As we begin to kickoff another college football season, we look forward to the end of the season and all of the bowl mania that will ensue. We certainly don't want to rush through the season, but it's always fun to look at potential bowl matchups. Our bowl projections have been finalized. The projections are based off of the conference predictions posted on Monday.
The SEC's dominance continued last season; more specifically Alabama's. The SEC has now won an astonishing 7 consecutive BCS championships. Alabama has won 3, Florida has won 2, and LSU and Auburn have each chipped in a title. Alabama is going for an unprecedented third consecutive title. The Crimson Tide are favored to do it again, despite losing a ton of talent to the NFL. AJ McCarron, TJ Yeldon, and Amari Cooper return to the skill positions to provide explosiveness to the offense. CJ Mosley leads a defense that is perennially one of the top units in the nation. Are there any teams from another conference that can end their bid for a 3-peat? Many think that Ohio State has the best chance. The Buckeyes finished the season undefeated in 2012, but due to a bowl ban had no chance to win the BCS title. Most of Urban Meyer's key players return, and he added a loaded freshmen class. Aside from Ohio State, Oregon, Stanford, and a hand full of other SEC teams figure to play a role in who plays for the crystal football in Pasadena.
Last year I made the mistake of not picking an SEC team to play in the BCS National Championship Game. I won't make that mistake again. After all, the SEC Championship has become a de facto National Semifinal. In fact I am not going out on much of a limb at all this year. I like Alabama to win the SEC and play in their 4th title game in 5 years. Their opponent will be the Ohio State Buckeyes. I know it is unlikely that the two teams that begin the season ranked #1 and #2 will end up that way, but these teams have the most talent from top to bottom and have manageable schedules.
I have Alabama and Ohio State battling it out in Pasadena on January 6th with a national title up for grabs. Who do I have winning it all? Haven't you seen this story play out before? Ohio State can't compete with the SEC. Not even with Urban Meyer on the sideline. At least not this year. I think Alabama wins a third straight national championship and keeps themselves and the SEC at the top of the college football mountain.
Here is a look at projections for all of the 2013-2014 bowl games (Projected Rankings listed).
December 21
Gildan New Mexico Bowl - San Jose State vs. Toledo
Las Vegas Bowl - 16 Boise State vs. 22 Oregon State
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl - Fresno State vs. Ohio
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl - Western Kentucky vs. Middle Tennessee
December 23
Beef O'Brady's Bowl - Wake Forest vs. Louisiana Tech
December 24
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl - Marshall vs. Utah State
December 26
Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl - Northern Illinois vs. Minnesota
San Diego CU Poinsettia Bowl - San Diego State vs. UTEP
December 27
Military Bowl - Pittsburgh vs. East Carolina
Texas Bowl - TCU vs. Iowa
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl - BYU vs. Washington
December 28
New Era Pinstripe Bowl - Baylor vs. UConn
Belk Bowl - 18 North Carolina vs. Rutgers
Russell Athletic Bowl - Miami vs. Cincinnati
Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl - 25 Northwestern vs. Texas Tech
December 30
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl - Navy vs. Air Force
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl - Vanderbilt vs. Georgia Tech
Valero Alamo Bowl - Oklahoma State vs. UCLA
Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl - 21 USC vs. 24 Kansas State
December 31
AdvoCare V100 Bowl - NC State vs. Mississippi State
Hyundai Sun Bowl - 23 Virginia Tech vs. Arizona
AutoZone Liberty Bowl - Tulsa vs. Ole Miss
Chick-fil-A Bowl - 17 Clemson vs. Tennessee
January 1
TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl - 15 LSU vs. Michigan State
Heart of Dallas Bowl - Rice vs. Wyoming
Capital One Bowl - 11 South Carolina vs. 19 Nebraska
Outback Bowl - 12 Georgia vs. 20 Wisconsin
Rose Bowl Game - 3 Oregon vs. 9 Michigan
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - 5 Texas vs. 6 Stanford
January 2
Allstate Sugar Bowl - 4 Florida vs. 7 Louisville
January 3
AT&T Cotton Bowl - 10 Texas A&M vs. 13 Oklahoma
Discover Orange Bowl - 8 Florida State vs. 14 Notre Dame
January 4
BBVA Compass Bowl - UCF vs. Missouri
January 5
Godaddy Bowl - Ball State vs. UL-Lafayette
January 6
BCS National Championship Game - 1 Alabama vs. 2 Ohio State
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