Pac-12 Bowl Projections: Washington, Oregon Are College Football Playoff Contenders

Saturday's Washington-Oregon game in Seattle could be a battle for a berth in the College Football Playoff. Or so it seems based on the bowl projections of the eight college football experts we cite.

Four of the 10 sites place Washington in a national semifinal game, and one of them -- Oliver Hodgkinson of College Football Network -- projects that the Huskies will be the No. 1 seed, ahead of Georgia. Erick Smith of USA Today and the two ESPN experts -- Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach -- also place the Huskies in a national semifinal game, the Rose Bowl.

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury-News and Brett McMurphy of Action Network project Oregon to earn a spot in the national semifinals, Wilner putting the Ducks in the Rose Bol and McMurphy placing the Ducks in the Sugar Bowl against Georgia.

A one-loss team enters College Football Playoff projections for the first time as Texas, which lost to Oklahoma on Saturday, is still placed in a national semifinal game by three of our experts -- Jerry Palm of CBS Sports, Steve Lassan of Athlon Sports and College Football News.

USC seems to have fallen out of favor after its close wins over Colorado and Arizona. Only two of the 10 sites put the Trojans in one of the New Year's Six bowls.

Every Pac-12 team except Arizona State and Stanford are projected to land in a bowl by at least one expert. That includes Cal, which is projected to get a berth in the First Responder Bowl against TCU by ESPN's Schlabach

Here are the bowl projects of eight reputable sites, with the Pac-12 bowl affiliations at the end:

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura)

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

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

Fiesta Bowl – Oregon vs. Penn State

Cotton Bowl – USC vs. Oklahoma

Alamo Bowl – Washington State vs. Texas

Las Vegas Bowl – Oregon State vs. Rutgers

Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Duke

Sun Bowl – UCLA vs. Syracuse

LA Bowl – Colorado vs. Wyoming

Independence Bowl – Arizona vs. UCF

ESPN (Mark Schlabach)

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

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

Fiesta Bowl – Oregon vs. Air Force

Alamo Bowl – USC vs. Kansas

Las Vegas Bowl – UCLA vs. Wisconsin

Holiday Bowl – Oregon State vs. Notre Dame

Sun Bowl – Washington State vs. Syracuse

LA Bowl – Utah vs. Wyoming

Independence Bowl – Colorado vs. Oklahoma State

New Mexico Bowl – Arizona vs. Fresno State

First Responder Bowl – Cal vs. TCU

CBS Sports (Jerry Palm)

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. West Virginia

Las Vegas Bowl – UCLA vs. Iowa

Holiday Bowl – Washington State vs. Syracuse

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Miami-Fla.

LA Bowl – Utah vs. Fresno State

Independence Bowl – Colorado vs. Baylor

Action Network (Brett McMurphy)

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

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

Fiesta Bowl – Washington vs. Wyoming

Alamo Bowl – USC vs. West Virginia

Las Vegas Bowl – UCLA vs. Iowa

Holiday Bowl – Oregon State vs. Clemson

Sun Bowl – Utah vs. Syracuse

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Air Force

Independence Bowl – Colorado vs. Iowa State

Birmingham Bowl – Arizona vs. Missouri

247 Sports (Brad Crawford)

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

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

Fiesta Bowl – Washington vs. Tulane

Cotton Bowl – Oregon vs. Texas

Alamo Bowl – USC vs. Oklahoma State

Las Vegas Bowl – Oregon State vs. Iowa

Holiday Bowl – UCLA vs. Syracuse

Sun Bowl – Washington State North Carolina State

LA Bowl – Utah vs. Air Force

Independence Bowl – Colorado vs. BYU

Athlon Sports (Seven 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 – Oregon vs. Oklahoma

Alamo Bowl – USC vs. Kansas

Las Vegas Bowl – Utah vs. Iowa

Holiday Bowl – UCLA vs. Miami-Fla.

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. North Carolina State

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Air Force

Independence Bowl – Colorado vs. UCF

College Football News

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

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

Fiesta Bowl – Washington vs. Air Force

Peach Bowl – Oregon vs. Alabama

Alamo Bowl – USC vs. West Virginia

Las Vegas Bowl – UCLA vs. Nebraska

Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Notre Dame

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Miami-Fla.

LA Bowl – Colorado vs. Fresno State

Independence Bowl – Washington State vs. Iowa State

College Football Network (Oliver Hodgkinson)

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

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

Fiesta Bowl – Oregon vs. Ohio State

Alamo Bowl – Oregon State vs. Kansas

Las Vegas Bowl – Utah vs. Iowa

Holiday Bowl – USC vs. Louisville

Sun Bowl – UCLA vs. Duke

LA Bowl – Colorado vs. Wyoming

Independence Bowl – Washington State vs. TCU

USA Today (Erick Smith)

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

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

Fiesta Bowl – Oregon vs. Texas

Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. Kansas State

Las Vegas Bowl – USC vs. Iowa

Holiday Bowl – UCLA vs. Notre Dame

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. North Carolina State

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Air Force

Independence Bowl – Colorado vs. Oklahoma State

First Responder Bowl -- Arizona vs. Texas Tech

San Jose Mercury-News (Jon Wilner)

(Pac-12 representative only)

Rose Bowl (national CFP semifinals) -- Oregon

Fiesta Bowl -- Washington

Alamo Bowl -- USC

Las Vegas Bowl -- Oregon State

Holiday Bowl -- Utah

Sun Bowl -- Washington State

LA Bowl -- UCLA

Independence Bowl -- Colorado

Pac-12 bowl affiliations:

Football Playoff Semifinal – Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif., January 1) or Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, January 1): If Selected

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

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

Las Vegas Bowl (December 23): vs. SEC

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

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 by Darren Yamashita, USA TODAY Sports

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