Rose Bowl - Stanford vs. Michigan - Stanford really seems like a ho, hum, I guess they are the best team this year, but I don't see either of the horribly flawed LA schools beating them in the championship game. They will head to the Rose Bowl who I think would love to slot in Michigan even if they lose to Ohio State and have three loses. Man the Harbaugh Bowl would be fun.
Alamo Bowl - Oregon vs. TCU - I think there is a chance the Ducks sneak into the Fiesta Bowl as one of the hottest teams in the country, but I think there will just be too many one and two-loss prominent programs and probably a mid-major that gets a New Year's bowl that edges them out. Their consolation prize will be one of the best non-New Year's bowls in a fun match-up against another preseason Playoff candidate with a fun offense that had a disappointing season.
Holiday Bowl - UCLA vs. Penn State - I think UCLA beats USC after seeing the Trojans burn last week and then lose to Stanford yet again in the championship game. This will leave them as a nice southern California selection for the Holiday Bowl.
Foster Farm's Bowl - Utah vs. Nevada - It has been a tough past month for Utah, but this would still be a really good destination for them and they should be the pick as long as they take care of Colorado. I think they get a weird opponent because four Big Ten (Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State) make Playoff/New Year's games, really pulling their slot chain and the Foster Farm's Bowl will have to pick a random at-large team from a really week crop.
Sun Bowl - Washington State vs. NCState - The Cougars might be able to sneak into as high as the Alamo Bowl if they can win the Apple Cup and get some help, but that's tough. Even with an Apple Cup loss, I still think they get to El Paso, though their appeal could take a hit if it is clear that Luke Falk won't play in their bowl game.
Las Vegas Bowl - USC vs. San Diego State - USC might be a mess at this point, but I think the Las Vegas Bowl would love to set up this SoCal showdown.
Cactus Bowl - Arizona State vs. Kansas State - The Cactus Bowl will have a lot of Pac-12 options, but I assume they will go with the hometown option.
Poinsettia Bowl - Cal vs. Boise State - I think the Poinsettia would get the nice opportunity to pit a Pac-12 team against Boise State and would choose Cal over setting up a rematch with Washington or a rematch of last year's Fiesta Bowl with a six-win Arizona team.
Armed Forces Bowl - Washington vs. Air Force - I think the Huskies get into a bowl even if they don't win the Apple Cup. There won't be enough six-win teams to fill all the bowls and the 5-7 Huskies would be one of the best choices around among five-win teams.
Arizona Bowl - Arizona vs. Colorado State - Arizona will be available as an at-large and the Arizona Bowl will be looking for an at-large. You do the math.
