Pac-12 Bowl Projections: Oregon Picked for Rose Bowl -- For Now
Oregon, the only Pac-12 team unbeaten in conference play, is a near unanimous choice of our 11 college football experts to represent the Pac-12 in the Rose Bowl. And almost all of them predict that Michigan will be the Ducks’ opponent in Pasadena.
The only two sites that did not put Oregon in the Rose Bowl were CBS Sports, which placed the Ducks in the Cotton Bowl, and College Football News, which projected that the Ducks will play in a national semifinal game against Ohio State. That suggests that CFN expects the Ducks to finish 12-1 while the College Football Playoff committee overlooks the Ducks’ 49-3 loss to Georgia in the season opener.
Kyle Bonagura of ESPN comments that Oregon was the team that helped itself the most this week, saying this:
Oregon: The Ducks have almost zero margin for error considering their blowout loss to Georgia to open the season, but they're undefeated since then and are the only team in the Pac-12 without a conference loss. They were dominant in a win against previously undefeated UCLA, and while they would still need several things to break right for a realistic shot at the playoff, they avoided elimination with the win over the Bruins.
Mark Schlabach of ESPN says Michigan vs. Oregon is the matchup he’d most like to see, commenting this:
Michigan vs. Oregon in the Rose Bowl would be a fun one. The Wolverines didn't play Saturday, but they've played very well so far this season. Ducks first-year coach Dan Lanning has done a tremendous job bouncing back from an ugly defeat against Georgia in the opener.
Schlaback also cited UCLA as the team that hurt itself the most, with this reasoning:
UCLA: Ole Miss' second-half no-show was ugly, but so was UCLA's effort at Oregon. The Bruins had been pretty good on defense, but the Ducks piled up 545 yards of offense, including 262 rushing. Ducks quarterback Bo Nix threw for five touchdowns. As disappointing as the loss was for the Bruins, they'll still have a chance to get things right and stay in the thick of the Pac-12 race. Their Nov. 19 showdown against USC at the Rose Bowl still looms large.
Brett McMurphy of The Action Network moved the Bruins all the way down to the Sun Bowl in his bowl projections.
Cal has lost three games in a row and sits at 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the Pac-12 heading into Saturday’s home game against Oregon, but one of our 11 bowl experts still has the Golden Bears in a bowl game. ESPN’s Schlabach projects that Cal will play Louisiana (the Ragin’ Cajuns) in the First Responder Bowl.
A list of the bowls with Pac-12 tie-ins as well as their dates and venues are provided at the end of this report:
Here are the projections of our 11 experts, including their predicted national semifinal pairings:
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Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. TCU
Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Ohio State vs. Clemson
Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Michigan
Cotton Bowl – UCLA vs. Cincinnati
Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. Texas
Holiday Bowl – USC vs. North Carolina State
Las Vegas Bowl – Washington vs. Mississippi State
Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Duke
LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Boise State
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Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Clemson
Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Ohio State vs. Tennessee
Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Michigan
Alamo Bowl – USC vs. Kansas State
Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Notre Dame
Las Vegas Bowl – UCLA vs. Mississippi
Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Louisville
LA Bowl – Washington vs. Boise State
Independence Bowl – Washington State vs. Army
First Responder Bowl – Cal vs. Louisiana
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Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Tennessee
Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Ohio State vs. Clemson
Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan
Cotton Bowl – Oregon vs. Cincinnati
Alamo Bowl – UCLA vs. TCU
Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Florida State
Las Vegas Bowl – Washington vs. Florida
Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Pittsburgh
LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Boise State
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Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Clemson
Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Oregon vs. Ohio State
Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan
Alamo Bowl – UCLA vs. Oklahoma State
Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Notre Dame
Las Vegas Bowl – Oregon State vs. LSU
Sun Bowl – Washington State vs. Virginia
LA Bowl – Washington vs. Boise State
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Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Clemson
Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Ohio State vs. Tennessee
Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Michigan
Cotton Bowl – USC vs. Tulane
Alamo Bowl – UCLA vs. Oklahoma State
Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Duke
Las Vegas Bowl – Washington vs. Mississippi State
Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. North Carolina
LA Bowl – No selection
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Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Clemson
Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Tennessee vs. Ohio State
Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Michigan
Cotton Bowl – USC vs. Cincinnati
Alamo Bowl – UCLA vs. Oklahoma State
Holiday Bowl – Washington vs. Florida State
Las Vegas Bowl – Utah vs. Mississippi
Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Miami (Fla.)
LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Boise State
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Pro Football Network (Oliver Hodgkinson)
Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Michigan
Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Ohio State vs. Tennessee
Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Penn State
Alamo Bowl – USC vs. Oklahoma State
Holiday Bowl – UCLA vs. Georgia Tech
Las Vegas Bowl – Oregon State vs. Purdue
Sun Bowl – Utah vs. Florida State
LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Boise State
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The Sporting News (Bill Bender)
Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Clemson
Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Ohio State vs. Tennessee
Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Michigan
Cotton Bowl – USC vs. Cincinnati
Alamo Bowl – UCLA vs. Oklahoma State
Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Florida State
Las Vegas Bowl – Washington State vs. Arkansas
Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Duke
LA Bowl – Fresno State vs. Tulsa
First Responder Bowl – Washington vs. Kansas
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Action Network (Brett McMurphy)
Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Tennessee
Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Ohio State vs. Clemson
Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Michigan
Alamo Bowl – USC vs. Kansas State
Holiday Bowl – Washington vs. Syracuse
Las Vegas Bowl – Utah vs. LSU
Sun Bowl – UCLA vs. Duke
LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Boise State
First Responder Bowl – Oregon State vs. Air Force
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Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Tennessee
Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Ohio State vs. Clemson
Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Michigan
Cotton Bowl -- USC vs. Cincinnati
Alamo Bowl – UCLA vs. Oklahoma State
Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Notre Dame
Las Vegas Bowl – Oregon State vs. Florida
Sun Bowl – Washington vs. Florida State
LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Boise State
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Jon Wilner (San Jose Mercury-News)
(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
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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. Holiday Bowl: Dec. 28, 5 p.m. Pacific time, San Diego, FOX/FS1 – Pac-12 vs. ACC
4. Las Vegas Bowl: Dec. 17, 4:30 p.m. Pacific time, Las Vegas, ABC – Pac-12 vs. SEC
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.
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Cover photo of Oregon football is by Ben Lonergan, The Register Guard, USA TODAY NETWORK
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