Bowl Projections: Who is bound for playoff, other bowls after Week 9?

Bowl Projections: Picks for the College Football Playoff, other bowls after Week 9 of the 2014 season.

The inaugural College Football Playoff rankings will be unveiled on Tuesday night, which should shed a little light on the selection committee’s decision-making. That’s the first step in introducing this year’s revamped postseason.

As we mentioned in our preseason projections, predicting the bowl lineup is hardly an exact science. Much of the committee’s process remains unknown, plus there are retooled conference bowl pools to consider. And, of course, plenty will change between now and Championship Saturday.

Before moving forward, a quick reminder on how this all works. The selection committee fills the two semifinal bowls based on its final rankings. It then rounds out the four non-playoff New Year’s Six bowls, while fulfilling certain contractual obligations, such as pitting an ACC team against an SEC/Big Ten/Notre Dame team in the Orange Bowl. The remaining teams are then fed into each league’s contract bowls. If a league doesn’t produce enough bowl-eligible teams, bowls can invite replacement teams from other leagues.

This season the ACC, Big Ten and SEC have each pooled a select number of bowls together and will decide where to place teams. While the Big 12 and Pac-12 use a more straightforward method -- the Pac-12’s No. 2 choice would go to the Alamo Bowl, the No. 3 to the Holiday Bowl, etc. -- the process for the other three Power Five leagues is less structured. For instance, the ACC’s No. 2 choice will go to the Russell Athletic Bowl, but teams Nos. 3-6 can land anywhere among the Sun, Belk, Music City/Taxslayer or Pinstripe bowls.

Keep in mind, “Pac-12 No. 2” doesn't mean the Pac-12’s second-place team. Fan travel and geographical location factor into bowl selection as much as conference standings. Thus, leagues aren't obligated to fill bowls based on records.

• ELLIS: Who leads the Heisman Trophy race following Week 9?

bowl	date	location	matchup	pick
Peach	Dec. 31	Atlanta	TBD vs. TBD	Ole Miss vs. E. Carolina
Fiesta	Dec. 31	Glendale, Ariz.	TBD vs. TBD	Auburn vs. Baylor
Orange	Dec. 31	Miami	ACC vs. Big Ten/SEC/ND	Clemson vs. Alabama
Cotton	Jan. 1	Arlington, Texas	TBD vs. TBD	Notre Dame vs. Mich. St.
Rose (semifinal)	Jan. 1	Pasadena, Calif.	TBD vs. TBD	Florida State vs. Oregon
Sugar (semifinal)	Jan. 1	New Orleans	TBD vs. TBD	Miss. State vs. TCU

bowl	date	location	matchup	pick
New Orleans	Dec. 20	New Orleans	Sun Belt vs. MWC	UL-Laf. vs. Colo. State
Idaho Potato	Dec. 20	Boise, Idaho	MWC vs. MAC	San Diego State vs. NIU
Royal Purple	Dec. 20	Las Vegas	MWC vs. Pac-12	Boise State vs. California
New Mexico	Dec. 20	Albuquerque, N.M.	MWC vs. C-USA	Nevada vs. Middle Tenn.
Camellia	Dec. 20	Montgomery, Ala.	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Ohio vs. S. Alabama
Miami Beach	Dec. 22	Miami	American vs. BYU	Houston vs. BYU
Poinsettia	Dec. 23	San Diego	MWC vs. Navy	Utah State vs. Navy
Boca Raton	Dec. 23	Boca Raton, Fla.	C-USA vs. MAC	Rice vs. Toledo
Bahamas	Dec. 24	Nassau, Bahamas	C-USA vs. MAC	La. Tech vs. Akron
Hawaii	Dec. 24	Honolulu, Hawaii	MWC vs. C-USA	Air Force vs. UAB
Bitcoin	Dec. 26	St. Petersburg	American vs. ACC	Memphis vs. Virginia
Heart of Dallas	Dec. 26	Dallas	Big Ten/Big 12 vs. C-USA	Minnesota vs. UTEP
Quick Lane	Dec. 26	Detroit	ACC vs. Big Ten	E. Michigan* vs. Rutgers
Military	Dec. 27	Annapolis, Md.	American vs. ACC	UCF vs. Georgia Tech
Independence	Dec. 27	Shreveport, La.	ACC vs. SEC	NC State vs. Washington*
Pinstripe	Dec. 27	New York	ACC vs. Big Ten	BC vs. Maryland
Sun	Dec. 27	El Paso, Texas	ACC vs. Pac-12	Louisville vs. Arizona State
Holiday	Dec. 27	San Diego	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Penn State vs. USC
Russell Athletic	Dec. 29	Orlando	ACC vs. Big 12	Duke vs. Kansas State
Liberty	Dec. 29	Memphis, Tenn.	Big 12 vs. SEC	West Virginia vs. Georgia
Texas	Dec. 29	Houston	Big 12 vs. SEC	Okla. State vs. Missouri
Belk	Dec. 30	Charlotte, N.C.	ACC vs. SEC	UNC vs. Kentucky
San Francisco	Dec. 30	Santa Clara, Calif.	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Iowa vs. Stanford
Music City	Dec. 30	Nashville, Tenn.	ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC	Miami vs. Tennessee
Citrus	Jan. 1	Orlando	ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC	Nebraska vs. Texas A&M
Outback	Jan. 1	Tampa, Fla.	Big Ten vs. SEC	Ohio State vs. LSU
Armed Forces	Jan. 2	Fort Worth, Texas	American vs. Army	Cincinnati vs. Utah*
Alamo	Jan. 2	San Antonio, Texas	Big 12 vs. Pac-12	Oklahoma vs. UCLA
TaxSlayer	Jan. 2	Jacksonville, Fla.	Big Ten/ACC vs. SEC	Wisc. vs. So. Carolina
Cactus	Jan. 2	Tempe, Ariz.	Big 12 vs. Pac-12	W. Michigan* vs. Arizona
Birmingham	Jan. 3	Birmingham, Ala.	SEC vs. American	Texas State* vs. Marshall*
GoDaddy	Jan. 4	Mobile, Ala.	MAC vs. Sun Belt	BGSU vs. UL-Monroe

* -- Replacement team