Bowl Projections 2012: Non-BCS Matchups That Would Add to Late-Season Drama

The BCS contests will headline the dramatic end of the 2012 college football season, but there are plenty of potentially tantalizing bowls outside of the perceived marquee matchups.

With little question that the Southeastern Conference is the best in the nation, top teams from other power clusters will want their shot at the ones who aren't featured in the top flight of the BCS standings.

Here is a look at a trio of barn burners that would only add to the excitement of the postseason.

Hyundai Sun Bowl, December 31: Clemson vs. Texas A&M

It would be difficult to match up a more exciting pair of quarterbacks than the Tigers' Tajh Boyd and Aggies freshman phenom Johnny Manziel. What better way to cap off yet another exciting year of college football?

Both are dual-threats, but Manziel relies much more on his legs, while Boyd has one of the best receiver duos in the nation in DeAndre Hopkins and Sammy Watkins at his disposal.

Their defenses are decent, but each of these teams entered Week 11 in the top 10 in points per game. That should lend itself to a shootout regardless.

Texas A&M may find itself in a higher profile game if it should pull off the upset against No. 1 Alabama in Tuscaloosa, but this prediction obviously operates under the assumption that it won't happen.

As far as how this one might play out, it'd be easy to figure that the superiority of the SEC would trounce even one of the best that the ACC has to offer. The Tigers have been victimized by Florida State—their only loss of the season—in the Atlantic Division.

All those factors could lend to this intriguing showdown becoming a reality.

AT&T Cotton Bowl, January 4: Oklahoma vs. South Carolina

Both of these teams are a bit enigmatic.

The Gamecocks blew out the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs, but were blasted at the Swamp 44-11 against the Florida Gators.

Meanwhile, neither of the Sooners' two losses are anything to hang their heads about. They lost by five points to second-ranked Kansas State, and ran into a buzz saw against Notre Dame, who is also still undefeated.

But how good is Bob Stoops' team? The rest of the schedule has been extremely easy, so getting a test against a similar, strangely star-crossed team would be fitting.

The Wildcats seem destined for the national title game with Alabama or Oregon though, assuming Heisman front-runner Collin Klein is healthy enough. We'll know more after tonight's tilt at TCU, but with his size and the year he's having, he'll have to be dragged off the field down the stretch.

BBVA Compass Bowl, January 5: Louisville vs. Florida

Was the Cardinals' loss to Syracuse Teddy Bridgewater's fault? Absolutely not.

The super sophomore has shredded any and every competition that has stood in his path, which would make it extremely interesting to see how he'd fare against an SEC defense.

Florida has had a couple of extremely shaky showings in the past two games against Missouri and Louisiana-Lafayette. They needed two last-minute touchdowns—capped by a Jelani Jenkins-blocked punt return with two seconds left—to best the Ragin' Cajuns.

That suggests that the Gators may not deserve a BCS bowl after all—and points to a blowout in a prospective matchup with Alabama in the conference championship game.

With two losses and the aforementioned two poor outings, Will Muschamp's team would almost definitely be excluded from the BCS picture. That could easily set up a tilt with the Cardinals.

This potential showdown may depend on the Cardinals coming back to win the Big East. They will now need a road victory over Rutgers in the season finale to make that happen.

It's well within the realm of possibility, and it would be interesting to see if the Gators' iffy offense could rise to the occasion should Bridgewater and Co. have their way with Florida's strong defense.