College Football Bowl Projections: Boise State, MSU and Teams Misplaced in Bowls

With Week 14 of the college football season (championship week) on its way, the final pieces of the BCS bowl picture are about to fall into place.

Boise State will get left out after losing to Nevada, and now it's up to Oregon and Auburn to win one more game apiece in order to keep TCU from crashing the national championship game.

NCAA fans would love to see Andy Dalton crash the BCS party, but it doesn't look likely at the moment.

That being said, TCU and a host of others won't wind up in the bowls they were striving for, and in some cases, it just isn't fair.

Here's a list of the 10 teams that will get the shaft this holiday season despite doing almost everything they needed to do.

Boise State

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LANDOVER, MD - SEPTEMBER 06: Wide reciever Austin Pettis (bottom) of the Boise State Broncos is mobbed by teammates after the Broncos defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies 33-30 at FedExField on September 6, 2010 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Geoff Burk

The Broncos did themselves in by falling to Nevada (well, at least Kyle Brotzman did), as they likely would have passed TCU for third in the BCS rankings.

It won't hurt as much if Auburn and Oregon win and TCU is still left out, but that loss was devastating to the Broncos, who were looking for a remarkable third straight undefeated season.

Now the real crime is where Boise is going to end up.

A week ago they were still in the mix for a national title and likely a Rose Bowl appearance at worst, but now they seem destined for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, likely against a mediocre ACC squad like Miami or Georgia Tech.

Compare that to a team like LSU, who will likely play in the Cotton Bowl despite having two losses, and you'll see why the Broncos will be upset.

It's a shame a team can drop so far after just one loss.

Virginia Tech

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MIAMI - NOVEMBER 20: Tyrod Taylor #5 of the Virginia Tech Hokies warms up during a game against the Miami Hurricanes at Sun Life Stadium on November 20, 2010 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

That being said, it needs to be pointed out how lucky Virginia Tech is in relation to the Broncos.

The Hokies lost to Boise State in the season-opener (and then fell to FCS James Madison), but because of the ACC's automatic bid, they likely will still earn a spot in the Orange Bowl.

Boise State beats VA Tech but slips up once (to the No. 17 team in the BCS), and ends up in the Fight Hunger Bowl, and VA Tech loses twice (to the Broncos and an FCS team) but ends up in the Orange Bowl.

Virginia Tech is a good team, but that's just not fair.

TCU

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ALBUQUERQUE, NM - NOVEMBER 27: Jake Kirkpatrick #76 and Andy Dalton #14 of the TCU Horned Frogs celebrate the win against the University of New Mexico Lobos on November 27, 2010 at University Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico. TCU won 66-17. (Photo by Er

All the Horned Frogs did was take out Oregon State, Baylor, BYU, Air Force, Utah and San Diego State, and go undefeated yet again in the regular season, but they'll still miss out on a national championship game berth (assuming Auburn and Oregon win).

They've beaten their opponents by an average 31.9 points per game (even better than Oregon), and boast the nation's top scoring defense at just 11.4 point allowed per contest.

All that being said, they will end up in the Rose Bowl.

While that isn't a huge disappointment for a MWC school, TCU has done all you could have asked and still won't receive the ultimate prize.

UConn

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EAST HARTFORD, CT - NOVEMBER 27: Jordan Todman #23 of the Connecticut Huskies carries the ball around the Cincinnati Bearcats defense on November 27, 2010 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut. The Huskies defeated the Bearcats 38-17. (Photo

UConn—a team that lost to Michigan, Temple and twice in the pathetic Big East—is looking like it will end up in the Orange Bowl (the Huskies will be a more attractive pick than Stanford, geographically and in terms of fans traveling).

With such an abundance of quality teams being left out, it's a shame that the Huskies (or West Virginia if South Florida beats Connecticut this weekend) are wasting a BCS bid.

Michigan State

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STATE COLLEGE, PA - NOVEMBER 27: Quarterback Kirk Cousins #8 of the Michigan State Spartans looks to pass during a game against the Penn State Nittany Lions on November 27, 2010 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. The Spartans won 28-22. (Ph

Michigan State is 11-1, won a share of the Big Ten Title and took out the nation's No. 5 team in Wisconsin.

Sure, they were embarrassed by Iowa, but if the computers don't factor in margin of victory, how are they so far behind Ohio State in the BCS?

Wisconsin beat Ohio State and Michigan beat Wisconsin, but Ohio State beat neither.

The Spartans had a much tougher conference schedule than the Buckeyes, but their lower BCS-ranking and prestige will almost certainly leave them out of a BCS bowl for Ohio State.

Ohio State

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COLUMBUS, OH - NOVEMBER 27: Quarterback Terrelle Pryor #2 of the Ohio State Buckeyes gets ready to call the play in the huddle against the Michigan Wolverines at Ohio Stadium on November 27, 2010 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

I'm still not understanding this.

Ohio State doesn't have a win against a currently-ranked team and it is the only one in the Big Ten's top three to not have beaten one of the other two.

The Buckeyes didn't have to play Michigan State or Northwestern and lost their only test against Wisconsin.

Sure, their loss was "better" than Michigan State's, but how about we reward a team for wins, not losses?

Nevada

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

LAS VEGAS - OCTOBER 02: Quarterback Colin Kaepernick #10 of the Nevada Reno Wolf Pack looks to pass against the UNLV Rebels in the third quarter of their game at Sam Boyd Stadium October 2, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nevada Reno won 44-26. (Photo by Et

The Wolfpack beat Boise State (BCS No. 4 at the time), and also took out a decent Pac-10 school (Cal, who nearly beat Oregon) by a convincing 52-31 margin.

Their loss to Hawaii means they shouldn't be BCS-bowl bound, but it just isn't fair that they will likely end up in the Humanitarian or Maaco (formerly the Las Vegas) Bowl.

That's a shame.

Okahoma State

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STILLWATER, OK - NOVEMBER 27: Quarterback Brandon Weeden #3 of the Oklahoma State Cowboys looks for an open receiver against the Oklahoma Sooners at Boone Pickens Stadium on November 27, 2010 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Image

If the Cowboys could have escaped Oklahoma last week (they lost 47-41) they would have played Nebraska for a spot in the Fiesta Bowl.

Instead, despite only losing to two top teams in Nebraska and the Sooners, Oklahoma State could wind up in a not-so-glamorous game like the Holiday Bowl or Texas Bowl.

Comments

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

ATHENS, GA - NOVEMBER 27: Head coach Mark Richt and Hairy, mascot of the Georgia Bulldogs, celebrate their 42-34 win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Sanford Stadium on November 27, 2010 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

What do you think?

Am I right about theses schools being over/underrated by the bowls?

Did I leave anyone out?

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Matt Rudnitsky is a student at the University of Michigan and a Featured Columnist/writing intern at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Mattrud.