By
Pete Fiutak
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 several worthy teams, especially from the MAC
and Sun Belt, 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. This will all change this before the season starts and
will be updated 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.
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2008-2009 Way-Too-Early BCS Projections
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
Dec. 23 / 8 p.m. ET San Diego, Calif. ESPN
Tie-Ins: Mountain West vs. Pac 10
Way Too Early Projection: New
Mexico vs. Arizona
Top 5 Others Considered:
1)
Nevada, 2) Oregon
State, 3) UCLA, 4) Louisiana Tech, 5) New Mexico State
Congressional Bowl
Dec. 20 / 9 p.m. ET Washington, D.C.
Tie-Ins: ACC vs. Army or Navy
Way Too Early Projection: Maryland
vs. Navy
Top 5 Others Considered: 1)
North Carolina, 2) Florida State,
3) Georgia Tech, 4) Virginia, 5) Wake Forest
Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl
Dec. 20 / 8 p.m. ET Las Vegas, Nev. ESPN
Tie-Ins: Mountain West No. 1 vs. Pac-10 No. 4
Way Too Early Projection: Utah vs.
California
Top 5 Others Considered:
1) BYU,
2) TCU, 3) UCLA, 4) Arizona State, 5) Oregon
St. Petersburg Bowl
TBD Dec. 21 to 23 / 9 p.m. ET St. Petersburg, Fl.
Tie-Ins: Big East vs. Conference USA
Way Too Early Projection: South
Florida vs. UCF
Top 5 Others Considered: 1)
Cincinnati,
2) Rutgers, 3) Southern Miss, 4) Tulsa, 5) Pitt
R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Dec. 21 / 8 p.m. ET New Orleans, La. ESPN
Tie-Ins: Sun Belt No. 1 vs. C-USA
Way Too Early Projection: Florida
Atlantic vs. Marshall
Top 5 Others Considered:
1) Troy,
2) Middle Tennessee, 3) Houston, 4) UCF, 5) Southern Miss
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
Dec. 24 / 8 p.m. ET Honolulu, Hawaii ESPN
Tie-Ins: Pac 10 vs. WAC
Way Too Early Projection: Oregon
State vs. Nevada
Top 5 Others Considered:
1) UCLA,
2) Arizona, 3) Fresno State, 4) Louisiana Tech, 5) New Mexico State
Motor City Bowl
Dec. 26 / 7:30 p.m. ET Detroit, Mich. ESPN
Tie-Ins: Big Ten No. 7 vs. MAC
Way Too Early Projection:
Northwestern vs. Western Michigan
Top 5 Others Considered:
1)
Minnesota, 2) Miami
University, 3) Central Michigan, 4) Purdue, 5) Iowa
Champs Sports Bowl
Dec. 27 / 4:30 p.m. ET Orlando, Fla. ESPN
Tie-Ins: ACC No. 4 vs. Big Ten No. 4 or No. 5
Way Too Early Projection: Virginia
vs. Illinois
Top 5 Others Considered:
1)
Iowa, 2) Purdue, 3)
Michigan State, 4) Miami, 5) Florida State
Emerald Bowl
Dec. 27 / 8:30 p.m. ET San Francisco, Calif. ESPN
Tie-Ins: ACC No. 7 vs. Pac-10 No. 5
Way Too Early Projection: Georgia
Tech vs. UCLA
Top 5 Others Considered:
1) Virginia,
2) Oregon State, 3) California, 4) UCLA, 5) Miami
Meineke Car Care Bowl
Dec. 27 / 1 p.m. ET Charlotte, N.C. ESPN
Tie-Ins: ACC No. 6 vs. Big East
Way Too Early Projection: Florida
State vs. Pitt
Top 5 Others Considered:
1)
Miami, 2) Maryland,
3) Cincinnati, 4) Rutgers, 5) South Florida
Texas Bowl
Dec. 28 / 8 p.m. NFL Network
Tie-Ins: Houston, Texas
Big 12 vs. Big East (in even years, C-USA in odd years)
Way Too Early Projection: Colorado
vs. Rutgers
Top 5 Others Considered:
1) Cincinnati,
2) Connecticut, 3) Louisville, 4) Nebraska, 5) Oklahoma State
PapaJohn’s.com Bowl
Dec. 29 / 3 p.m. ET Birmingham, Ala. ESPN2
Tie-Ins: Big East vs. SEC
Way Too Early Projection: Cincinnati vs.
Fresno State*
Top 5 Others Considered:
1) Rutgers,
2) South Carolina, 3) Alabama, 4) Connecticut, 5) Louisville
*There's no SEC team projected to
be available. The best guess is that Fresno State, the projected
winner of the WAC, would look for the best possible bowl matchup.
New Mexico Bowl
TBA Albuquerque, N.M. ESPN
Tie-Ins: Mountain West vs. WAC
Way Too Early Projection: BYU vs.
New Mexico State
Top 5 Others Considered:
1) Utah,
2) TCU, 3) Nevada, 4) Boise State, 5) Fresno State
PetroSun Independence Bowl
Dec. 28 / 8 p.m. ET Shreveport, La. ESPN
Tie-Ins: Big 12 No. 7 vs. SEC No. 8
Way Too Early Projection: Nebraska
vs.
