Bowl Predictions 2014: Latest Projections Before Saturday's Scheduled Action
The first few weeks of the 2014 college football regular season have been entertaining but none compare to the schedule of action and the potential bowl implications on tap for Week 5.
Fans of the sport have already started looking toward bowl season and the latest predictions and projections for which teams will make it to the top games. With a brand new playoff system in place, this will be a wild introduction to a college football postseason.
Here are the latest bowl predictions as college football fans prepare for Saturday’s action.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
| Championship Bowl | Jan. 12 | Arlington, Texas | Semifinal winners | Florida State vs. Oregon |
| Sugar Bowl | Jan. 1 | New Orleans, Louisiana | Semifinal | Alabama vs. Oregon |
| Rose Bowl | Jan. 1 | Pasadena, California | Semifinal | Florida State vs. Baylor |
| Cotton Bowl | Jan. 1 | Arlington, Texas | At-Large vs. At-Large | Texas A&M vs. Michigan State |
| Orange Bowl | Dec. 31 | Miami, Florida | ACC vs. SEC/Big Ten/Notre Dame | Georgia Tech vs. Auburn |
| Fiesta Bowl | Dec. 31 | Glendale, Arizona | At-Large vs. At-Large | UCLA vs. Notre Dame |
| Peach Bowl | Dec. 31 | Atlanta, Georgia | At-Large vs. At-Large | Georgia vs. Oklahoma |
Predicting the Four Teams That’ll Make the Playoffs
The majority of college football fans hated the old BCS postseason format, and the NCAA has granted our wishes and instituted a four-team playoff system that will take effect this season.
While there is a ton of regular-season football left to be played before the new system begins, it’s always fun to speculate about which programs have a chance to be chosen for the inaugural postseason experience.
The first team that will likely make the playoffs is Florida State. As long as the program doesn’t go on a losing streak this season, the Seminoles will be chosen for one of the top four spots as the defending national champions.
Assuming the team makes it through its favorable schedule (one ranked opponent on the schedule for the remainder of 2014), FSU should be a clear-cut playoff contender and possibly even the No. 1 overall seed if the program goes unbeaten.
Another team looking to fight its way into the championship picture is the Alabama Crimson Tide. With one of the toughest schedules in college football, Alabama could easily be challenging for the top spot in the rankings if the team beats the likes of Ole Miss on Saturday and the four other ranked teams on the rest of the schedule.
If the Crimson Tide make the playoffs, the program will have earned it the hard way.
The battle for second- and third-seed in the postseason could become heated if the Oregon Ducks can get back in the conversation as one of the top teams in the country. The Ducks lost on Thursday to Arizona, but a meeting against UCLA coming up and a battle against Stanford later in the season could help rebuild their championship hopes.
If Oregon makes it past UCLA and Stanford, the stage will have been set for the Ducks to make the playoffs and be a legitimate contender. With a tough Pac-12 schedule, Oregon has the potential to still be a championship threat if they stay unbeaten for the remainder of 2014.
One team not getting the mainstream attention it deserves is the Baylor Bears. With many of the SEC teams taking each other out during the course of the year, Baylor has the chance to run through the Big 12 and come out as the clear-cut fourth team in the college football playoffs.
Baylor is currently ranked seventh overall and has a very tough schedule. The Bears offense has been amazing in 2014 (first in the country with 56.8 points per game), and if the team can beat the likes of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU and Kansas State, Baylor will become an unlikely national championship contender.
All four of the aforementioned postseason contenders have very different styles. The two potential semifinals matchups would be unique experiences but neither would be able to hold a candle to the possibilities that could come out of the first championship game.
College football fans are part of a grand experiment this year. If the right four teams make the playoffs and the action lives up to the hype, this could be the most impactful change of the last 25 years in college sports.
*Stats via ESPN.com.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
