2011 Bowl Projections - Preseason Final

Virginia Tech runs the table. They're good enough, and their schedule is favorable enough to do so. 

Alabama drops one somewhere along the way, but with no other unbeaten teams, the one-loss SEC champion gets the bid into the title game.

I think Ohio State and Wisconsin both lose one game in the league, but Ohio State wins the tiebreaker due to the head-to-head win. The Leaders champ will win the B1G Title game.

Oregon is still the class of the Pac. The addition of two teams hasn't changed that. I don't see them running the table this year, though.

I know, everybody loves Oklahoma. They're a very, very good team. But I think that they drop one along the way and end up losing out to Alabama for the second berth in the title game.

11-1 Wisconsin. Again. They just lose the wrong one. After the Orange and Sugar make their replacement picks, The Fiesta snaps up the Big Ten. 

And here's a second team that I'm buying. I think that Mississippi State finishes at 10-2 and second in the SEC West. In fact, if you have to pick a team that could trip up Alabama, a game in Starkville the week after the LSU showdown isn't a bad guess.

Boise State is going to lose to Georgia this Saturday. They'll win their next 11, and they'll get a bid into the BCS. The Sugar Bowl will have to choose between them and the Big East champ. 

Notre Dame? Yes. They'll be 10-2. Maybe 11-1. The schedule is favorable, the talent is there, and they have the coach to get it done.

Let's all be honest: no one knows what will happen in the Big East. You want to take South Florida, Pitt, or anyone else, I can't criticize. It's a sticky mess.

Nebraska goes 10-2 and wins the Legends on a tiebreaker over Michigan. After losing the B1G championship game, they find themselves in the Capital One bowl.

Georgia has the exact same kind of season. They finish 10-2, win the SEC East, but lose the title game.

Michigan? It says here that they lose to Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Ohio State. That's it.

LSU? In the Outback? Here's a team that I'm down on. The offense was going to be questionable anyway. Add in the suspensions at wide receiver and quarterback, along with some very tough games early, and I could see the Tigers losing 3 SEC games (and maybe one to West Virginia or Oregon, too).

And now we reach three interchangeable 8-win teams. Given the choice, the Insight takes Penn State.

I'm not as high on Oklahoma State as others are. Yes, their skill players are great. But, I'm not buying into them until they build a defense and show me that they can retool the OLine. In fact, I have Missouri finishing ahead of the Cowboys, but being passed over for the bowl to avoid a repeat trip.

8-4 Iowa heads off to the Gator Bowl for the first time in over 25 years. 

Auburn finishes at 7-5, but the cache of being defending national champions gives them a bump in the selection order. They get picked over South Carolina.

You can call this spot Illinois/Purdue. One of them is going to get to 7 wins. The other will end up with 4 or 5. I had it the other way until Purdue reminded me of their ACLs. Does 7 wins and another Texas Bowl keep Zook's job?

This will be the best non-champion that the C-USA West has to offer. I would expect SMU or Tulsa (assuming Houston lives up to expectations).

If you can't get to six wins, you get to be On the Couch with the Ro*Tel Queso Bowl. 

Does Danny Hope survive if Purdue is 5-7, with at least two more ACL injuries?

Minnesota will finish with 3-4 wins, but they're on the right track. 

Indiana is the worst team in the league. By a lot. I give them a better chance of finishing with 2 wins than 5 wins.

In a post-Boise world, there are three good WAC teams. Here's the first.

As mentioned earlier, Toledo is one of the Big Four in the MAC.

I've got FIU repeating. I also see Mario Cristobal leaving for greener pastures after this season.

UAB heads down to New Orleans after finally notching six wins.

UCF is still good. I could see them at 8 wins.

Syracuse is just good enough to bowl. Maybe seven wins, but that might be stretching it.

Boston College will be good enough to get to a bowl, but expecting more than 7 wins is asking too much.

Air Force gets to a bowl again. They win the Commander in Chief's Trophy, too.

Oklahoma State and Stanford are the two teams in the Top 10 that I think will be outside the Top 20 at the end of the season. Too many losses on the O-Line and defense.

Missouri, on the other hand, will be better than people are thinking. That defense is very real. It wouldn't surprise me to see them jump up to the Cotton or Alamo Bowl.

Florida State, at 10-3, is better than this. They get screwed over by the system, when the Chick-Fil-A decides it doesn't want a UF-FSU rematch.

South Florida finishes second in the Big East and LOVES the opportunity to take on FSU in a bowl. 

Unless BYU gets to a BCS game, or fails to win 6, they'll be in Fort Worth.

With games against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Boise State, Tulsa is playing the most ridiculous nonconference schedule in the country. Good for them. 

Pitt has some struggles as it grows into Todd Graham's system. They'll be dangerous in 2012, though.

Baylor squeezes out a sixth win somewhere. 

If Army gets six wins, they be in San Francisco. 

Is six wins and a low level bowl against Army enough to save Rick Neuheisel's job?

I don't know that anyone really knows what to make of the Florida team. I'm guessing 8-4, but if they were two games off in either direction I wouldn't be shocked.

Doesn't it seem like Clemson is in this game every other year? Well, they've gone 6 times in the last 18 seasons. 8 wins should make it 7 in 19. They get picked instead of a UF/FSU rematch.

Texas wins 9. Maybe 10. There is too much talent to see a collapse two years in a row.

Arkansas is good, but takes a small step back to 9 wins.