By
Pete Fiutak
- 2007-2008
Way-Too-Early BCS Projections
It's late May, so let's get a few things out of the way before
proceeding.
First, this is a nearly-impossible puzzle to put together correctly
in the first week of December with all the inside information
possible, much less now, and there will be changes in the bowl
tie-ins, the seedings, and the conference pecking order before the
dust settles at the end of the season. Some of the bowls aren't even
sure which teams from which conferences will be available to them,
so while a slot might make sense, things get out of whack when some
bowls jump the gun, or go with geographical matchups over good
football pairings. We always attempt to account for the
self-interests of the bowls to sell tickets and generate publicity.
Second, remember that schedules mean everything. Some teams might be
better than others, but are predicted to go to lesser bowl games
because their records might not be as strong as other possible
choices. We're just taking our best educated guess here.
Third, not everyone will get the call. There are only so many
available slots, so teams like Kentucky, Cincinnati, Kansas,
Colorado, Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee and San Jose State, who'll
all likely be worthy, might get shut out due to a lack of at-large
bids available.
Finally, don't yell at us if you don't like where your team is
predicted to go. We'll change this before the season starts, and
every week throughout the season. If it looks like some team that we
have playing in December looks like a world-beater, it'll obviously
be predicted to go to another bowl as the year goes on.
San Diego County
Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
Dec. 20 / 9 p.m. San Diego, Calif. ESPN
Tie-Ins: Mountain West vs. Navy/At-Large
Way Too Early Projection: BYU vs.
Navy
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Utah, 2) Colorado State,
3) TCU, 4) New Mexico, 5) San Diego State
R&L Carriers New
Orleans Bowl
Dec. 21 / 8 p.m. New Orleans, La. ESPN2
Tie-Ins: Sun Belt No. 1 vs. C-USA
Way Too Early Projection: Troy vs.
SMU
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Middle Tennessee, 2) UL
Lafayette, 3) Houston, 4) Marshall, 5) East Carolina
PapaJohn’s.com Bowl
Dec. 22 / 1 p.m. Birmingham, Ala. ESPN2
Tie-Ins: Big East (or MAC) vs. C-USA
Way Too Early Projection: South
Florida
vs. Southern Miss
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) East Carolina, 2)
Cincinnati, 3) Tulsa, 4) Houston, 5) SMU
New Mexico Bowl
Dec. 22 / 4:30 p.m. Albuquerque, N.M. ESPN
Tie-Ins: Mountain West vs. WAC
Way Too Early Projection: Air Force
vs. Nevada
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Fresno State, 2) San Jose
State, 3) Colorado State, 4) Wyoming, 5) BYU
Pioneer PureVision
Las Vegas Bowl
Dec. 22 / 8 p.m. Las Vegas, Nev. ESPN
Tie-Ins: Mountain West No. 1 vs. Pac-10 No. 4
Way Too Early Projection: TCU vs.
Arizona State
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Oregon, 2) Oregon State,
3) Utah, 4) BYU, 5) Washington State
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
Dec. 23 / 8 p.m. Honolulu, Hawaii ESPN
Tie-Ins: C-USA vs. WAC
Way Too Early Projection:
Marshall
vs. Fresno State
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Hawaii, 2) SMU, 3)
Houston, 4) Nevada, 5) San Jose State
Motor City Bowl
Dec. 26 / 7:30 p.m. Detroit, Mich. ESPN
Tie-Ins: Big Ten No. 7 vs. MAC
Way Too Early Projection:
Northwestern vs. Central Michigan
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Minnesota, 2) Western
Michigan, 3) Toledo, 4) Miami University, 5) Ohio
Pacific Life Holiday
Bowl
Dec. 27 / 8 p.m. San Diego, Calif. ESPN
Tie-Ins: Big 12 No. 3 vs. Pac-10 No. 2
Way Too Early Projection: Missouri
vs. California
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Nebraska, 2) Oklahoma, 3)
UCLA, 4) Oregon, 5) Oklahoma State
Texas Bowl
Dec. 28 / 8 p.m. NFL Network
Tie-Ins: Houston, Texas
Big 12 vs. C-USA
Way Too Early Projection: Texas Tech
vs. Houston
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) SMU, 2) Kansas State, 3)
Tulsa, 4) Kansas, 5) Texas A&M
Champs Sports Bowl
Dec. 28 / 5 p.m. Orlando, Fla. ESPN
Tie-Ins: ACC No. 4 vs. Big Ten No. 4 or No. 5
Way Too Early Projection: Boston
College vs.
Purdue
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Florida State, 2) Iowa, 3)
Clemson, 4) Miami, 5) Ohio State
Emerald Bowl
Dec. 28 / 8:30 p.m. San Francisco, Calif. ESPN
Tie-Ins: ACC No. 7 vs. Pac-10 No. 5
Way Too Early Projection: Clemson vs,
Oregon State
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Oregon, 2) Washington
State, 3) Virginia, 4) Boston College, 5) Arizona State
Meineke Car Care Bowl
Dec. 29 / 1 p.m. Charlotte, N.C. ESPN
Tie-Ins: ACC No. 6 vs. Big East
Way Too Early Projection: Miami
vs. Pitt
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Virginia, 2) South Florida,
3) Florida State, 4) Clemson, 5) Boston College
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Dec. 29 / 4:30 p.m. Memphis, Tenn. ESPN
Tie-Ins: C-USA No. 1 vs. SEC No. 6
Way Too Early Projection: Tulsa vs.
