Skip to main content
SI

Projecting all 35 bowl matchups

So you're trying to figure out where your team might be spending the holidays (or Jan. 9, as it may be)? Do you find it difficult navigating a lineup of 35
Stewart Mandel|
Projecting all 35 bowl matchups
Projecting all 35 bowl matchups

So you're trying to figure out where your team might be spending the holidays (or Jan. 9, as it may be)? Do you find it difficult navigating a lineup of 35 bowl games that often place more importance on number of alumni than number of wins when choosing their teams? No worries -- I'm here to do it for you.

First, a quick refresher and primer on changes to the 2010-11 lineup.

• After the No. 1 and 2 teams are slotted and replaced, the BCS at-large selection order this year is 1) Sugar, 2) Orange and 3) Fiesta. Also, this year only, the Rose Bowl is obligated to take the highest-ranked non-AQ team (currently TCU) if it loses one of its champions (currently projected to be Oregon).

• This season marks the start of a new four-year cycle of contracts, and many bowls have changed conference partners. Pac-10 fans: You're in the Alamo Bowl now. ACC fans: No more Gator Bowl. Big Ten fans: You can now play on New Year's Day even if you're the eighth-best team. Big 12 fans: Ever been to the Bronx in December?

• There are two new games, the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium (Big 12 vs. Big East) and the Dallas Football Classic at the Cotton Bowl (Big Ten vs. Big 12). Meanwhile, several have changed names. The Las Vegas Bowl is now the Maaco Bowl. The former EagleBank Bowl is now the Military Bowl. The former PapaJohns.com Bowl is now the BBVA Compass Bowl (???). And, yes, the GMAC Bowl is now the GoDaddy.com Bowl. Fast forward through the game to get to the commercials.

• As always, it's important to remember that most bowls are not obligated to choose their teams in exact order of conference standings. For instance, "ACC No. 3" means "third choice of ACC teams" -- not "the ACC's third-place team."

• As of now, I'm projecting 71 eligible teams for 70 spots. Texas is not one of them.

Teams in bold have accepted bowl invitation

* -- replacement team for conference without enough eligible teams

Published | Modified
Stewart Mandel
STEWART MANDEL

Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated Stewart Mandel first caught the college football bug as a sophomore at Northwestern University in 1995. "The thrill of that '95 Rose Bowl season energized the entire campus, and I quickly became aware of how the national media covered that story," he says. "I knew right then that I wanted to be one of those people, covering those types of stories."  Mandel joined SI.com (formerly CNNSI.com) in 1999. A senior writer for the website, his coverage areas include the national college football beat and college basketball. He also contributes features to Sports Illustrated. "College football is my favorite sport to cover," says Mandel. "The stakes are so high week in and week out, and the level of emotion it elicits from both the fans and the participants is unrivaled." Mandel's most popular features on SI.com include his College Football Mailbag and College Football Overtime. He has covered 14 BCS national championship games and eight Final Fours. Mandel's first book, Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls: Tackling the Chaos and Controversy That Reign Over College Football, was published in 2007. In 2008 he took first place (enterprise category) and second place (game story) in the Football Writers Association of America's annual writing contest. He also placed first in the 2005 contest (columns). Mandel says covering George Mason's run to the Final Four was the most enjoyable story of his SI tenure.  "It was thrilling to be courtside for the historic Elite Eight upset of UConn," Mandel says.  "Being inside the locker room and around the team during that time allowed me to get to know the coaches and players behind that captivating story." Before SI.com Mandel worked at ESPN the Magazine, ABC Sports Online and The Cincinnati Enquirer. He graduated from Northwestern University in 1998 with a B.S. in journalism. A Cincinnati native, Mandel and his wife, Emily, live in Santa Clara, Calif.

Home/More Sports