Bowl Projections: Power Programs That Will Stay Home for Holidays

The 2011 college football bowl season is shaping up to be exciting (or anticlimactic) as ever, though the months of December and January still figure to be absent some big names and familiar faces.

Don't worry, you'll still see the likes of Texas, Alabama, Florida State and Michigan going bowling. Just don't expect to see these programs popping up again after late autumn.

USC

You may be perplexed to see USC, a team with an 8-2 record and a South division-leading 5-2 mark in Pac-12 play, left out of the postseason mix.

That is, until you remember that the Trojans are on the tail-end of a two-year bowl ban, courtesy of Reggie Bush and the agents who so generously provided him and his family with impermissible benefits during his time in Los Angeles.

That hasn't kept 'SC from looking like a powerhouse once again, thanks in large part to the dynamic duo of quarterback Matt Barkley and star receiver Robert Woods.

The Men of Troy figure to have some problems replicating their 2011 success if Barkley opts for the 2012 NFL draft over returning for his senior season, but at least they'll have the satisfaction of knowing they made the best of a bad situation.

And that Lane Kiffin, believe it or not, is actually a pretty darn good coach.

Tennessee

Folks in Knoxville wouldn't likely agree with that last statement, though they'd hardly tell you that Derek Dooley, Kiffin's replacement, has been any better.

The Volunteers reached a bowl game in Dooley's first season, losing North Carolina in the Music City Bowl, but look to be on track for a big step back.

Unless, of course, they somehow get their act together against Vanderbilt and Kentucky over the next two weeks.

To be fair, Tennessee has fallen victim to a rather vicious injury bug this season, one that has claimed quarterback Tyler Bray. Even so, you can bet Dooley will catch plenty of flack on Rocky Top during an uncomfortably lengthy offseason.

Connecticut

I know, I know, who in their right mind would consider UConn a power program?

But, need I remind you that the Huskies won the Big East last year to earn their first-ever BCS bowl berth? True, they got blown out by Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, 48-20, but to go from the BCS to the basement would represent a rather unsettling decline, even considering that this comes during Paul Pasqualoni's first season filling in for Randy Edsall on the sidelines.

A bowl game isn't completely out of reach for UConn, though the team will need to win two of its last three games—home against Louisville and Rutgers, then at Big East leader Cincinnati—just to get to six wins.

No easy task, especially for a squad with losses to fellow "superpowers" Vanderbilt, Iowa State and Western Michigan in 2011.