Pac-12 Bowl Projections: One Site Puts Pac-12 Team in College Football Playoff

Nine of our 10 college football experts say that either USC or UCLA will be the Pac-12’s representative in the Rose Bowl, but one site came up with a surprising projection that a Pac-12 team will be involved in the College Football Playoff.

Even more surprising is that the team chosen to reach the national semifinal game is not USC or UCLA.

The College Football News site projects that Oregon – yes, the Oregon team that lost its opener 49-3 to Georgia – will get a berth in the Fiesta Bowl, which is one of the CFP semifinal games, and will face Ohio State with a spot in the national championship game on the line.

Seven of the 10 sites chose USC as the conference’s Rose Bowl team, while two put UCLA in that spot, and one predicts that Oregon will wind up in the Rose Bowl. All nine that predicted a Rose Bowl opponent for the Pac-12 team say Michigan will be the Pac-12’s Rose Bowl opponent. (Jon Wilner of the San Jose Merury-News only projected the Pac-12 teams in bowls, not their opponents.)

Five experts projected that Cal will get a bowl bid. ESPN’s Mark Schlabach put Cal in the LA Bowl against Boise State, College Football News and Athlon Sports have the Golden Bears in the First Responder Bowl against Texas Tech, USA Today projects that Cal will play Toledo in the Quick Lane Bowl (don't feel bad, I had never heard of this Detroit bowl either), and Wilner predicts Cal will get a bid to one of the three ESPN bowls.

The Pac-12 bowl tie-ins and well as their sites and dates are listed below the projections.

Here are the Pac-12 bowl projections of seven selected sites.

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura)

Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan

Alamo Bowl – UCLA vs. Texas

Las Vegas Bowl – Utah vs. Mississippi State

Holiday Bowl – Oregon vs. North Carolina

Sun Bowl – Washington State vs. Florida State

LA Bowl – Washington vs. San Jose State

First Responder Bowl – Oregon State vs. Texas-San Antonio

ESPN (Mark Schlabach)

Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan

Cotton Bowl – UCLA vs. Cincinnati

Alamo Bowl – Oregon vs. TCU

Las Vegas Bowl – Washington State vs. Kentucky

Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Florida State

Sun Bowl – Washington vs. Pittsburgh

LA Bowl – Cal vs. Boise State

Independence Bowl – Oregon State vs. Oklahoma

CBS Sports (Jerry Palm)

Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan

Cotton Bowl – Oregon vs. Coastal Carolina

Alamo Bowl – UCLA vs. Texas

Las Vegas Bowl – Washington vs. LSU

Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. North Carolina

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Duke

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. San Jose State

Action Network (Brett McMurphy)

Rose Bowl – UCLA vs. Michigan

Cotton Bowl – USC vs. Cincinnati

Alamo Bowl – Oregon vs. TCU

Las Vegas Bowl – Utah vs. LSU

Holiday Bowl – Oregon State vs. Wake Forest

Sun Bowl – Washington vs. Syracuse

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Boise State

247 Sports (Brad Crawford)

Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan

Cotton Bowl – Oregon vs. Coastal Carolina

Alamo Bowl – UCLA vs. Baylor

Las Vegas Bowl – Washington vs. Arkansas

Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Florida State

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Duke

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Fresno State

College Football News

Fiesta Bowl (College Football Playoff semifinal) – Oregon vs. Ohio State

Rose Bowl – UCLA vs. Michigan

Alamo Bowl – USC vs. Texas

Las Vegas Bowl – Washington State vs. Florida

Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Notre Dame

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Miami

LA Bowl – Washington vs. San Jose State

First Responder Bowl – Cal vs. Texas Tech

The Sporting News (Bill Bender)

Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan

Cotton Bowl – UCLA vs. Coastal Carolina

Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. TCU

Las Vegas Bowl – Arizona vs. Arkansas

Holiday Bowl – Oregon vs. Pittsburgh

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Wake Forest

LA Bowl – Washington vs. UNLV

First Responder Bowl – Washington State vs. Oklahoma

Athlon Sports (Steven Lassan)

