ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

Lots of football left, but that shouldn't stop folks from speculating how things might stack up come bowl season.

The first big question is whether the Pac-10 will get two BCS teams. Oregon's loss at Stanford damages that possibility but not irreparably, particularly if you believe Oregon is going to end up in the Rose Bowl anyway.

The guess this week is that USC, despite its recent issues, will still finish 10-2. Heard a reasonable explanation this weekend for why the Fiesta Bowl might not want the Trojans. I can think of a mountain reason why the Fiesta Bowl should take the Trojans, including this: It will create a compelling matchup with a non-AQ team.

The second big question is how many teams will be eligible?

Six teams already are. Only woeful Washington State is out for sure.

The most likely seventh? UCLA, which has to win at Washington State on Saturday and then either beat Arizona State at home or win at USC.

Here's a handy bowl schedule. And bowl projections.

Here are our Pac-10 projections:

Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi: Oregon vs. Big Ten
Tostitos Fiesta: USC vs. BCS at-large
Pacific Life Holiday: Arizona vs. Big 12
Brut Sun: Oregon State vs. Big 12/Big East/Notre Dame
Emerald: Stanford vs. ACC
MAACO Las Vegas: California vs. Mountain West
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia: UCLA vs. Mountain West

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Every Sunday from now until the end of the regular season, I'll be offering up our best guesses at where the Big East teams will be going bowling this year.

There's still a lot to be decided. Technically, all eight teams are still capable of making the postseason. Three teams are alive for the Big East title and BCS berth.

But Notre Dame's loss to Navy over the weekend looks like a setback for the league, since now the Fighting Irish appear destined for the Gator Bowl, taking the Big East slot. That leaves one fewer postseason game for league teams, and it means that even if Cincinnati and Pitt both finish in the top 10, the runner-up will be going to the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

It would take a small miracle for either Syracuse or Louisville to get into a bowl this year. And right now, I'm projecting that UConn, which sits at 4-5 and has challenging games remaining against Notre Dame and South Florida, will be left out.

With all that in mind, here are my projections:

Allstate Sugar Bowl: Cincinnati vs. BCS

Meineke Car Care Bowl: Pitt vs. ACC

Papajohns.com Bowl: South Florida vs. SEC

International Bowl: Rutgers vs. MAC

St. Petersburg Bowl: West Virginia vs. C-USA

Here's a complete bowl schedule. And here are complete bowl projections from colleagues Bruce Feldman and Mark Schlabach.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Graham Watson

With just a few weeks remaining in the season, it’s time to start talking bowls.

Among the non-AQs, 15 members already have earned enough wins for bowl eligibility, though that doesn’t mean they’ll all get in. Some non-AQ conferences have a limited amount of bowls, which means hoping some of the automatic qualifying conferences don’t fill all of their guaranteed spots.

Here’s a look at my bowl projections as we head into Week 11 of the 2009 season. I’ll be doing this every Sunday for the rest of the season.

NATIONAL

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: TCU vs. BCS

FedEx Orange Bowl: Boise State vs. BCS

CONFERENCE USA

Liberty Bowl: Houston vs. SEC

Hawaii Bowl: SMU vs. WAC

Armed Forces Bowl: Tulsa vs. MWC

New Orleans Bowl: East Carolina vs. Sun Belt

St. Petersburg Bowl: Southern Miss vs. Big East

EagleBank Bowl: UCF vs. At-Large

INDEPENDENTS

Texas Bowl: Navy vs. Big 12

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: Temple vs. Big Ten

GMAC Bowl: Central Michigan vs. ACC

International Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. Big East

EagleBank Bowl: Ohio vs. C-USA

MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE

MAACO Bowl Las Vegas: Utah vs. Pac-10

Poinsettia Bowl: BYU vs. Pac-10

Armed Forces Bowl: Air Force vs. C-USA

New Mexico Bowl: San Diego State vs. WAC

SUN BELT CONFERENCE

New Orleans Bowl: Troy vs. C-USA

St. Petersburg Bowl: Middle Tennessee vs. C-USA

WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Humanitarian Bowl: Idaho vs. At-Large

New Mexico Bowl: Nevada vs. MWC

Hawaii Bowl: Fresno State vs. C-USA

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

Barring a total collapse by Alabama and Florida, both of those teams are headed to a BCS bowl. It would be the fourth straight year that the SEC has sent two teams to the BCS.

Of course, that’s good news for everybody else in the league.

The real race may be for the spot in the Capital One Bowl, which gets first choice after the BCS selections are made.

LSU (7-2, 4-2) is the odds-on favorite at this point. The Tigers are still nationally ranked and have a chance to finish with 10 wins. But if they lose again, Tennessee (5-4, 2-3) could move into that picture or even Ole Miss (6-3, 2-3) or Auburn (7-3, 3-3) depending on what they do to close the season.

LSU has Louisiana Tech and Arkansas left at home and travels to Ole Miss.

Tennessee has been hottest team of late and also has what would appear to be a pretty manageable schedule the rest of the way. The Ole Miss-Tennessee matchup in Oxford this weekend could go a long way toward clearing up the SEC bowl picture.

Here's a link to the college bowl schedule this year, and two of my colleagues at ESPN.com, Mark Schlabach and Bruce Feldman, make their weekly bowl projections.

