College Football Bowl Projections 2018: Contenders make statements in Week 10
December 27
Walk-On’s Independence Bowl: Miami (FL) vs. San Diego State*
1:30 pm ET, ESPN – Shreveport, Louisiana
New Era Pinstripe Bowl: Virginia vs. Purdue
5:15 pm ET, ESPN – New York, New York
Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl: Texas Tech vs. BYU*
9 pm ET, ESPN – Houston, Texas
December 28
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl: Mississippi State vs. Duke
1:30 pm ET, ESPN – Nashville, Tennessee
Camping World Bowl: Boston College vs. Iowa State
5:15 pm ET, ESPN – Orlando, Florida
Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl: Utah State vs. UL Monroe
5:30 pm ET, CBSSN – Tuscon, Arizona
Valero Alamo Bowl: Texas vs. Washington
9 pm ET, ESPN – San Antonio, Texas
The skinny
Poor QB play has doomed Miami this season, as the Hurricanes fell 20-12 at home against Duke, dropping their third straight game. In all three losses, Mark Richt‘s team has scored 14 points or less, going from a potential New Year’s Six team to a fringe bowl team. With back-to-back road games against Georgia Teach and Virginia Tech on the docket, bowl eligibility could come down to the final week of the regular season at home against Pittsburgh.
BYU has no direct bowl tie-in, but they have a contract with ESPN that guarantees them a bowl slot if they are eligible. That seemed like a forgone conclusion a few weeks ago, but the Cougars have lost all of their margin-for-error now with four losses in their last five games. They play at UMass and at home against New Mexico State still, which should be enough to lift BYU into a bowl game.
Washington’s Rose Bowl destiny remains firmly in its hands after a 27-23 win over Stanford this weekend. The PAC-12 North will likely come down to the final weekend of the regular season in the Apple Cup in Pullman. The winner of that game would be the favorite to win the conference title game and earn a spot in Pasadena.
Texas suffered their second consecutive defeat, succumbing in the final 30 seconds to West Virginia. The loss means the Longhorns no longer control their own destiny in the Big 12 race – they’ll need some help now to make it to Dallas for the conference title game. The ‘Horns have a couple of tough games in a row coming up at Texas Tech and at home against Iowa State. Those games will decide whether this season is going to be considered a step in the right direction, or a disappointment for Tom Herman.