First edition of college football bowl projections

Maybe it's because I'm getting older, understand the logistics of college athletics better or know what what college football players go through during a season. I used to advocate for a large playoff system in college football including as many as 24 teams with home teams hosting until the national semifinals.

After seeing the toll the season takes on players, coaches and fans' wallets, I'm more in line to agree with the current bowl system. Yes, it's antiquated, old-fashioned, hair-pullingly (if that's a word) aggravating. The BCS solves a mess and often creates another. But that's what happens when you project a regional sport nationally. A playoff would solve the ultimate question of who's the best at the end of the year. But would college football have moments like last year's upset by Iowa over Penn State? Would it even matter? A January win makes a fan base feel good about its season. A mid-December loss just gives everyone a chill.

I think the perfect solution is taking a step back in the past and then creating a plus-one system. Let every conference champion compete in the league's host bowl. The Big Ten and Pac-10 champs should always play in the Rose Bowl. The SEC champ should play in the Sugar Bowl. Bump up the Cotton Bowl and let the Big 12 champ play there. The BCS structure turns four bowls into consolation prizes. Let them return to relevence and then create one championship two weeks after the bowls.  Then stop the playoff nonsense. It's not going to happen for a long time, if ever.

If there was an eight-, 16-, or even 32-team playoff, bowl games involving mid-level teams - like Iowa last year - would hardly matter. They'd become a glorified version of the NIT and televised regionally. Yes, a playoff field would gain more revenue and a little more exposure for the top programs. But most fans couldn't hop weekly from location to location around the country for consecutive weeks to watch their favorite teams. If the playoffs were held at neutral sites, you'd see have empty stadiums for major programs.

In the spirit of bowl games and with the current football season half over, here's my first round of bowl projections for the upcoming season:

BCS GAMES

• BCS Championship: Alabama vs. USC -- I see Texas losing at some point this year
• Orange Bowl:Miami vs. Notre Dame -- Miami wins the ACC; the Orange Bowl selects ahead of the Sugar for the at-large prize
• Fiesta Bowl: Texas vs. TCU -- An old Southwest Conference championship game; TCU is better than Boise State
• Sugar Bowl: Florida vs. Cincinnati -- These are the match-ups bowl officials were worried about when the BCS was set up
• Rose Bowl: Iowa vs. Oregon -- The Rose Bowl wants to preserve its traditional match-up but it could take Notre Dame, too

BIG TEN BOWLS

• Capital One Bowl: Penn State vs. Ole Miss -- The last time these schools competed against one another was in 1865
• Outback Bowl: Ohio State vs. Georgia -- The Big Ten NEEDS an Ohio State win here
• Alamo Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Oklahoma State -- Nice match-up in the Big Ten swan song in San Antonio
• Champs Bowl: Michigan vs. Clemson -- The Big Ten's winningest program takes on the ACC's most passionate fan base
• Insight Bowl: Michigan State vs. Kansas -- More people would care if these schools met in March rather than January
• Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl: Minnesota vs. Ohio -- Remember the last time the Gophers played in a Dome? Neither do they
• EagleBank Bowl: Northwestern vs. Virginia -- The Wildcats become a replacement for Army

BIG 12 BOWLS

• Cotton Bowl: Oklahoma vs. LSU -- Tell me the Sugar Bowl wouldn't want this match-up
• Holiday Bowl: Nebraska vs. California -- About a month ago I thought these teams were BCS-bound
• Sun Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Arizona -- It's about halfway between the schools
• Independence Bowl: Kansas State vs. Auburn -- Bill Snyder alone will push the Wildcats to a bowl
• Texas Bowl: Missouri vs. Navy -- I can't put Iowa State ahead of Missouri just yet

MID-TIER BOWLS

• Gator Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. West Virginia -- One day I see these schools in the same league
• Peach (Chik-fil-A) Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. South Carolina -- Hopefully the Gamecocks played harder in this bowl than they did last year in the Outback
• Liberty Bowl: Tulsa vs. Arkansas -- The schools are about two hours from one another and will play about 6 hours from the closest school
• Music City Bowl: North Carolina vs. Tennessee -- The bowl picks attendance over a local economic boost
• Meineke Bowl: Wake Forest vs. Pittsburgh -- The Panthers have BCS talent but never live up to expectations
• Poinsettia Bowl: Oregon State vs. BYU -- This looks like an old Holiday Bowl match-up. Same place, anyway
• Emerald Bowl: Stanford vs. Boston College -- Local team gets the seats; ACC sends BC west because its fans won't travel anyway
• Hawaii Bowl: Houston vs Boise State -- The leagues decide to put together a great match-up in paradise

LOWER-TIER BOWLS

• Las Vegas Bowl: Utah vs. Arizona State
• Papajohns Bowl: Connecticut vs. Kentucky
• Humanitarian Bowl: Louisiana-Monroe vs. Idaho
• New Orleans Bowl: East Carolina vs. Troy
• GMAC Bowl: Central Michigan vs. Florida State
• St. Petersburg Bowl: Southern Miss vs. South Florida
• New Mexico Bowl: Wyoming vs. Nevada
• International Bowl: Temple vs. Rutgers
• Armed Forces Bowl: SMU vs. Air Force