Bowl Predictions 2012: Teams That Will Earn BCS Bids in Week 14

Bowl season is upon us and predictions are running wild across the country as to who will end up in which bowl game. Week 14’s conference championship games have a big say in what teams will fit into which BCS bowl games.

Who’s it going to be? Can the Kent State Golden Flashes withstand the Northern Illinois Huskies and sneak into the Top 16 of the BCS standings to earn an automatic bid?

Can the Georgia Bulldogs cap an improbable season by leaping the Alabama Crimson Tide to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the national title game?

Let’s take a look at which teams are going to clinch BCS bowl appearances with wins in Week 14.

Kansas State Wildcats

BCS Bowl: Fiesta

Collin Klein and the Wildcats have had two weeks to stew about their devastating loss to the Baylor Bears that uprooted them from the BCS title game.

Luckily they’ll easily handle the Texas Longhorns in their final game to clinch the Big 12 and a spot in the Fiesta Bowl as a consolation prize.

Quarterback Case McCoy will start for the Longhorns due to a rib injury to David Ash. Texas has struggled no matter who is behind center.

Stanford Cardinal

BCS Bowl: Rose

The Cardinal bested their neighbors to the south last week in convincing fashion. Has anything changed between now and then?

Nope.

Stepfan Taylor and the physical Cardinal offensive line will impose their will and have their way with the Bruins in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

Nebraska Cornhuskers

BCS Bowl: Rose

Another rematch from earlier in the season will end in similar fashion. The Cornhuskers are simply a more well-rounded team.

Even if the Badgers hang close enough to make it interesting, they haven’t been able to finish games or execute when it counts down the stretch. That’s mostly why the team has lost a disappointing five games leading into this matchup.

Three of Wisconsin’s losses came in overtime, four were by three points and one was a  by a touchdown to the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Alabama Crimson Tide

BCS Bowl: National Championship

The Georgia Bulldogs have made an excellent run, rising to the near-top of the BCS rankings. That feel-good story will come to an end against Nick Saban’s well-polished Crimson Tide.

Georgia is giving up over 160 yards per game on the ground and the pro-style Alabama offense will use that to its advantage. The Tide are one of the nation’s best rushing teams, averaging 214 yards per game on the ground.

Aaron Murray may upstage AJ McCarron on the stat sheet, but it will be McCarron who leads his team to the championship game.

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