Pac-12 Bowl Projections: One Site Puts USC in College Football Playoff
Projecting bowl matchups after one week is sort of like picking your favorite restaurant after tasting only the appetizer.
Oh well, a number of reputable sports sites dare to project bowl pairings at this early stage so who are we to ignore the experts.
One of the seven sites we cited had a Pac-12 team in the College Football Playoff. That was College Football News, which projects that USC will be get to the national semifinals and face Alabama.
Otherwise the Pac-12 got shut out of the College Football Playoff, with the rest deciding whether Utah or USC will be the Pac-12 representative in the Rose Bowl.
Three of our seven experts predict that Cal will get a bowl berth, with ESPN's Mark Schlabach suggesting the Golden Bears will face Boise State in the LA Bowl, Jerry Palm of CBS Sports saying Cal will meet SMU in the Armed Forces Bowl, and Brad Crawford of 247 Sports predicting Cal will play Iowa State in the First Reponders Bowl.
Brett McMurphy of Action Network predicts that nine Pac-12 teams will get bowl berths, but Cal isn't one of them.
The pecking order of the bowls with Pac-12 tie-insm with the dates, sites, times and TV of those bowls is listed at the end of this story.
Let's see what these seven experts project:
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Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan
Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. Oklahoma State
Las Vegas Bowl -- UCLA vs. Texas A&M
Holiday Bowl – Oregon State vs. North Carolina
Sun Bowl – Oregon vs. Florida State
LA Bowl -- Washington vs. Fresno State
Birmingham Bowl -- Arizona vs. Mississippi State
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Rose Bowl -- USC vs. Michigan
Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. Texas
Las Vegas Bowl -- UCLA vs. Arkansas
Holiday Bowl – Oregon vs. Wake Forest
Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. North Carolina
LA Bowl -- Cal vs. Boise State
Frisco Bowl -- Stanford vs. Colorado State
Independence Bowl -- Washington vs. Army
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Rose Bowl – Utah vs. Michigan
Alamo Bowl – UCLA vs. Oklahoma State
Las Vegas Bowl -- Oregon vs. Mississippi State
Holiday Bowl -- USC vs. Wake Forest
Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Pittsburgh
LA Bowl – Washington vs. Fresno State
First Responder Bowl -- Washington State vs. West Virginia
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Rose Bowl – Utah vs. Michigan
Cotton -- USC vs. Cincinnati
Alamo Bowl – Oregon vs. Oklahoma State
Las Vegas Bowl -- Washington vs. Mississippi State
Holiday Bowl -- UCLA vs. Virginia
Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. North Carolina
LA Bowl –.Washington State vs. Boise State
Armed Forces -- Cal vs. SMU
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Peach Bowl (College Football Playoff semifinal) -- USC vs. Alabama
Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Michigan
Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. Texas
Las Vegas Bowl -- Washington State vs. Kentucky
Holiday Bowl -- Washington vs. North Carolina State
Sun Bowl – Arizona State vs. Syracuse
LA Bowl – UCLA vs. Fresno State
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Action Network (Brett McMurphy)
Rose Bowl – Utah vs. Michigan
Alamo Bowl – USC vs. Oklahoma
Las Vegas Bowl -- Oregon vs. Tennessee
Holiday Bowl -- Oregon State vs. Florida State
Sun Bowl – UCLA vs. Wake Forest
LA Bowl – Washington vs. Air Force
First Responder Bowl -- Washington State vs. Iowa State
Gasparilla Bowl -- Arizona vs. Auburn
Frisco Bowl -- Arizona State vs. Purdue
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Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan
Cotton Bowl -- Utah vs. Houston
Alamo Bowl – Oregon vs. Oklahoma State
Las Vegas Bowl -- Washington vs. LSU
Holiday Bowl -- UCLA vs. Wake Forest
Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. North Carolina
LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Boise State
First Responder Bowl -- Cal vs. Iowa State
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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.
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Cover photo of USC's Caleb Williams is by Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports
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