Bowl Projections 2014: Predictions for Selection Committee Games Before Week 8

The college football landscape shifts more every week, with just a handful of teams being able to make the notable bowl games. Only four will be in the first ever College Football Playoff, but eight more make the other historic bowls.

Those include the Cotton, Orange, Fiesta and Peach Bowls, with the Sugar and Rose Bowls serving as semifinals. Several at-large teams will make those games on Dec. 31 or Jan. 1, but the berths are limited with some of the lower conferences likely to miss out.

Programs like Mississippi State and Ole Miss have been proving their cases recently, while Florida State has maintained its position all season. Meanwhile, current outsiders in polls like Notre Dame and Alabama still have a good chance to make the playoff or a noteworthy bowl.

Before Week 8 kicks off, here's a look at the current projections for the biggest bowl games.

Bowl	Date	Matchup	Prediction
Sugar	Jan. 1	CFP Semifinal	Mississippi State vs. Michigan State
Rose	Jan. 1	CFP Semifinal	Florida State vs. Ole Miss
Cotton	Jan. 1	At-Large vs. At-Large	Oregon vs. Oklahoma
Orange	Dec. 31	ACC vs. SEC/Big Ten/Notre Dame	Clemson vs. Georgia
Fiesta	Dec. 31	At-Large vs. At-Large	Auburn vs. UCLA
Peach	Dec. 31	At-Large vs. At-Large	Notre Dame vs. East Carolina

College Football Playoff Breakdown

It's still extremely early in the process, but a few teams have set themselves apart. Even in a stacked SEC West, both the Rebels and Bulldogs have remained unscathed and deserving of a bid in the College Football Playoff.

The two programs are led by two tremendous quarterbacks who have carried the teams throughout the season. Dak Prescott has received most of the attention as a Heisman candidate, but Bo Wallace has been equally as important to Ole Miss' success.

Below is a look at the two signal-callers' statistics during the 2014 season.

Player	Bo Wallace	Dak Prescott
Pass Comp.-Att.	124-181	96-156
Pass Yds	1,700	1,478
Pass TD-INT	15-6	14-4
Rush Yds	89	576
Rush TD	2	8
Adj. QBR	74.6	84.9
Passer Rating	168.1	165.6

Of course, Prescott has been more effective with his legs, but both can get the job done with their arms.

Unfortunately, the feel-good story in Mississippi will come to a head later this year in the Egg Bowl. Just one team will have a chance to remain undefeated—which isn't promised for either program—but some believe two teams from the SEC West should be in the playoff.

Coach Hugh Freeze believes the division is good enough to have two teams contending for a title, per Hugh Kellenberger of The Clarion-Ledger:

"

I do think the SEC West deserves two in the playoff. ...

If we got beat tonight it would have been because Texas A&M beat us in their place and they are a good football team. But I never worried about that. Our kids are excited, we enjoyed the win but they'll come back down and get ready.

"

I agree with Freeze and think it will be his team making the four-team bracket. That other Mississippi team? Yeah, it'll also get in there with Prescott and the stout defense leading the way on the road against Ole Miss.

The Bulldogs will win the SEC with Ole Miss losing the final game and still making it due to the body of work.

As for the remainder of the playoff, Notre Dame will narrowly miss the bracket if it loses to Florida State. If the Seminoles escape a matchup against the Irish with a victory, the remaining schedule offers no real threat to an appearance in the playoff.

That controversial final spot goes to Michigan State, for now. The Spartans have been taking care of business, while Baylor nearly crumbled against TCU. Baylor still has tough tests against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Kansas State, and one loss would set it behind Michigan State.

Meanwhile, the Spartans defense remains one of the best in the country, per College GameDay:

If the Spartans simply win out against several Big Ten opponents, they will still need help from other teams losing around them. Due to the way the season has gone thus far, Michigan State will wind up being the fourth team in the playoff.

Follow @RCorySmith on Twitter.