Bowl Projections: Predicting Top 2014-15 Postseason Matchups
With the halfway point of the 2014-15 college football season a thing of the past, the inaugural College Football Playoff and the usual crop of bowl games are within reach.
In other words, it is time to project how things will shake out.
There are enough games in the books to know which teams stand out the most. We know who the top players in the country are and which players—such as Mississippi State's Dak Prescott—can will their team to the title game on their own.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
We even have some semblance of an idea as to how the rest of the games will play out although this season has been wilder than most. Not that it is a bad thing, as ESPN's Joe Schad muses:
Here is a stab at 2014-15 bowl projections with some details after the jump.
2014 College Football Bowl Projections
| Championship Bowl | Jan. 12 | Arlington, Texas | Semifinal winners | Florida State vs. Mississippi State |
| Sugar Bowl | Jan. 1 | New Orleans, Louisiana | Semifinal | Mississippi State vs. Michigan State |
| Rose Bowl | Jan. 1 | Pasadena, California | Semifinal | Florida State vs. Ole Miss |
| Cotton Bowl | Jan. 1 | Arlington, Texas | At-Large vs. At-Large | TCU vs. Ohio State |
| Orange Bowl | Dec. 31 | Miami, Florida | ACC vs. SEC/Big Ten/Notre Dame | Clemson vs. Notre Dame |
| Fiesta Bowl | Dec. 31 | Glendale, Arizona | At-Large vs. At-Large | Baylor vs. Oregon |
| Peach Bowl | Dec. 31 | Atlanta, Georgia | At-Large vs. At-Large | Georgia vs. UCLA |
The latest AP Top 25 poll can be viewed here.
Sometimes, Predictable...
...Is all fans get.
The season has been far from it, but one constant remains—no team is stopping Florida State.
These Seminoles have won 23 straight games. It has not always been pretty. It has been controversial at times, such as in the waning moments of the team's 31-27 victory over then-No. 5 Notre Dame last weekend.
| at Syracuse | 30-36 | 317 | 83.3 | 3 |
| vs. ND | 23-31 | 273 | 74.2 | 2 |
Quarterback Jameis Winston has been on fire over the course of his past two games, one of those being the biggest test the Seminoles will face thanks to a strong Fighting Irish club. Then again, that Notre Dame team is 1-17 against Top Five teams since 1998.
Regardless, these Seminoles continue to win. The rest of the schedule has the look of a cakewalk, too.
Louisville is a tricky opponent thanks to a potent offense and a great defense that ranks No. 4 in the country, but the Seminoles have more than a week to prepare for that showdown. Virginia, Miami (Florida) and Boston College are all hardly above .500 while a season-ending encounter with Florida actually presents the Seminoles with an opponent that is just .500—and coming off a 42-13 loss to Missouri.
The biggest opponent to the Seminoles' playoff chances is themselves. Remember that even if the team does pick up a single loss, it is hard to imagine voters would not put Winston and Co. in the running.
The Comeback Story
Many declared the Michigan State Spartans dead in the water in regard to the CFP after a 46-27 loss to then-No. 3 Oregon back in early September.
Now, the Spartans are ranked higher than the Ducks.
So it goes in the wild, inaugural CFP season, where a number of one-loss teams are already sure to get in on the action by season's end. Based on recent play and the rest of the schedule, the Spartans figure to be one of them.
Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio certainly thinks his team should be in the running, as captured by Paul Myerberg of USA Today Sports:
"What we'd like to have people say about us is that we're efficient. We stop the run. We make them throw the ball on offense. All we care about is winning football games, actually. That's probably what most people care about. That's the way I was raised to coach, I guess.
"
He certainly is not wrong. The Spartans surprisingly rank No. 3 overall with an average of 47.0 points scored per game. The defense is its usually elite self, most notably stunting a potent Nebraska rushing attack at the beginning of October and holding Heisman Trophy contender Ameer Abdullah to 45 yards and a pair of scores on a 1.9 yards-per-carry average.
The rest of the schedule is simple. Take care of business against Michigan, fend off an iffy Ohio State team and win games against programs with inflated records such as Maryland, Rutgers and Penn State.
Battle of Mississippi
Like everyone predicted, the biggest game of the season is a season-ending affair between Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
Of course, those Rebels are ranked No. 3 in the land thanks to the No. 1 defense that allows just 10.6 points per game on average and has wins over Texas A&M and Alabama.
Those Bulldogs are the top team in the nation thanks to an elite offense led by Prescott and wins over LSU, Texas A&M and Auburn.
The two collide on Nov. 29.
Both have a good shot of getting there undefeated, too. Ole Miss needs to survive LSU and Auburn, but with a defense that held Alabama to 17 points and a senior quarterback in Bo Wallace who has thrown 17 touchdowns to six interceptions, it is not out of the realm of possibility.
Prescott and the Bulldogs have a much easier ride, the exception being a trip to Alabama. Given Prescott's 246 passing yards, 121 rushing yards and three total scores in a comfortable win over Auburn, though, it is hard to imagine he will have a ton of difficulty against the Crimson Tide.
The wackiest part? If both get to the end of the season undefeated, the loser of the contest could still make the CFP and invoke a rematch.
Strap in for a wild finish.
Note: All stats and info via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
