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

Orange Bowl

Wake Forest v Penn State

The battle in Miami holds firm for a second straight week. We’re projecting the Demon Deacons and Nittany Lions for the Orange Bowl.

We talked last week about the potential for Syracuse to cause some chaos within the ACC, and they nearly pulled it off. Their near upset in a 27-21 loss at Clemson saved not only the Tigers’ CFP hopes but also Wake Forest’s hopes of making the Orange Bowl.

Wake Forest took care of business, easily defeating Boston College 43-15. Each week, the offense continues to roll, and quarterback Sam Hartman continues to put up video game numbers.

As Clemson takes the Atlantic division of the conference, Wake Forest takes advantage of not playing in the conference championship, getting to represent the conference in the Orange Bowl for the first time since 2007.

James Franklin and his men from Happy Valley rebounded from a crushing loss at Michigan, to defeat Minnesota 45-17.

Their reward is getting to host the game of the week as Penn State will host #2 Ohio State. The challenge will be difficult, but Penn State has a history of pulling this type of upset off.

A win, and there’s a real chance that we see a Big Ten championship between Illinois and Penn State, with the winner going to the Rose Bowl. A loss, and one that is competitive, and Penn State will find itself in a great position to represent the conference in the Orange Bowl.

A potential battle between Sam Hartman and Sean Clifford would be fantastic television.