Alabama
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Southern Miss, 2) East
Carolina, 3) South Carolina, 4) Arkansas, 5) Kentucky
Alamo Bowl
Dec. 29 / 8 p.m. San Antonio, Texas ESPN
Tie-Ins: Big Ten No. 4 or No. 5 vs. Big 12 No. 4
Way Too Early Projection: Iowa vs.
Nebraska
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Ohio State, 2) Missouri,
3) Oklahoma State, 4) Texas A&M, 5) Penn State
Petro Sun
Independence Bowl
Dec. 30 / 8 p.m. Shreveport, La. ESPN
Tie-Ins: Big 12 No. 7 vs. SEC No. 8
Way Too Early Projection: Kansas
State vs. Arkansas
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Texas Tech, 2) Alabama, 3)
South Carolina, 4) Kentucky, 5) Vanderbilt
Bell Helicopter Armed
Forces Bowl
Dec. 31 / 12:30 p.m. Fort Worth, Texas ESPN
Tie-Ins: Mountain West vs. Pac-10
Way Too Early Projection: Utah vs.
Washington State
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) TCU, 2) Oregon State, 3)
BYU, 4) Arizona State, 5) Oregon
Sun Bowl
Dec. 31 / 2 p.m. El Paso, Texas CBS
Tie-Ins: Big 12/Big East/Notre Dame vs. Pac-10 No. 3
Way Too Early Projection: Oklahoma
State
vs. Oregon
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Notre Dame, 2) Texas
A&M, 3) California, 4) Arizona State, 5) UCLA
Humanitarian Bowl
Dec. 31 / 2 p.m. Boise, Idaho ESPN2
Tie-Ins: ACC No. 8 vs. WAC
Way Too Early Projection: Virginia
vs. Boise State
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Boston College, 2) Clemson, 3)
Fresno State, 4) Nevada, 5) San Jose State
Gaylord Hotels Music
City Bowl
Dec. 31 / 4 p.m. Nashville, Tenn. ESPN
Tie-Ins: ACC vs. SEC No. 5
Way Too Early Projection: Florida
State vs. South Carolina
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Miami, 2) Maryland, 3)
Kentucky, 4) Arkansas, 5) Alabama
Chick-fil-A Bowl
Dec. 31 / 7:30 p.m. Atlanta, Ga. ESPN
Tie-Ins: ACC No. 2 vs. SEC
Way Too Early Projection:
Maryland vs. Tennessee
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) LSU, 2) Georgia, 3)
Florida, 4) Georgia Tech, 5) Virginia Tech
Insight Bowl
Dec. 31 / TBA Tempe, Ariz. NFL Network
Tie-Ins: Big Ten No. 6 vs. Big 12 No. 6
Way Too Early Projection: Minnesota
vs. Texas A&M
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Texas Tech, 2) Purdue, 3)
Oklahoma State, 4) Kansas State, 5) Northwestern
Outback Bowl
Jan. 1 / 11 a.m. Tampa, Fla. ESPN
Tie-Ins: Big Ten No. 3 vs. SEC
Way Too Early Projection: Ohio State
vs. Florida
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Michigan, 2) Georgia, 3)
Penn State, 4) Tennessee, 5) Wisconsin
AT&T Cotton Bowl
Jan. 1 / 11:30 a.m. Dallas, Texas FOX
Tie-Ins: Big 12 No. 2 vs. SEC
Way Too Early Projection: Oklahoma
vs. Auburn
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Texas, 2) LSU, 3) Florida,
4) Georgia, 5) Nebraska
Gator Bowl
Jan. 1 / 1 p.m. Jacksonville, Fla. CBS
Tie-Ins: ACC No. 3 vs. Big 12/Big East/Notre Dame
Way Too Early Projection: Georgia
Tech vs. Rutgers
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Louisville, 2) West
Virginia, 3) Virginia Tech, 4) Maryland, 5) Several Big 12 teams
Capital One Bowl
Jan. 1 / 1 p.m. Orlando, Fla. ABC
Tie-Ins: Big Ten No. 2 vs. SEC No. 2
Way Too Early Projection: Penn State
vs. Georgia
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) LSU, 2) Florida, 3)
Wisconsin, 4) Michigan, 5) Ohio State
International Bowl
Jan. 5 / 12 p.m. Toronto, Canada ESPN2
Tie-Ins: Big East/Notre Dame vs. MAC No. 4 or 5
Way Too Early Projection:
Notre Dame vs. Miami University
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Pitt, 2) Cincinnati, 3)
Central Michigan, 4) Toledo, 5) Ohio
GMAC Bowl
Jan. 6 / 8 p.m. Mobile, Ala. ESPN
Tie-Ins: C-USA No. 2 vs. MAC
Way Too Early Projection: East
Carolina vs. Toledo
Top 5 Others Considered: 1) Southern Miss, 2) Central
Michigan, 3) Tulsa, 4) Houston, 5) Miami University
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2007-2008 Way-Too-Early
BCS Projections