Bowl Predictions 2012: Georgia Tech and Other BCS Crashers

Fans of the Oregon Ducks, your team is not going to make a BCS bowl game even with two losses, but a team like the four-loss Louisville Cardinals out of the Big East will. 

The BCS standings have little to no room for teams to come crashing into bowl games. Sometimes the divisions inside of these BCS conferences leave a small crack in the window for outsider teams to come busting through. 

It’s why teams like Georgia Tech, even though they are a long way down in the polls, still have as good of a shot like LSU to find their way into a BCS bowl game. 

Here are the teams that have a long shot today, but come a month from now will be in a BCS bowl game. 

Georgia Tech: ACC Champions

Georgia Tech at one point this year was a highly-rated team in the polls. However, because of two straight losses, they took a tumble back down the polls and were an afterthought. 

But because they play in a conference where a win over Virginia Tech will put them into first place of their division, the Yellow Jackets have a great shot at playing in the ACC championship game with the right to play in the Orange Bowl. 

Because of this, they will beat either Clemson or Wake Forest and earn the right to play the winner of the Big East.

Louisville Cardinals: Big East Champions

The Cardinals sit at 5-4 overall but 3-1 in the Big East. And, as much as you people hate the Big East, it is still a BCS conference and whomever the champion is, will receive an automatic bid. 

The team the Cardinals are chasing, Cincinnati, will might lose this week to West Virginia and somewhere down the line in their next three games to either Connecticut, Syracuse or Rutgers. 

As much as Louisville’s inclusion in a BCS game will be a big cause for concern, it will not be as much of a shock as the Big Ten winner is. 

Iowa Hawkeyes: Big Ten Champions

Iowa, which is currently 6-3 overall but only has two conference losses, has a tremendous chance at being the Big Ten Legends Division champion and playing in the first ever Big Ten championship game. 

The Hawkeyes have winnable games left on their schedule, which includes games against Michigan State and Nebraska. That plus a win last week over Michigan looks good. 

They will sweep these games, then beat Penn State in Indianapolis for the birth in this year’s Rose Bowl, where they could very easily play the team that could be the Pac-12 South champion UCLA Bruins.

The Bruins could upset the Pac-12 North champion Stanford Cardinal in their championship game, if that scenario occurs.

But let’s not get too crazy now, we all know that Stanford is going to win the Pac-12. 

Conclusion

These are three teams that right now have no chance at making a BCS bowl game, but come Dec. 4 when the BCS bowl games are announced, you will see them represented in the Orange and Rose bowls.

Follow @tjmcaloon