Pac-12 Bowl Projections: Three Sites Put USC in College Football Playoff

Our 10 experts are nearly unanimous on three of the teams that appear headed for the College Football Playoff. It's that fourth team that seems to be up for grabs, and a Pac-12 team is in contention for it.

All the sites we cited have Georgia and Michigan in the national championship semifinals, and all but one also has Florida State in the CFP.

That fourth spot could be Texas. Or it might be USC. Or it could be Washington. Or it could be Ohio State.

Three of our experts -- ESPN's Kyle Bonagura, ESPN's Mark Schlabach and College Football News -- project that USC will land in the Rose Bowl against Michigan in one of the national semifinals. That would create a traditional Pac-12/Big Ten matchup, just like the old days.

Two sites -- College Football Network and San Jose Mercury-News -- place Washington in one of the national semifinal games.

Overall, 10 of the 12 Pac-12 schools are picked by at least three of our college football experts to land in a bowl game. Only Arizona State and Stanford are left out of the bowl picture, and Arizona State is ineligible for the postseason.

Three sites predict Cal will get a bowl berth, and one -- Brad Crawford of 247 Sports -- is bold enough to suggest the Golden Bears will end up in the Las Vegas Bowl against Wisconsin.

The two ESPN experts are not that brave, with Kyle Bonagura suggesting Cal will wind up in the Birmingham Bowl and Mark Schlabach predicting a First Responder Bowl berth for Cal, which plays Washington on the road in its Pac-12 opener on Saturday night.

Pac-12 bowl affiliations are listed at the end of this report.

Here are the projections of our 10 experts:

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura)

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

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

Fiesta Bowl – Washington vs. Penn State

Alamo Bowl – Oregon State vs. Oklahoma

Holiday Bowl – Oregon vs. Syracuse

Las Vegas Bowl – Utah vs. Rutgers

Sun Bowl – Washington vs. Louisville

LA Bowl – UCLA vs. Fresno State

Independence Bowl – Colorado vs. Texas Tech

Birmingham Bowl – Cal vs. Texas A&M

ESPN (Mark Schlabach)

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

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

Fiesta Bowl – Washington vs. Tulane

Alamo Bowl – Oregon vs. Oklahoma

Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Duke

Las Vegas Bowl – Colorado vs. Wisconsin

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Syracuse

LA Bowl – UCLA vs. Wyoming

Independence Bowl – Washington State vs. Texas Tech

First Responder Bowl – Cal vs. Cincinnati

New Mexico Bowl – Arizona vs. San Diego State

CBS Sports (Jerry Palm)

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

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

Fiesta Bowl – Washington vs. Tulane

Cotton Bowl – USC vs. LSU

Alamo Bowl – Oregon vs. Oklahoma

Holiday Bowl – UCLA vs. Syracuse

Las Vegas Bowl – Utah vs. Iowa

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. North Carolina State

LA Bowl – Colorado vs. Fresno State

Independence Bowl – Washington State vs. Kansas

247 Sports (Brad Crawford)

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

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

Peach Bowl – USC vs. Ohio State

Fiesta Bowl – Oregon vs. Fresno State

Cotton Bowl – Washington vs. Oklahoma

Alamo Bowl – Oregon State vs. Texas Tech

Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Duke

Las Vegas Bowl – Cal vs. Wisconsin

Sun Bowl – Colorado vs. North Carolina State

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Wyoming

Independence Bowl – UCLA vs. Cincinnati

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 – UCLA vs. Duke

Las Vegas Bowl – Utah vs. Iowa

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. North Carolina State

LA Bowl – Colorado vs. Fresno State

Independence Bowl – Washington State vs. UCF

College Football Network (Oliver Hodgkinson)

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

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

Peach Bowl – Utah vs. Fresno State

Fiesta Bowl – USC vs. Ohio State

Alamo Bowl – Colorado vs. Oklahoma

Holiday Bowl – Oregon vs. Duke

Las Vegas Bowl – Oregon State vs. Minnesota

Sun Bowl – UCLA vs. Miami-Fla.

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Air Force

Independence Bowl – Arizona vs. UCF

Action Network (Brett McMurphy)

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

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

Peach Bowl – Washington vs. Ohio State

Fiesta Bowl – Oregon vs. Fresno State

Cotton Bowl – USC vs. Oklahoma

Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. Kansas State

Holiday Bowl – Oregon State vs. Miami-Fla.

Las Vegas Bowl – UCLA vs. Iowa

Sun Bowl – Colorado vs. Syracuse

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Wyoming

Independence Bowl – Arizona vs. Oklahoma State

College Football News

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

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

Orange Bowl – Oregon vs. Fresno State

Cotton Bowl – Oregon vs. Texas

Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. Kansas State

Holiday Bowl – UCLA vs. Notre Dame

Las Vegas Bowl – Colorado vs. Michigan State

Sun Bowl – Washington State vs. North Carolina

LA Bowl – Oregon State vs. Boise State

Independence Bowl – Arizona vs. Texas Tech

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. Ohio State

Alamo Bowl – Oregon vs. Kansas State

Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. North Carolina

Las Vegas Bowl – USC vs. Maryland

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Louisville

LA Bowl – UCLA vs. Air Force

Independence Bowl – Colorado vs. Kansas

First Responder Bowl -- Washington State vs. Texas Tech

Frisco Bowl -- Arizona vs. Marshall

San Jose Mercury-News (Jon Wilner)

(Only Pac-12 representative named)

Sugar Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Washington

Fiesta Bowl -- USC

Alamo Bowl – Oregon

Holiday Bowl – Oregon State

Las Vegas Bowl – Utah

Sun Bowl – Colorado

LA Bowl – UCLA

Independence Bowl – Washington State

At-large bowl -- Arizona

Pac-12 bowl affiliations:

Football Playoff Semifinal (January 1): If Selected

Fiesta, Orange, Cotton or Peach: If Selected

Alamo Bowl (December 28): vs. Big 12

Holiday Bowl (December 27): vs. ACC

Las Vegas Bowl (December 23): vs. SEC

Sun Bowl (December 29): vs. ACC

LA Bowl (December 16): vs. Mountain West

Independence Bowl (December 16): 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 USC's Brenden Rice by Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports

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