BCS Bowl Projections 2012: Latest Speculation on College Footballs Top Games

The BCS National Championship Game is set, as No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Alabama are set to square off on January 7 with the sport's title on the line.

Throughout the rest of the college football field, the remaining eight teams that will make up the Rose, Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowl are coming together after Week 14's championship Saturday helped clear things up before Sunday night's BCS bowl selections are announced.

There's a few things for certain.

Here's a look at the matchups that are already set in stone. We know most of the field after the conclusion of Texas and Kansas State, but there's still some things to sort out before the final 35-game field is set.

BCS National Championship: No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Alabama

Rose Bowl: No. 8 Stanford vs. Wisconsin

Fiesta Bowl: No. 6 Kansas State vs. Oregon

Sugar Bowl: SEC vs. At-Large

Orange Bowl: Louisville vs. Big East/At-Large

Other Projections

Predictions are coming in like hot cakes. Jerry Palm of CBS Sports has his predictions set, and they feature Oklahoma and Florida in the Sugar Bowl with Louisville squeaking into the Orange Bowl.

BCS Guru notes that Boise State won't be getting a BCS bid, especially with the events of the MAC championship now safely in the back of voters' minds.

"

We do know NIU will finish ahead of Boise, so if any non-AQ gets a BCS berth, it'd be NIU.

— BCS Guru (@BCSGuru) December 2, 2012"

USA Today came out with its final BCS predictions on Saturday night. The publication has Louisville and Northern Illinois both making the final five big games of the season, as they predict that the Huskies will get into the Top 16 after the voting is done.

That doesn't bode well for Oklahoma and Clemson, two teams still looking to get into a game with impressive two-loss résumés.

Also noted by BCS Guru, there are some voters who don't know where to put the Huskies. His ballot reflects a different view than what USA Today projects.

"

@yesh222tshq - I still have UCLA ahead of them. I am doing final assessment on Nebraska and NIU vote shares.

— BCS Guru (@BCSGuru) December 2, 2012"

If the Huskies will make a BCS bowl, they'll have to avoid view like that.

Remaining Spots

As far as the rest of the field goes, the SEC spot in the Sugar Bowl is almost assuredly going to Florida. It would take a screw-up of epic proportions to leave Georgia in front of Florida in the BCS standings, so all odds are that the Gators take it home.

If you're an Oklahoma fan, pray that UCLA can hold off Northern Illinois in the standings. It looks like Big East champion Louisville has it narrowed down to the Sugar and Orange Bowl, and I think they get into the Orange.

Northern Illinois had everything fall into place on Saturday night—yet I can't see voters overlooking the loss to Iowa or one-point win over Army. Oklahoma will get into the BCS over Clemson and Northern Illinois if that is the case.

As far as the rest of the field goes, things are largely set. Look for OU, Oregon, Louisville and Florida to be the last four teams in. Of course, this is all speculation, but there's a good chance many of the projections we're seeing will wind up as the final names on the BCS list.

Ethan Grant is a featured columnist for B/R's Breaking News Team. Follow @DowntownEG