Rose Bowl -- USC vs. Michigan

Cotton Bowl -- UCLA vs. Cincinnati

Alamo Bowl -- Utah vs. Texas

Las Vegas Bowl -- Oregon vs. LSU

Holiday Bowl -- Washington vs. Florida State

Sun Bowl -- Washington State vs. Pittsburgh

LA Bowl -- Oregon State vs. San Jose State

First Responder Bowl -- Cal vs. Texas Tech

USA Today (Erick Smith)

Rose Bowl -- USC vs. Michigan

Alamo Bowl -- UCLA vs. Kansas State

Las Vegas -- Utah vs. Florida

Holiday Bowl -- Oregon vs. Notre Dame

Sun Bowl -- Oregon State vs. Pittburgh

LA Bowl -- Washington State vs. Bpoise State

First Responder Bowl -- Washington vs. Kansas

Quick Lane Bowl (in Detroit on Dec. 26) -- Cal vs. Toledo

San Jose Mercury-News (Jon Wilner)

(Pac-12 representatives only)

Rose Bowl -- Oregon

Cotton Bowl -- USC

Alamo Bowl -- UCLA

Holiday Bowl -- Utah

Las Vegas Bowl -- Washington

Sun Bowl -- Oregon State

LA Bowl -- Washington State

ESPN Bowl (First Responder, Armed Forces or Gasparilla)-- Cal

Here are the bowls with Pac-12 tie-ins, listed in their pecking order:

College Football Playoff semifinals (if a Pac-12 team finishes among the top four teams in the final College Football Playoff rankings): Peach Bowl, Dec. 31, 1 p.m. Pacific time or 5 p.m. Pacific time, Atlanta Ga., ESPN, and Fiesta Bowl, Dec. 31, 1 p.m. Pacific time or 5 p.m. Pacific time, Glendale, Ariz., ESPN.

1. Rose Bowl: Jan. 2, 2 p.m. Pacific time, Pasadena, Calif., ESPN – Pac-12 vs. Big Ten.

1A. New Year's Six Bowls -- A Pac-12 team could qualify for one of the other three New Year's Six Bowls -- Orange Bowl on Dec. 30, Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2, Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31.

2. Alamo Bowl: Dec. 29, 6 p.m. Pacific time, San Antonio, Texas, ESPN – Pac-12 vs. Big 12.

3. Las Vegas Bowl: Dec. 17, 4:30 p.m. Pacific time, Las Vegas, ABC – Pac-12 vs. SEC

4. Holiday Bowl: Dec. 28, 5 p.m. Pacific time, San Diego, FOX/FS1 – Pac-12 vs. ACC

5. Sun Bowl: Dec. 30, 11 a.m. Pacific time, El Paso, Texas, CBS – Pac-12 vs. Notre Dame/ACC

6. LA Bowl: Dec. 17, 12:30 p.m. Pacific time, Inglewood, Calif., ABC – Pac-12 vs. Mountain West.

First Responder Bowl -- The Pac-12 might occupy a spot in this Dec. 27 bowl in University Park, Texas, against a team from the ACC, American Athletic or Big 12.

Gasparilla Bowl -- The Pac-12 might fill an opening in this Dec. 23 bowl in Tampa, Fla., against a team from the Big 12, ACC or SEC.

Armed Forces Bowl -- The Pac-12 could get a berth in this Dec. 22 bowl in Fort Worth Texas.

NOTE: The Rose Bowl, Alamo Bowl, Holiday Bowl and Las Vegas Bowl have the option of passing over one team in the Pac-12 standings for another team if those teams are not separated more than one game in the conference standings. The Sun Bowl and LA Bowl do not have that option and must make their selection based on order of finish in the Pac-12 standings.

Cover photo of Oregon football by Mark J. Rebilas, USA TODAY Sports

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