Pac-12 Bowl Projections: Four Sites Put Washington in CFP

Washington seems to have replaced USC as the Pac-12's leading candidate to land a spot in the College Football Playoff, and Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr. this week became the betting favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.

Penix is the Heisman favorite in odds posted by Fan Duel, Caesars Sportsbook and BetOnline.ag, and he is the co-favorite with USC quarterback Caleb Williams at BetMGM, PointsBet and Draft Kings. Oregon's Bo Nix is the fourth favorite on most betting sites, behind Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, who is third.

Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward, who was not even on the board last week, is among the top 10 Heisman favorites on several betting sites after his impressive game against Oregon State on Saturday.

Regarding bowl predictions, four of the eight college football experts we cite have Washington in the Rose Bowl, which is one of the two national championship semifinal games. ESPN's Kyle Bonagura and ESPN's Mark Schlabach both have the Huskies in the Rose facing Michigan, which would also happen to be a traditional Rose Bowl matchup of teams from the Pac-12 and Big Ten.

Oliver Hodkinson of College Football Network also has Washington in the Rose Bowl but puts Florida State as its opponent. Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury-News places Washington in the Sugar Bowl.

One site -- College Football News -- puts USC in the Rose bowl against Ohio State, which would also be a traditional Pac-12/Big Ten matchup.

Georgia is the only team that is projected to be in the College Football Playoff by all nine sites that make those selections. Seven of them put Texas and Florida State in a national semifinal game, and six have Michigan making the CFP.

Every Pac-12 school except Arizona State (which is ineligible for the postseason) and Stanford is listed by at least two sites as qualifying for a bowl. That includes Cal, which is predicted to land in the New Mexico Bowl against Wyoming by ESPN's Schlabach and is expected to wind up in the Birmingham Bowl against South Carolina by ESPN's Bonagura.

Here are the Pac-12 bowl projections of eight major sites:

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura)

Rose Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Washington vs. Michigan

Sugar Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Texas

Fiesta Bowl – USC vs. Penn State

Cotton Bowl – Oregon vs. Oklahoma

Alamo Bowl – Washington State vs. Kansas State

Holiday Bowl – Oregon State vs. Miami-Fla.

Las Vegas Bowl – Utah vs. Rutgers

Sun Bowl – UCLA vs. Clemson

LA Bowl – Arizona vs. Air Force

Independence Bowl – Colorado vs. BYU

Birmingham Bowl – Cal vs. South Carolina

ESPN (Mark Schlabach)

Rose Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Washington vs. Michigan

Sugar Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Texas

Fiesta Bowl – USC vs. Fresno State

Cotton Bowl – Oregon vs. Notre Dame

Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. Oklahoma

Holiday Bowl – Washington State vs. Duke

Las Vegas Bowl – Colorado vs. Wisconsin

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Syracuse

LA Bowl – UCLA vs. Air Force

Independence Bowl – Arizona vs. BYU

New Mexico Bowl – Cal vs. Wyoming

CBS Sports (Jerry Palm)

Rose Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Texas vs. Michigan

Sugar Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Florida State

Fiesta Bowl – Washington vs. Tulane

Cotton Bowl – USC vs. LSU

Alamo Bowl – Oregon vs. Oklahoma

Holiday Bowl – Washington State vs. Syracuse

Las Vegas Bowl – Utah vs. Iowa

Sun Bowl – UCLA vs. North Carolina State

LA Bowl – Oregon State vs. Fresno State

Independence Bowl – Colorado vs. BYU

Athlon Sports (Steven Lassan)

Rose Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Michigan vs. Florida State

Sugar Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Texas

Fiesta Bowl – Washington vs. Tulane

Cotton Bowl – USC vs. Oklahoma

Alamo Bowl – Oregon vs. Kansas

Holiday Bowl – Washington State vs. Duke

Las Vegas Bowl – Utah vs. Iowa

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. North Carolina State

LA Bowl – UCLA vs. Fresno State

Independence Bowl – Colorado vs. West Virginia

Action Network (Brett McMurphy)

Rose Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Ohio State vs. Florida State

