Bowl Projection Round-Up, Week 12
Mark Schlabach (ESPN): Ole Miss vs. Nebraska
Brett McMurphy (ESPN): Georgia vs. Wisconsin
ESPN Big Ten & SEC Blog: LSU vs. Michigan State
Jerry Palm (CBSSports): Auburn vs. Michigan State
Bill Bender (Sporting News): Georgia vs. Wisconsin
Brant Parsons (Orlando Sentinel): Missouri vs. Michigan State
Phil Steele: Georgia vs. Wisconsin
Following No. 8 Ohio State’s win over No. 12 Michigan State last Saturday, the Buckeyes no longer appear in Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl projections and the Spartans are now projected by three sources to travel to Orlando on New Year’s Day. No. 20 Wisconsin is also predicted by three college football sources to be the Big Ten selection. The Badgers recovered from losing their first conference game to Northwestern and have defeated all three conference opponents since. Most recently, Wisconsin earned a road win over Purdue and jumped five spots in the College Football Playoff rankings.
After not appearing in last week’s projections, No. 16 Nebraska is back as a contender for the Big Ten spot. Predicted by ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, the Cornhuskers currently lead the Big Ten West division and finish the 2014 season with games against the three teams that fall directly behind them in the standings.
No. 15 Georgia still appears the most in this week’s SEC projections. Three sources have the Bulldogs in the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl – it would be the fourth time since 2004 that Georgia would play in the Orlando Citrus Bowl stadium on New Year’s Day.
Both Missouri and No. 10 Ole Miss remained in the projections following week 11. The Tigers most recently defeated Kentucky 20-10 in week ten and the Rebels snapped their two-game losing streak with a shut out win over Presbyterian last Saturday.
Both No. 17 LSU and No. 9 Auburn continue to appear in projections. LSU suffered an overtime loss to Alabama last Saturday after the Crimson Tide scored a game-tying field goal with three seconds left in regulation and were able to score the game-winning touchdown to earn the 20-13 win. Auburn was upset at home by then-unranked Texas A&M. The Tigers lost by just three points and face two more ranked opponents before the season’s end.