College Football Playoff 2017: New Year’s Six projections entering Week 10
Week 9 is in the books and we can now really start to get an idea of what the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six bowls will look like.
TCU’s and Penn State’s losses this past week have thrown the last pre-College Football Playoff rankings into full craziness. However, I’ve carefully sifted through the rubble and can offer in confidence how I think the New Year’s Six will look entering Tuesday night’s first College Football Playoff rankings.
Warning: The following projections may make you angry and upset but remember, it’s only the end of October.
Cotton Bowl Classic
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: Central Florida (Group of 5) vs. TCU (at-large)
Where: AT&T Stadium (Dallas, Texas)
When: Dec. 29 at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Last week’s projection: South Florida vs. Oklahoma
South Florida and Central Florida were supposed to meet in a battle of undefeated teams that would decide the Group of Five spot in the New Year’s Six. Well, someone forgot to tell the Houston Cougars who picked up on the of the more underrated big wins of 2017 beating South Florida 28-24 in Tampa this past Saturday.
With the South Florida loss, the path for Central Florida to reach another major bowl in their program history seems quite clear, no slip-ups and they will be headed to a New Year’s Six Bowl. Now, who they are projected to play this week is the bigger story of the two teams in this bowl game. TCU’s loss at Iowa State this past week blew things up across the board when it comes to the first week of the playoff poll and bowl projections.
A loss isn’t the end of the world for the Horned Frogs as they can play their way back into the playoff discussion but with their loss to Iowa State, they now find themselves in the back of the line.
Week 10 outlook: While they may be in the Group of Five driver’s seat, for now, a trip to always dangerous SMU is in the offing for the Knights. A loss here and Memphis will be the team most likely in the Group of Five spot this time next week. When it comes to TCU, they host the Texas Longhorns in a game that TCU needs to stay in the Big 12 title game chase.
However, a game earlier in the afternoon between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will most certainly push the Horned Frogs closer to the playoff even before they take the field. A win against Texas would be double the pleasure in this sense.