The postseason is the ultimate celebration for teams to celebrate their hard work through the course of the year. As we all know, the postseason for college football features a four-team playoff and several bowl games. Each conference has agreements with certain bowl games to send their respective teams to. Many websites use projections to show where they predict each team to go. Instead of projections, here is a version more similar to “bracketology”. This is a live look at where teams would be if the season ended today.
One more week to go.
We know who will be in the Big 12 Championship Game. Congratulations to Baylor and Oklahoma! As long as both teams win this week, they are likely to be in a New Year’s Six Bowl. Baylor’s ranking is so good right now, the Bears didn’t even need the Orange Bowl to take a higher ranked SEC/Big Ten team to score the Cotton Bowl berth. A win against Kansas will also ingrain them into the nine spot, if not higher. There is a lot of football to be played by the teams ahead of them. For starters, there are the conference championships. Three teams are guaranteed to lose in those games. Unless Utah somehow climbs into the College Football Playoff, this guarantees the Pac-12 one spot: the Rose Bowl. If Michigan upsets Ohio State, the Big Ten will be left without an undefeated team, softening the strength of schedule for the winner of the Big Ten Championship Game. Also, the loser is guaranteed a second loss. Additionally, if Wisconsin upsets Minnesota, then the Big Ten West Champion will have two losses. There is a lot more here I could talk about, but those are the main points.
Meanwhile, the fact that Baylor is currently in the Cotton Bowl pushes everyone up a spot. Oklahoma State is now slated for the Alamo Bowl. Iowa State and Kansas State are basically duking it out for the right to play Notre Dame in the Camping World Bowl this weekend.
Meanwhile, Texas is literally playing to be in the Texas Bowl this week. If the Longhorns have a winning record, the Texas Bowl will choose them. If they have a 6-6 record, their bowl destination will depend on the records of TCU and Kansas State.
West Virginia and Texas Tech lost last week. The Big 12 will probably not receive an APR bid this year, if there are any. Three spots were taken this week and the worst APR ranking to get a bid was at No.41. Tech and WVU aren’t even ranked in the top 100 for APR scores.
As for Kansas, their bowl game is this week. They are playing in the Lawrence Bowl against Baylor. Best of luck to the Jayhawks on Senior Day!
Alas, the current bowl picture is below.
College Football Playoff
Peach Bowl Semifinal: No.2 LSU (11-0) vs. No.3 Clemson (11-0)
Fiesta Bowl Semifinal: No.1 Ohio State (11-0) vs. No.4 Georgia (10-1)
Sugar Bowl, Big 12 Champion vs. SEC Champion
No. 7 Oklahoma (10-1, 7-1 in Big 12) vs. No.5 Alabama (10-1, 6-1 in SEC)
-Oklahoma holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Baylor.
-Georgia is in the College Football Playoff, leaving Alabama as the only one-loss SEC team remaining.
Cotton Bowl, At-Large vs. Highest Ranked Group of Five team
No. 9 Baylor (10-1, 7-1 in Big 12) vs. No.18 Memphis (10-1, 6-1 in The American)
-Baylor is the highest ranked team remaining.
-Memphis is the highest ranked Group of Five team.
Alamo Bowl, Big 12 No.2 vs. Pac-12 No.2
No. 21 Oklahoma State (8-3, 5-3 in Big 12) vs. No.14 Oregon (9-2, 7-1 in Pac-12)
-Oklahoma State has a better overall record than Iowa State
-Oregon is the only remaining team with one loss in Pac-12 play.
Camping World Bowl, Big 12 No.3 vs. ACC first tier selection
No. 23 Iowa State (7-4, 5-3 in Big 12) vs. No.16 Notre Dame (9-2)
-Iowa State is the last remaining team with a winning record in Big 12 play.
-Notre Dame is allowed to fill in for ACC teams, except in the Orange Bowl. The Fighting Irish are ranked, unlike every ACC team with the exception of Clemson. Because of Notre Dame’s ranking and the poor performance by the conference, the Camping World Bowl chooses Notre Dame.
Texas Bowl, Big 12 No.4 vs. SEC first tier selection
Texas (6-5, 4-4 in Big 12) vs. Kentucky (6-5, 3-5 in SEC)
-Despite having a worse overall record than Kansas State, the winning overall record allows the Texas Bowl to choose the Longhorns over the Wildcats. It’s a no brainer for the Texas Bowl.
-Louisivlle is in the Belk Bowl and Tennessee chooses the Music City Bowl. Thus, Kentucky will choose to play a big name brand in Texas.
Liberty Bowl, Big 12 No.5 vs. SEC first tier selection
Kansas State (7-4, 4-4 in Big 12) vs. *Florida International (6-5, 3-4 in Conference USA)
-Texas is the final bowl eligible team remaining in the Big 12.
– The SEC is unable to fill its bowl allotment. The Liberty Bowl chooses Florida International because the head coach is Butch Davis and the Golden Panthers recently upset Miami (FL).
Ineligible:
TCU (5-6, 2-6 in Big 12)
-The only team standing in between the Horned Frogs and bowl eligibility is West Virginia. This game will be played in Fort Worth. I like TCU’s chances. If they do lose, TCU is tied for 73rd in the APR rankings. Just win, baby!
Relying on APR Scores:
West Virginia (4-7, 2-6 in Big 12)
-The Mountaineers have hung in there lately. Sadly, it’s not enough. Their APR ranking is in a tie for 104th. The three APR teams to make it into bracketology this week are Boston College (Tied for 8th), Nebraska and Kent State (Both are tied for 41st). It’s a long shot. Not to mention, their opponent this week is playing for their sixth victory. That would make TCU bowl bound.
Texas Tech (4-7, 2-6 in Big 12)
Many could make the case that Texas Tech was screwed over multiple times this season. They could easily be playing for a bowl berth this week if it’s not for a horrible call against Baylor. Of course, there is the rebuttal that Tech should have defeated Kansas. Also, we have to remember that they dropped a game against an Arizona team that is also 4-7. We can’t make too many excuses for the Red Raiders. Finally, the only team Tech is better than in the APR rankings is Florida State. Yeah, good luck with that!
Better luck next year
Kansas (3-8, 1-7 in the Big 12)
-Home losses against Coastal Carolina and West Virginia did Kansas in. The blocked PAT at Texas did not help either.
**We now have FREE Big 12 Forums here at Heartland College Sports. Go sign up here and join our conversation! **
