College Football Playoff, New Year’s Six Bowl projections after Week 8

Week eight of the college football season saw the last undefeated team in the PAC-12 get blitzed at Oregon, leaving the conference in a difficult spot. We also saw major powers continue to dominate while Alabama showed it’s not going anywhere.  So how does it impact the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six landscape?

Here are week eight’s projections for the New Year’s Six, including the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Cotton Bowl

Cincinnati v USC

The Cincinnati Bearcats survived a tough road matchup against SMU 29-27, to move to 6-1. Their next matchup will be a road trip to Orlando to take on a UCF squad that just suffered a brutal loss to Eastern Carolina that eliminated any faint hopes they had of a NY6 run.

It certainly looks like #20 Cincinnati is on a collision course with #23 Tulane for the best shot at the Group of Five NY6 bid.

The Bearcats projected opponent, the USC Trojans, enjoyed a bye after suffering their first loss of the Lincoln Riley era in a heartbreaking 43-42 loss to Utah.

The Trojans hope to rebound with an easy three-game stretch against Arizona, Cal, and Colorado before UCLA awaits.

Can Luke Fickell get over the big bowl hump, or will Lincoln Riley and Trojans send him to 0-3 in the NY6/CFP?