Arkansas
Top 5 Others Considered:
1) Colorado,
2) Oklahoma State, 3) Kansas State, 4) South Carolina, 5) Alabama
Alamo Bowl
Dec. 29 / 8 p.m. ET San Antonio, Texas ESPN
Tie-Ins: Big Ten No. 4 or No. 5 vs. Big 12 No. 4
Way Too Early Projection: Michigan
State vs. Kansas
Top 5 Others Considered:
1) Illinois,
2) Iowa, 3) Texas, 4) Kansas State, 5) Michigan
Pacific Life Holiday Bowl
Dec. 30 / 8 p.m. ET San Diego, Calif. ESPN
Tie-Ins: Big 12 No. 3 vs. Pac-10 No. 2
Way Too Early Projection: Texas
vs. Oregon
Top 5 Others Considered:
1)
Arizona State, 2)
California, 3) Oklahoma, 4) Missouri, 5) Texas Tech
Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl
TBA Boise, Idaho ESPN2
Tie-Ins: ACC No. 8 vs. WAC
Way Too Early Projection: North
Carolina vs. Boise State
Top 5 Others Considered:
1)
Georgia Tech, 2)
Miami, 3) Florida State, 4) Wake Forest, 5) Maryland
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
Dec. 31 / 12 p.m. ET Fort Worth, Texas ESPN
Tie-Ins: Mountain West vs. Conference USA
Way Too Early Projection: TCU vs.
Southern Miss
Top 5 Others Considered:
1) New Mexico,
2) Utah, 3) Tulsa, 4) UCF, 5) East Carolina
Sun Bowl
Dec. 31 / 2 p.m. ET. El Paso, Texas CBS
Tie-Ins: Big 12/Big East/Notre Dame vs. Pac-10 No. 3
Way Too Early Projection: Kansas
State vs. Arizona State
Top 5 Others Considered:
1)
Kansas, 2) Notre
Dame, 3) Oklahoma State, 4) California, 5) Nebraska
Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl
Dec. 31 / 3:30 p.m. ET Nashville, Tenn. ESPN
Tie-Ins: ACC vs. SEC No. 5
Way Too Early Projection: Wake
Forest vs. Alabama
Top 5 Others Considered:
1) Miami,
2) Arkansas, 3) South Carolina, 4) Virginia, 5) Georgia Tech
Chick-fil-A Bowl
Dec. 31 / 7:30 p.m. ET Atlanta, Ga. ESPN
Tie-Ins: ACC No. 2 vs. SEC
Way Too Early Projection: Boston
College vs. South Carolina
Top 5 Others Considered:
1) Virginia Tech,
2) Tennessee, 3) Clemson, 4) LSU, 5) Auburn
Insight Bowl
Dec. 31 / 5:30 ET Tempe, Ariz. NFL Network
Tie-Ins: Big Ten No. 6 vs. Big 12 No. 6
Way Too Early Projection: Iowa vs.
Oklahoma State
Top 5 Others Considered:
1)
Michigan State, 2)
Purdue, 3) Nebraska, 4) Colorado, 5) Kansas State
Outback Bowl
Jan. 1 / 11 a.m. ET Tampa, Fla. ESPN
Tie-Ins: Big Ten No. 3 vs. SEC
Way Too Early Projection: Michigan
vs. LSU
Top 5 Others Considered:
1) Penn State,
2) Georgia, 3) Tennessee, 4) Auburn, 5) Florida
Konica Minolta Gator Bowl
Jan. 1 / 1 p.m. ET Jacksonville, Fla. CBS
Tie-Ins: ACC No. 3 vs. Big 12/Big East/Notre Dame
Way Too Early Projection: Miami
vs. Notre Dame
Top 5 Others Considered:
1) Florida State,
2) South Florida, 3) Wake Forest, 4) Boston College, 5) Clemson
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. Auburn
Top 5 Others Considered:
1)
Wisconsin, 2)
Tennessee, 3) LSU, 4) Georgia, 5) Florida
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Jan. 2 / 5:00 p.m. ET Memphis, Tenn. ESPN
Tie-Ins: C-USA No. 1 vs. SEC No. 6
Way Too Early Projection: Tulsa vs. Mississippi State
Top 5 Others Considered:
1)
Southern Miss, 2)
East Carolina, 3) UCF, 4) Alabama, 5) South Carolina
AT&T Cotton Bowl
Jan. 2 / 2 p.m. ET Dallas, Texas FOX
Tie-Ins: Big 12 No. 2 vs. SEC
Way Too Early Projection: Oklahoma
vs. Tennessee
Top 5 Others Considered:
1) Texas,
2) Texas Tech, 3) LSU, 4) Florida, 5) Georgia
International Bowl
Jan. 3 / 12 p.m. ET Toronto, Canada ESPN2
Tie-Ins: Big East vs. MAC No. 4 or 5
Way Too Early Projection:
Louisville vs. Toledo
Top 5 Others Considered:
1)
Pitt, 2) Cincinnati,
3) Western Michigan, 4) Miami University, 5) Central Michigan
GMAC Bowl
Jan. 6 / 8 p.m. ET Mobile, Ala. ESPN
Tie-Ins: C-USA No. 2 vs. MAC/WAC
Way Too Early Projection: East
Carolina vs. Miami University
Top 5 Others Considered:
1)
Tulsa, 2) Southern
Miss, 3) UCF, 4) Toledo, 5) Central Michigan
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2008-2009 Way-Too-Early BCS Projections