Well.

I should be honest: I don't exactly know how you're supposed to do bowl projections. My way is to look at standings and records, project out most of the rest of the games of the season, come to a conclusion on where I think those teams will finish, and slot them into bowl games. So maybe I'm doing it wrong, maybe that's what I was supposed to be doing all along. Either way, you've already clicked on the article, so Daddy gets a new pair of shoes.

1. That's totally untrue -- I don't get shit.
2. I've taken to calling myself Daddy more around the house. Mostly it's to the cat and to my wife (we do not yet have children), but I like the cut of this guy's jib whenever I do.

This was a longer introduction than I intended. Sorry. But isn't it nice to know how one guy does it? For all I know, Brett McMurphy or Mark Schlabach or Jerry Palm just look at the standings and shit something out. There's REAL THOUGHT here.

Or something.

Anyways, you might be noticing there's not much change in these projections week to week. That is, in my mind, because there's been little movement at the top (Pac-12, this week, not excepting): There's no movement this week in the Big Ten, Big XII, or SEC. Chickenshit Saturday doesn't help with that, for sure, but it at least smacks of there being fewer upsets; that last critique is perhaps the most unfounded and boomerish thing I've ever written for this website. BACK IN MY DAY THERE WERE MORE UPSETS.

Your projections.

College Football Playoff

Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, AZ)

December 28 | 3pm CT | ESPN

[2] Ohio State Buckeyes vs. [3] Clemson Tigers

Peach Bowl (Atlanta, GA)

December 28 | 7pm CT | ESPN

[1] LSU Tigers vs. [4] Oklahoma Sooners

New Year's Six

Cotton Bowl (Arlington, TX)

December 28 | 11am CT | ESPN

Florida Gators [at-large] vs. Cincinnati Bearcats [G5]

Orange Bowl (Miami, FL)

December 30 | 7pm | ESPN

Virginia Tech Hokies [ACC] vs. Georgia Bulldogs [SEC/B1G]

Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA)

January 1 | 4pm | FOX

Minnesota Golden Gophers [B1G] vs. Utah Utes [Pac-12]

Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, LA)

January 1 | 7:45pm | ESPN

Baylor Bears [Big XII] vs. Alabama Crimson Tide [SEC]

Big Ten Bowl Games

Quick Lane Bowl (Detroit, MI)

December 26 | 7pm | ESPN

Michigan State Spartans vs. Miami-Florida Hurricanes

Pinstripe Bowl (New York, NY)

December 27 | 2:20pm | ESPN

Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Pittsburgh Panthers

Holiday Bowl (San Diego, CA)

December 27 | 7pm | FS1

Michigan Wolverines vs. USC Trojans

Redbox Bowl (Santa Clara, CA)

December 30 | 3pm | FOX

Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Washington Huskies

Citrus Bowl (Orlando, FL)

January 1 | 12pm | ABC

Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Auburn Tigers

Outback Bowl (Tampa, FL)

January 1 | 12pm | ESPN

wisconsin badgers vs. Tennessee Volunteers

Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, FL)

January 2 | 6pm | ESPN

Indiana Hoosiers vs. Kentucky Wildcats

Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, TX)

January 4 | 10:30am | ESPN

SMU Mustangs* vs. Air Force Falcons

Full Bowl Projections

B1G Observations

• I think the only thing more annoying than having to continually find something to say about Ohio State (they're in the CFP! fucking great! sunrise, sunset!) is the Ohio State-Penn State game. If ever there becomes a 16-team Champions League-style conference that just rids us of those two, I'm all for it. Plus, Michigan won't get invited, so it's even better.
• Minnesota to the Rose Bowl until the badgers rip out everyone's hearts and then lose 59-0 in the Big Ten Championship as their reward.
• That means Penn State to the Citrus, especially since they dropped all the way to 12 in the AP Poll (which feels harsh, but whatever. Gotta get Michigan into the Top 10 to make people care about The Game somehow). I had read a couple inklings that State had a shot at one of those NY6 at-large spots (over like Florida or something, I guess?) but that sure isn't the case now.
• badgers in the Outback. Have fun with Tennessee. You deserve each other.
• Given that Michigan hasn't gone west since the 2004 Rose and to A Whale's Vagina since 1994, and since USC is doing juuuuust enough to stay relevant, if you're the Holiday Bowl and you don't snap that up, you deserve to lose your job. I will take it. Pay me.
• I kind of lose interest after this one, mostly because Iowa-Washington in the Redbox Bowl feels too good for Iowa, but that's what happens when you are on pace to have a perfectly Iowa season and the Huskies lose to the Buffs to drop to 6-5. You get the Hawkeyes at Archimedes' Death Ray Stadium.
• Should Indiana be in the Gator Bowl anymore? It doesn't really feel like it after that loss to Michigan. But who else would go there: Illinois or Michigan State?
• Speaking of, just send the Spartans to Detroit. Don't do this "prestige" or "reputation" bullshit, just let Mark Dantonio die a peaceful death surrounded by 12,000 of his closest friends in a mausoleum in a dying town.
• HAT.

