 |
| Notre Dame Stadium (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Kansas St. Wildcats
Projected line: Alabama -16
Kansas St. likely controls its own destiny against a very doable remaining schedule. The Wildcats started slow this past week against Texas Tech but eventually pulled away for another lopsided win. They have a stern test this week hosting Oklahoma St. before hitting the road for two games at TCU and Baylor. Alabama had no issues with Mississippi St. as it got warmed up for its big game at LSU. The Tide are 10-point road favorites there and they are showing they can cover anywhere, so making them more than a two-touchdown favorite against the Wildcats on a neutral field is legitimate.
Fiesta Bowl
Oklahoma Sooners vs. Boise St. Broncos
Projected line: Oklahoma -7
Despite losing to Notre Dame at home, the Sooners remain in the Fiesta Bowl. Besides Alabama, there are other four SEC teams ahead of Oklahoma but those teams have to go elsewhere and the Sooners will likely be the highest at-large team left. The Broncos are very well alive here as they have to finish ahead of at least one conference champion, which comes from an AQ conference and that could easily be the Big Ten or Big East. As long as it wins out, Boise St. will eventually end up in the top 16. This is a great rematch from the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and the Sooners will be around the same sized favorite here.
Orange Bowl
Louisville Cardinals vs. Florida St. Seminoles
Projected line: Florida St. -10
The Seminoles are coming off another blowout win and they remain on pace to take the ACC Atlantic. They play next Thursday at Virginia Tech, which is no easy task and close the season against Florida, so nothing is a guarantee. Louisville takes this spot now after Rutgers fell to Kent St. and while the Scarlet Knights are still undefeated in the conference, a loss like that shows they are not very good. As mentioned last week, the Big East Conference is the lowest ranked conference and it will not get much respect from the linesmakers no matter who is here.
Rose Bowl
Oregon Ducks vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers
Projected line: Oregon -15
Oregon is playing at a high level and will likely need help to get into the BCS Championship although its schedule gets stronger the rest of the way. The Ducks face the Trojans this coming week and Nebraska moved ahead of Michigan after defeating the Wolverines on Saturday night, so it is now the frontrunner to meet Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship. The Ducks look unstoppable and should they fall into the Rose Bowl, they will be big favorites not matter who they face.
Sugar Bowl
Georgia Bulldogs vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Projected line: Notre Dame -7
The Fighting Irish made a lot of people believers after their very impressive win over Oklahoma. The problem for Notre Dame is its remaining schedule as the last true test is against USC, which lost again this past weekend. It is looking more likely that Notre Dame can go undefeated and not play for a national title. Georgia moved back into the national championship picture following their big win over Florida. Playing in the Sugar Bowl could be determined by how bad the Bulldogs lose to Alabama in the SEC Championship. Notre Dame goes from underdog to favorite.
No comments:
Post a Comment