Sugar Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Texas

Fiesta Bowl – Oregon vs. Fresno State

Peach Bowl – Washington vs. Michigan

Cotton Bowl – USC vs. Alabama

Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. Oklahoma

Holiday Bowl – Washington State vs. Duke

Las Vegas Bowl – UCLA vs. Wisconsin

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Syracuse

LA Bowl – Colorado vs. Wyoming

Independence Bowl – Arizona vs. West Virginia

College Football News

Rose Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – USC vs. Ohio State

Sugar Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Florida State

Fiesta Bowl – Washington vs. Fresno State

Alamo Bowl – Oregon vs. Oklahoma

Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Duke

Las Vegas Bowl – Colorado vs. Minnesota

Sun Bowl – Washington State vs. Louisville

LA Bowl – Oregon State vs. Boise State

Independence Bowl – Arizona vs. BYU

Guaranteed Rate Bowl – UCLA vs. Kansas State

247 Sports (Brad Crawford)

Rose Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Ohio State vs. Florida State

Sugar Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Texas

Fiesta Bowl – USC vs. Fresno State

Cotton Bowl – Oregon vs. Oklahoma

Peach Bowl – Washington vs. Michigan

Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. Kansas State

Holiday Bowl – Washington State vs. Miami-Fla.

Las Vegas Bowl – UCLA vs. Iowa

Sun Bowl – Colorado vs. Syracuse

LA Bowl – Oregon State vs. Wyoming

Independence Bowl – Arizona vs. Cincinnati

College Football Network (Oliver Hodkinson)

Rose Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Washington vs. Florida State

Sugar Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Michigan vs. Georgia

Fiesta Bowl – USC vs. Ohio State

Peach Bowl – Utah vs. Fresno State

Alamo Bowl – Washington State vs. Oklahoma

Holiday Bowl – Oregon vs. North Carolina

Las Vegas Bowl – Oregon State vs. Iowa

Sun Bowl – Arizona vs. Notre Dame

LA Bowl – Colorado vs. Air Force

Independence Bowl – UCLA vs. UCF

USA Today (Erick Smith)

Rose Bowl (national CFP semifinals) -- Michigan vs. Texas

Sugar Bowl (National CFP semifinals) -- Georgia vs. Florida State

Fiesta Bowl -- Washington vs. Notre Dame

Cotton Bowl -- Oregon vs. Ohio State

Alamo Bowl -- Utah vs. Oklahoma

Holiday -- USC vs. North Carolina

Las Vegas Bowl -- Washington State vs. Iowa

Sun Bowl -- Oregon State vs. North Carolina State

LA Bowl -- UCLA vs. Air Force

Independence Bowl -- Colorado vs. UCF

First Responder Bowl -- Arizona vs. Kansas

San Jose Mercury News (Jon Wilner)

(Pac-12 representative only)

Sugar Bowl (national CFP semifinals) -- Washington

Fiesta Bowl -- Oregon

Alamo Bowl -- USC

Las Vegas Bowl -- Utah

Holiday Bowl -- Washington State

Sun Bowl -- Colorado

LA Bowl -- Oregon State

Independence Bowl -- UCLA

At-Large Bowl -- Arizona

Pac-12 bowl affiliations:

Football Playoff Semifinal (January 1): If Selected

Fiesta (Jan. 1, Glendale, Ariz.), Orange (Dec. 30, Miami Gardens, Fla.), Cotton (Dec. 29, Arlington, Texas) or Peach *Dec. 30, Atlanta): If Selected

Alamo Bowl (December 28, San Antonio): vs. Big 12

Holiday Bowl (December 27, San Diego): vs. ACC

Las Vegas Bowl (December 23): vs. SEC

Sun Bowl (December 29, El Paso, Texas): vs. ACC

LA Bowl (December 16): vs. Mountain West

Independence Bowl (December 16, Shreveport, La.): vs. Big 12

A Pac-12 team could also be selected for one of three ESPN-operated bowl games: Armed Forces Bowl (Dec. 23, Fort Worth, Texas), First Responder Bowl (Dec. 26, Dallas) and Gasparilla Bowl (Dec. 22, Tampa, Fla.)

A Pac-12 team could also be selected for the Birmingham Bowl, which has the option to take teams from two of eight conferences tied to this bowl. It will be held Dec. 23 in Birmingham, Ala.

Cover photo of Michael Penix Jr. by Joe Nicholson, USA TODAY Sports

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