Here's the way I see it shaping up right now:

BCS National Championship Game: Florida vs. BCS

Allstate Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. BCS

Capital One Bowl: LSU vs. Big Ten

Outback Bowl: Tennessee vs. Big Ten

Cotton Bowl: Auburn vs. Big 12

Chick-fil-A Bowl: Ole Miss vs. ACC

Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl: Georgia vs. ACC

Autozone Liberty Bowl: Arkansas vs. Conference USA

Advocare Independence Bowl: Kentucky vs. Big 12

Papajohns.com Bowl: South Carolina vs. Big East

Posted by ESPN.com’s Heather Dinich

The ACC finished Week 10 with five teams bowl eligible -- Clemson, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Miami and Virginia Tech. The conference also got one other answer: it’s mathematically impossible for Maryland (2-7) to make it to the postseason.

There are still some lingering hopes, though, and they’re mainly in the Atlantic Division, where Wake Forest, NC State and Florida State can still extend their seasons. The catch is, Wake and FSU play each other this weekend, and the Demon Deacons can’t afford another loss. Florida State can, but that would mean it must beat rival Florida in the regular-season finale.

In the Coastal Division, Duke’s chances decreased with its loss to North Carolina on Saturday, but it’s not over yet for the Blue Devils. They need to find two more wins with Georgia Tech, Miami and Wake Forest remaining. Virginia (3-6) needs to win out, and North Carolina (6-3) is one win away with opportunities remaining against Miami, Boston College and NC State.

At this point, I’m counting out Maryland, Duke, Florida State, NC State and Virginia. That's right, the Demon Deacons need some love, and I'm gonna give it to them.

Here are the latest bowl projections for the ACC:

FedEx Orange Bowl: Clemson vs. BCS at large

Chick-fil-A Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. SEC

Gator Bowl: Georgia Tech or Miami vs. Big East or Notre Dame

Champs Sports Bowl: Georgia Tech or Miami vs. Big Ten

Music City Bowl: North Carolina vs. SEC

Meineke Car Care Bowl: Wake Forest vs. Big East

Emerald Bowl: Boston College vs. Pac-10

EagleBank Bowl: N/A

GMAC Bowl: N/A

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

It’s always precarious trying to slot bowl teams in early November.

And after a week like we just had in the Big 12, it’s even tougher.

Four upsets have scrambled the conference’s bowl order and made the postseason opportunities for the teams no clearer than they were early in the season.

For the first time since 2006, it looks like the Big 12 will only have one team in the BCS. That will cost the league millions of dollars, but result in a true bowl selection for the conference for a change.

No Big 12 teams have been eliminated from bowl contention. And it’s likely that if the conference has more teams than bowl slots, there’s a good chance that the conference should be able to fill another bowl or two, if needed.

The conference’s hottest team is Kansas State. Although the Wildcats need to get to seven victories after notching two triumphs over FCS opponents earlier this season, they should get there with one victory in their final two games.

Here are my projections for the bowls heading into the week’s games.

• Citi BCS National Championship Game, Jan. 7, 8 p.m. ET, FOX Sports, Pasadena, Calif. -- Texas vs. BCS team
• AT&T Cotton Bowl, Jan. 2, 2 p.m., FOX Sports, Arlington, Texas -- Oklahoma State vs. SEC team
• Pacific Life Holiday Bowl, Dec. 30, 8 p.m., ESPN, San Diego -- Nebraska vs. Pac-10 team
• Valero Alamo Bowl, Jan. 2, 9 p.m., ESPN, San Antonio -- Texas Tech vs. Big Ten team
• Brut Sun Bowl, Dec. 31, noon, CBS, El Paso, Texas -- Oklahoma vs. Pac-10 team
• Insight Bowl, Dec. 31, 5:30 p.m., NFL Network, Tempe, Ariz. -- Kansas State vs. Big Ten team
• Texas Bowl, Dec. 30, 8 p.m., NFL Network, Houston -- Texas A&M vs. Navy
• Independence Bowl, Dec. 28, 5 p.m., ESPN, Shreveport, La. -- Missouri vs. SEC team

I also think Iowa State will be bowl eligible with a 6-6 record. Look for some bowl to pick the Cyclones when their conference arrangements fall through.

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

You asked for them. Now you've got them.

I'm actually glad we waited this long before projecting the postseason in the Big Ten. After Saturday's insanity, the league's bowl picture changed significantly. Ohio State has suddenly emerged as the front-runner for the Rose Bowl after its big win at Penn State and Iowa's crushing loss to Northwestern. The Buckeyes seem to be peaking at the perfect time and are a win away from their fifth consecutive Big Ten title.

The Big Ten has had two BCS bowl entries in each of the last four seasons, but the streak is in jeopardy after Penn State's loss. It would be hard to see a two-loss Penn State team, a two-loss Iowa team or a three-loss Ohio State team getting a BCS at-large berth. Wisconsin is in great shape for the No. 4 bowl, but after that it gets messy. The Michigan State-Purdue game next week could be a bowl play-in game.

A few things to keep in mind: a 6-6 team can be selected ahead of a 7-5 team as long as the 7-5 team is guaranteed a Big Ten bowl tie-in. All bowls except the Insight and Little Caesar's Pizza cannot select a team with two fewer wins than the team above it in the standings.

Check out the full bowl schedule as well as ESPN.com's bowl projections.

Bowl eligible teams: Iowa (9-1), Ohio State (8-2), Penn State (8-2), Wisconsin (7-2), Northwestern (6-4)

Here's how I see things shaking out right now.

• Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi: Ohio State vs. BCS
• Capital One Bowl: Iowa vs. SEC
• Outback Bowl: Penn State vs. SEC
• Champs Sports: Wisconsin vs. ACC
• Valero Alamo: Michigan State vs. Big 12
• Insight: Northwestern vs. Big 12
• Little Caesar's: Minnesota vs. MAC