Pac-12 Bowl Projections: Washington To Championship, Washington State To Rose Bowl?

Pac-12 bowl projections are really starting to take shape. As UW and WSU continue to dominate the Pac-12 this season, the two schools are receiving high praise from college football experts around the country. In the updated Pac-12 football standings, the Washington Huskies and Washington State Cougars are the only remaining schools with undefeated records in conference play. The Utah Utes and Colorado Buffaloes aren’t too far behind with only one conference loss apiece.

In a new set of college football bowl projections, ESPN reports that the Washington Huskies could play the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Peach Bowl. This would be one-half of the College Football Playoff, with the winner advancing to play the winner of the Clemson Tigers vs. Michigan Wolverines. The Huskies aren’t the only Pac-12 school that ESPN projects will play in a bowl game this postseason.

As for other Pac-12 bowl projections, the college football experts at ESPN have predicted that either Washington State or Utah will play the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl. WSU and Utah don’t play this season, meaning it could come down to a committee decision on which school the Rose Bowl would like to see go up against the Big Ten representative. This assumes that Washington wins the Pac-12 title game, meaning Utah would have at least two losses against conference foes.

As for the alternative bowl game for Utah or Washington State, ESPN states that the team not going to the Rose Bowl would go to the Alamo Bowl. With the rest of the Pac-12 bowl projections from ESPN, they have Colorado in the Holiday Bowl, California in the Las Vegas Bowl, Stanford in the Cactus Bowl, USC in the Foster Farms Bowl, and Arizona State in the Sun Bowl. That would be eight Pac-12 schools in bowl games this year.

The four schools that don’t make the cut in these Pac-12 bowl predictions are the Oregon Ducks, Oregon State Beavers, Arizona Wildcats, and UCLA Bruins. UCLA could still make the postseason by winning three of its final four regular season games, but that would be a tough road with the schedule the Bruins have to play. It continues with a game on the road against Colorado next.

There are new college football bowl projections from CBS Sports that were released on Sunday, October 23. That report gives the Washington Huskies a bit of additional credit, predicting the team will finish No. 3 in the country and play the Clemson Tigers in the first round of the College Football Playoff. The winner would advance to play against the school emerging from the Alabama vs. Ohio State game on the other side of the bracket. This would put UW in the Fiesta Bowl on December 31.

For the 2017 Rose Bowl, CBS Sports predicts that it will be Utah vs. Michigan. This is a prediction grounded in WSU losing two conference games and Utah only losing the Pac-12 Championship Game to close out the season. Washington State gets dropped into the Foster Farms Bowl by these analysts, putting the team up against the Indiana Hoosiers. That would be a big drop for WSU, especially since the team is still undefeated in conference games.

The rest of the Pac-12 bowl projections from CBS are Colorado in the Alamo Bowl, USC in the Sun Bowl, California in the Cactus Bowl, Stanford in the Holiday Bowl, and Arizona State in the Royal Purple Bowl (Las Vegas). Indeed, these analysts feel that Stanford, who lost to the Washington State Cougars 42-16, should go to a better bowl game than WSU.

There are a lot of games left to be played in the 2016 college football season, but it appears pretty clear that it will be eight Pac-12 schools getting to enjoy a postseason game. The Washington Huskies have the best chance to represent the conference in the College Football Playoffs, but have to get past a trap game in the Apple Cup against the Washington State Cougars. The Pac-12 bowl projections could also shift in the coming weeks, but the cream of the conference has certainly risen to the top already.

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