Even though we are eight weeks into the college football season, that doesn’t mean we can’t look ahead to the future. There is still a lot of season left ahead of us, but it is never too early to start thinking about the postseason.
CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm recently released his latest college football bowl projections. It is always interesting to see how things change from week to week, but here is what he has listed for the Big 12.
Fiesta Bowl (CFP)
Iowa State vs. First-Round Winner
According to Palm, the Cyclones are still the favorites in the Big 12, and rightfully so. They are in the top ten in the latest AP Poll and look like the best team in the Big 12. Plus, they are one of two undefeated teams left in the conference.
CFP First Round
BYU at Alabama
Last week, BYU was projected to play Penn State, but that changed to Alabama due to Penn State climbing up a spot in the seeding. The Cougars are the other unbeaten team in the Big 12, and with their friendly remaining schedule, as long as they win out in the regular season, they should get a playoff bid.
Texas Bowl
Texas Tech vs. LSU
The Oklahoma State Cowboys have fallen a bit, but it appears Texas Tech has taken their spot here despite losing to Baylor last weekend. The good news is that the Red Raiders will have more opportunities to prove themselves.
Sun Bowl
Arizona vs. Syracuse
Arizona went from the Los Angeles Bowl to the Sun Bowl after their blowout loss to Colorado at home. While El Paso may not be an ideal bowl destination, the good news is that it is less than a five-hour drive from Tucson. But this team has a long way to go before they need to focus on a bowl game.
Alamo Bowl
Kansas State vs. Washington State
For the last two weeks, Kansas State was projected to play USC but Stinkin’ Lincoln keeps losing games. In fact, Lincoln Riley is 5-9 in his last 14 games at USC. Also, who knows, this could be a conference game one day.
Pop-Tarts Bowl
TCU vs. Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish remain in the Pop-Tarts Bowl slot but TCU has now emerged into this bowl game. Sitting at four wins, the Horned Frogs still have some work to do.
Las Vegas Bowl
Colorado vs. South Carolina
Prime Time in Vegas? Sign me up and South Carolina is a sneaky good team this year. For Deion to get Colorado into a bowl game in year two would be massive for Colorado. And watch out, they could certainly climb up this bowl list.
Holiday Bowl
Utah vs. Virginia Tech
How the mighty have fallen. Utah was once locked into a top four seed and a first round bye and now they are all the way down in the Holiday Bowl. As bad as that sounds, there still is a chance that they may not even make a bowl game. Ouch.
Liberty Bowl
West Virginia vs. Vanderbilt
Kudos to Vanderbilt for possibly making a bowl game but the only thing I can think about when I saw this is Neal Brown. Would he still be the coach when bowl season comes around?
Armed Forces Bowl
Oklahoma State vs. Tulane
Oklahoma State certainly didn’t have expectations to play in a bowl game like this but they have bigger fish to fry like actually winning three more games to become bowl eligible.
Guaranteed Rate Bowl
Arizona State vs. Nebraska
This would be huge for both programs because making a bowl game would be a step in the right direction. While this may not be a high level bowl game, this would very important for both teams and a win here could help get some momentum heading into 2025.
