Bowl Projections 2014: Predictions for Most Dangerous Unranked Teams

The College Football Playoff selection committee's Top 25 may represent the best teams in America, but there are plenty of unranked squads that will make some noise come bowl season.

Knowing which teams those are and how confident you should be in predicting them to win will be critical if you hope to win your bowl pool. After all, you can only put so many confidence points on the Alabamas and Florida States of the world before you have to turn your attention to the pre-New Year’s Day bowls.

With that in mind, here is a look at bowl projections for some of the most dangerous unranked (in the CFP poll) teams in the country.

Bowl Projections for Dangerous Unranked Teams 

Arkansas: Liberty Bowl against West Virginia

East Carolina: Bitcoin Bowl against Miami

Memphis: Miami Beach Bowl against BYU

Teams 

Arkansas

Danny Johnston/Associated Press

It’s rare for an SEC team to fly under the radar in today’s college football world, but that is exactly what Arkansas did for the entire second half of the season.

The Razorbacks became bowl-eligible when they won three of their final five games. It's not just the wins that make Arkansas a dangerous squad heading into bowl season, though. Bret Bielema's squad nearly upset some of the top teams in the country this season and had plenty of close calls.

In fact, Arkansas lost to Alabama 14-13 after missing an extra point, Mississippi State 17-10 and Missouri 21-14 after leading for most of the first three quarters. Arkansas is the prototypical team that improves as the season progresses and nobody wants to play. The Razorbacks shorten the game with a powerful running attack and a physically bruising defense. 

L.G. Patterson/Associated Press

That defense finished 16th in the country in points allowed per game and held the same Alabama team that put up 55 points against Auburn and 59 against Texas A&M to a measly 14 points. Clay Travis of Fox Sports and ESPN Stats & Info noted just how impressive the Arkansas defense was down the stretch before losing in the fourth quarter to Missouri:

Offensively, the Razorbacks averaged 220.3 yards per game on the ground behind a massive offensive line and the Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins combination. Both running backs broke the 1,000-yard barrier on the year and will lead the offense into a bowl game. 

Prediction: Arkansas 27, West Virginia 20

East Carolina

Chris Szagola/Associated Press

While Arkansas impresses with its defense and its ability to grind out yards on the ground, East Carolina is an aerial assault waiting to happen come bowl season.

The Pirates are third in the nation in passing yards per game at 364.6, and quarterback Shane Carden has 3,912 passing yards and 25 touchdown passes on the season. All Carden and Co. did against the ACC's North Carolina earlier in the season was drop 70 points in a win.

The Pirates are 14th in the nation in points per game at 37.8.

East Carolina also beat Virginia Tech the week after the Hokies shocked Ohio State and gave South Carolina a real scare in Columbia before eventually falling by 10.

Ted Richardson/Associated Press

Early bowl games have a tendency to feature plenty of scoring, and the connection between Carden and wide receiver Justin Hardy (1,194 receiving yards and eight touchdown catches) in the passing game will put up some fireworks in late December.

As long as the Pirates continue to score at an incredible pace, they will win their bowl game this season. 

Prediction: East Carolina 34, Miami 24

Memphis

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

There are few reclamation projects in all of college football more impressive than Memphis' efforts this season. 

The Tigers destroyed Connecticut 41-10 on Saturday to earn a share of the American Athletic Conference regular-season title. It's the team's first conference championship of any kind since 1971, and it inspired the following from Spencer Hall of SB Nation:

Senior running back Brandon Hayes explained what the moment meant, via Craig Thomas of The Jackson Sun: "I was just going crazy, running around screaming at the top of my lungs. When I saw that confetti, I saw that trophy, I kind of got choked up a little bit."

Memphis finished 9-3 because of a balanced effort with multiple strengths. The offense averaged 230.8 passing yards per game and 191.8 rushing yards per game, but it was the defense that was particularly impressive this season.

LM Otero/Associated Press

The Tigers gave up only 17.1 points per game, which was seventh-best in the entire nation. It held Ole Miss to 24 points in a losing effort and a dangerous Cincinnati offense to 14 points in a win.

While the win over the Bearcats was critical for the conference race, the 42-35 loss at UCLA in September was probably Memphis' best effort on the season. It hung with one of the Pac-12's best teams on the road until the very end and put a major scare into what was then considered a national title contender.

Now, the Tigers get to put a scare into an opponent come bowl season. 

Prediction: Memphis 30, BYU 17

Follow me on Twitter:

Follow @ScottPolacek