Bowl Projections 2015: Pac-12 Bowls For Washington State, Utah Clear As Mud

Bowl projections for 2015 for Pac-12 schools haven’t exactly cleared up. While some Pac-12 bowl projections, like Stanford going to the Rose Bowl, seem pretty clear, most of the other schools have to wait for an official invite on Sunday, December 6. Even the opponent for Stanford is unclear in the Rose Bowl, though, as it could be either Ohio State or Iowa at this point. The ESPN bowl predictors couldn’t agree either, with one analyst stating Stanford will play Iowa on January 1 and the other siding with Ohio State.

More of the ESPN bowl projections for the Pac-12 include Oregon vs. TCU in the Alamo Bowl, USC vs. Wisconsin in the Holiday Bowl, UCLA vs. Nebraska in the Foster Farms Bowl, Washington State vs. Miami in the Sun Bowl, and Utah vs. BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. This is not going to please fans of the 9-3 Utah Utes after the team came so close to playing in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

The rest of the Pac-12 bowl projections from ESPN are Washington vs. Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl, California or Arizona State vs. West Virginia in the Cactus Bowl, Arizona State vs. New Mexico in the New Mexico Bowl, Arizona vs. Colorado State in the Arizona Bowl, California vs. Southern Mississippi in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. The differing opinions come from college football analysts Mark Schlabach and Brett McMurphy at ESPN.com.

At SB Nation, the Pac-12 bowl projections are a little more clear cut. They have Stanford vs. Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, Oregon vs. TCU in the Alamo Bowl, Washington State vs. Wisconsin in the Holiday Bowl, UCLA vs. Nebraska in the Foster Farms Bowl, USC vs. Miami in the Sun Bowl, and Utah vs. BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. In the lesser bowls, SB Nation has Arizona State vs. West Virginia in the Cactus Bowl, Arizona vs. San Diego State in the Poinsettia Bowl, California vs. Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl, and Washington vs. Southern Mississippi in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.

CBS Sports also released 2015 bowl projections, putting the Washington State Cougars in yet another different game. CBS states that it will be WSU vs. BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. The other projections are Stanford vs. Iowa in the Rose Bowl, Oregon vs. TCU in the Alamo Bowl, Utah vs. Wisconsin in the Holiday Bowl, USC vs. Indiana in the Foster Farms Bowl, and UCLA vs. Louisville in the Sun Bowl. The other projected match-ups are Washington vs. New Mexico in the New Mexico Bowl, California vs. West Virginia in the Cactus Bowl, Arizona vs. Virginia Tech in the Independence Bowl, and Arizona State vs. Western Kentucky in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.

Within the Pac-12 bowl projections, WSU is projected to go to the Holiday Bowl, the Sun Bowl, or the Las Vegas Bowl. For what it’s worth, FOX Sports put WSU in the Sun Bowl, USC in the Holiday Bowl, and Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl. Giving a lot of power to Pac-12 bowl games allows those committees to basically “draft” the school they feel is the best for that particular game. A lot of eyes will be on the Holiday Bowl committee on December 6 as the conference waits to hear which school got invited to play in San Diego.

The final Pac-12 standingsdidn’t make it easier to predict either, as after Stanford for the Rose Bowl and Oregon for the Alamo Bowl, four schools could potentially get an invite to the Holiday Bowl. It shows just how competitive the Pac-12 conference has been in 2015 and how difficult it has been for college football analysts to come up with the bowl projections each week.