Bowl projections, rund drei

Here's a look at the next round of bowl projections, starting with the BCS:

BCS Championship: Florida vs. Texas. Texas Tech and Alabama control their own destiny. But Texas and Florida are better and will jump past the current unbeatens.

Rose Bowl: Penn State vs. USC. Might be the best matchup of the bowl season.

Fiesta Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Utah. Even though Oklahoma likely lands here with a win over Texas Tech, sometimes a change of scenery does everyone some good.

Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Ohio State. Nice matchup between two great programs. Ohio State could go a long way of repairing its image with a good performance against the SEC.

Orange Bowl: Florida State vs. Cincinnati. There would have been better possibilities under the old system but the BCS mandates the ACC and Big East champions go to a top bowl. So there you go.

Capital One Bowl: Michigan State vs. Georgia. You can just about write this matchup in stone.

Outback Bowl: Iowa vs. South Carolina. A pair of wins for Iowa, and this one is right on the money.

Cotton Bowl: Oklahoma vs. LSU. With this matchup, would you rather be the Orange Bowl or the Cotton Bowl? 

Gator Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Missouri. Missouri would bring the offense. This is the guess of the week from the ACC.

Liberty Bowl: Tulsa vs. Ole Miss. Ole Miss will bring quite the crowd just up the road in Memphis.

Alamo Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Nebraska. The schools could save expenses by moving the game to Iowa City.

Champs Bowl: Illinois vs. Miami. Just by judging Illinois' roller-coaster season, the Illini might play up to expectations in this one.

Insight Bowl: Northwestern vs. Kansas. A few weeks ago, this looked like a possible Alamo Bowl matchup.

Motor City Bowl: Minnesota vs. Ball State. The Gophers are two games from New Year's in Florida or Christmas in Detroit.

Chick-fil-A (I still call it the Peach) Bowl: Kentucky vs. North Carolina. It sounds more like a great basketball matchup.

Sun Bowl: West Virginia vs. California. West Virginia could win out and play on New Year's Day.

Holiday Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Oregon State. Traditionally, this game features the best finishes among bowl games. 

Las Vegas Bowl: TCU vs. Arizona. This would be a great bowl for the Big Ten to link up with during the next round of contracts.

Independence Bowl: Auburn vs. Troy (replacing Big 12). Auburn needs an upset just to get here.

Texas Bowl: Louisiana Tech (for Big 12) vs. Rice. Colorado could get here if it upsets Oklahoma State or Nebraska.

Music City Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt gets a cross-town home game; Georgia Tech gets a recruiting tool.

Poinsettia: BYU vs. Notre Dame (for Pac 10): It's a sad day when Notre Dame becomes a bowl replacement. I wonder if Mitt Romney and Joe Biden will have friendly wager on this one?

Armed Forces Bowl: Air Force vs. Houston. 

Humanitarian Bowl: Boise State vs. Virginia.

Meineke Bowl: Wake Forest vs. Pittsburgh.

Emerald Bowl: Boston College vs. Stanford.

Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii vs. Oregon.

Papa John's: Louisville vs. Florida International (for SEC). Yes, that Florida International.

International Bowl: Connecticut vs. Western Michigan.

GMAC Bowl: Central Michigan vs. East Carolina. 

New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Memphis.

New Mexico Bowl: UNLV vs. San Jose State. 

Congressional Bowl: Maryland vs. Navy.

St. Petersburg Bowl: Marshall vs. South Florida.