Bowl Updates

A flurry of bowls have announced their bids or have tipped off the press of their intentions, so I’ve started marking predictions. As usual, the chart is here. A quick summary:

  • Navy is going to the EagleBank Bowl in DC, but their ACC opponent is unknown. The December 20th date conflicts with Maryland’s exam week and rumor has it a deal with the Motor City Bowl is in the works.
  • I was mistaken on Hawaii’s bowl qualifications, and they will be headed to their namesake bowl.
  • Confirmed ACC activity: Georgia Tech to the Peach, North Carolina to the Car Care, Florida State to the Champs, and what may be the most surprising bid this bowl season, Clemson to the Gator. FSU seemed like an obvious pick for the Gator, but Clemson’s willingness to travel and hot end to their season must have weighed heavily against a FSU team that just got blown out by their rival.
  • In other Gator news, indications seem they will take a Big 12 team this year. Provided they don’t announce before Saturday, I’ll change the Sun and Gator afterwards.
  • A side effect of the ACC picks slotting into place already means the loser of the ACC title game will fall to the Music City Bowl to face either Vanderbilt or Kentucky.
  • Lousisiana Tech accepted a bid to their local game, the Independence Bowl, which will need another at-large bid this year.
  • I was expecting Big Ten bids to be announced already, but I guess there is still a question of whether or not Ohio State will get into the BCS.
  • SEC upper-tier bids are no where near set. What I have are pretty much the best guesses of anyone, but there is some politicking going on, including Ole Miss trying to set up into the Capital One Bowl, which would send LSU to the Cotton, South Carolina to the Peach, and Georgia to the Outback.
  • Though it’s not confirmed, it’s pretty likely BYU will go back to the Las Vegas Bowl.
  • Confusion reigns in the world of Conference USA bids, since no one knows where the loser of the C-USA title game will fall.
  • I didn’t really see any rumors of where Notre Dame might end up other than the Sun if some shenanigans happen in the Big East this weekend.