Bowl Games 2014-15: Full Schedule, Predictions for Selection Committee Matchups

The question that every college football fan waited for all season is finally answered. We know exactly who's in, but the controversy went all the way down to the wire on Selection Sunday.

Alabama, Oregon, Florida State and Ohio State all survived arduous seasons to simply make the College Football Playoff. Now, all four illustrious programs will do battle for the right to make it to the national championship game.

Meanwhile, the teams that missed out on the playoff still have notable bowls to make a statement. Baylor and TCU can exact revenge against the Big Ten and SEC, respectively, while Boise State gets another chance at magic in the Fiesta Bowl.

Prior to the second season getting underway, here's a look at the top matchups, predictions and a breakdown of the playoff.

Bowl Game	Date	Matchup	Predicted Winner
Sugar Bowl	Jan. 1	No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Ohio State	Alabama
Rose Bowl	Jan. 1	No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 3 Florida State	Oregon
Cotton Bowl	Jan. 1	Michigan State vs. Baylor	Baylor
Orange Bowl	Dec. 31	Mississippi State vs. Georgia Tech	Mississippi State
Fiesta Bowl	Dec. 31	Boise State vs. Arizona	Boise State
Peach Bowl	Dec. 31	Ole Miss vs. TCU	Ole Miss

Analyzing the Playoff Bracket

The new playoff system left a lot of suspense, but the fans have nearly three more weeks to overanalyze every facet of the semifinals.

One of the biggest matchups will be coming in the Rose Bowl with Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston facing off. Obviously both will play against the opposing defense, but having two future NFL quarterbacks going toe to toe will make for a fun battle.

FSU coach Jimbo Fisher passed along his take on the matchup, via Marty Smith of ESPN:

Oregon's offense has been special all year behind Mariota and Royce Freeman, but the defense will have its hands full with Florida State. Winston hasn't always been at his best, but he can stage comebacks—partially due to Dalvin Cook.

Luckily for the Ducks, their defense appeared to be playing its best football late in the season. In fact, Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports notes just how strong the unit was against Arizona in the Pac-12 championship:

Back on the east coast, two of the most storied programs will fight in the Sugar Bowl.

Along with the name value of Alabama vs. Ohio State, the coaches also have a bit of history. Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have a combined five national titles between them—Saban has a 3-2 advantage in that department. They've also faced each other three times—Saban has a 2-1 lead there, as well.

Needless to say, Saban has had Meyer's number in recent seasons. However, the Crimson Tide coach has no idea what he's going up against on New Year's Day when his team faces backup quarterback Cardale Jones. He spoke about facing the new OSU signal-caller, via Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com:

Jones looked great against Wisconsin with three passing touchdowns to go along with Ezekiel Elliott's 220 rushing yards and two scores. However, he'll be facing a much more difficult defense that ranks fourth in the country in points allowed at 16.6 per game.

Coupling with that defense, the Tide also feature a ridiculous athlete in Amari Cooper. The receiver earned an invite to the Heisman presentation thanks to his outstanding play. ESPN Stats & Info points out his record-breaking statistics this year:

Both bowls promise to be potentially the best games of the year after an already wild season. It's never easy to predict exactly how the bowls will shake out, but Oregon and Alabama look like the class of the playoff and should face off during the final game of the season.

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