO BOWL

DATE/TIME: Jan. 2/9 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: San Antonio
MATCHUP: Big Ten No. 4 vs. Big 12 No. 4
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Northwestern vs. Oklahoma

GMAC BOWL

DATE/TIME: Jan. 6/7 p.m.
TV: ESPN
SITE: Mobile, Ala.
MATCHUP: ACC No. 9 vs. MAC
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: UCLA* vs. Central Michigan

BCS MATCHUPS

ROSE BOWL

DATE/TIME: Jan. 1, 4:30 p.m.
TV: ABC
SITE: Pasadena, Calif.
MATCHUP: BCS vs. BCS
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Ohio State vs. Oregon

SUGAR BOWL

DATE/TIME: Jan. 1/8:30 p.m.
TV: Fox
SITE: New Orleans
MATCHUP: BCS vs. BCS
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Florida vs. Boise state

FIESTA BOWL

DATE/TIME: Jan. 4/8 p.m.
TV: Fox
SITE: Glendale, Ariz.
MATCHUP: BCS vs. BCS
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Iowa vs. TCU

ORANGE BOWL

DATE/TIME: Jan. 5/8 p.m.
TV: Fox
SITE: Miami
MATCHUP: BCS vs. BCS
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Georgia Tech vs. Cincinnati

BCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

DATE/TIME: Jan. 7/8 p.m.
TV: ABC
SITE: Pasadena, Calif.
MATCHUP: BCS No. 1 vs. BCS No. 2
THIS WEEK'S PROJECTION: Alabama vs. Texas