Other Observations

• Herm Edwards, you saucy little minx. The Arizona State Sun Devils GOT the damn Oregon Ducks, and now...well, it depends what you think of the Pac-12 Championship Game. (Not much.) But the Ducks tumbled to 14 in the AP, and I don't think a #6 Utah-over-even-#10 Oregon is enough to vault the Yoots into the CFP.
• That, to be clear, is why a non-conference of BYU, Northern Illinois, and Idaho State is a bad idea if you would like to be considered a CFP contender. If you are counting on BYU to be your signature win, you are going to have a bad time.
• ALSO FROM THE PAC-12: Cal beats Stanford in The Big Game, guarantees a bowl; Washington loses to suddenly-frisky Colorado and will make a fine Redboxer; Washington State-Oregon State HOLY SHIT 54-53 I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. I am so pulling for the Beavs to win the Platypus Trophy. This team deserves a bowl; even that season-opening loss to Hawaii doesn't look terrible.
• SPEAKING OF: MY 'BOWS! MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONSHIP GAME-BOUND! It is at Boise State so please don't squint too hard at it but MY 'BOWS, BABY! A 14-11 defensive slobberknocker after dark, and now the 'Bows can even rest the boys against 5-6 Army. Hell yeah.
• Oklahoma moves up, and so does Baylor, denying us a Baylor-Oregon Alamo Bowl.
• There is nothing funnier to me than, in the process of Texas notably being Not Back, that it means with a win over Kansas State in Farmageddon, the Iowa State Cyclones probably should be in the Camping World Bowl against Notre Dame. It's what everyone deserves.
• The ACC is finally a little clearer than, but still stinks of, pig shit. Georgia Tech knocking off N.C. State dropped the Wolfpack from contention, which was nice of them, because the calculus surrounding the four ACC teams in a row in the Independence-Quick Lane-Military-Pinstripe rows up above hurt my head every week.
• Big ups to the FIU Sunblazers, who dropped Miami-Fluoride in the Battle for Coral Gables on Saturday, both embarrassing Manny Diaz and moving the Canes from the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl down into the Quick Lane "Michigan State Doesn't Wanna Be Here Either" Pizza Motor City Bowl.
• Last week I laid out all my MACtion watching interests, rooting scenarios, and other things to watch:

I have seven MAC teams (of the 10 eligible) bowling: Western Michigan, Central Michigan, and Miami Hydroxide in the bid for the top spots, Toledo also bowl-eligible, 5-5 Buffalo and Eastern Michigan sneaking in on Black Friday with wins over Bowling Green and Kent State, respectively (my apologies to Hustle Belt for the Anti-Kent State Agenda), and 4-6 Ohio going runner-runner on the road at Bowling Green and moribund Akron to sneak in at 6-6. One of 4-6 Ball State and Kent State will be eliminated this weekend (and I think both lose their finales to M-OH and EMU), while Northern Illinois will have to walk a narrow road at home against Eastern and Western. MACTION LIVES!

• Of these, I can say I apologize for not believing in the Eastern Michigan Eagles. I apologize, Chris Creighton. I hope you get a lovely job at Arkansas or something and turn down the Rutgers job for being too sad for even you, a guy who coached at a place called The Factory.
• Buffalo got to bowl eligibility with a win over Toledo, Kent State is a game off and needs that second straight win over EMU, Ohio needs the win over Akron (and I need a bunch of Nathan Rourke TDs for fantasy pleaaaase). MACtion is fucking magic, guys, and we're blessed with it tonight: