The beauty of midseason college football bowl projections is the extent to which small movements in the rankings can affect them. For instance, Tennessee's 24–17 win over Alabama had ramifications up and down the bowl schedule—knocking the Crimson Tide from the playoff field and elevating the Volunteers in their place.
However, bowl projections also have a way of bringing into the cold light teams in the midst of complete collapse. Wait until you see where Oklahoma is in this field after its blowout loss to South Carolina, or USC after its complete meltdown at Maryland.
As usual, the projections are determined by using the AP Poll and College Football Reference's Simple Rating System as guides. Conference tie-ins have been observed, but with .500 teams in short supply, gluttonous Power Four conferences (namely the Big Ten and SEC) ate a handful of slots nominally reserved for other leagues.
Without further ado, here's how the bowl picture might look if the season ended today, with some commentary at the end.
Notable Potential Bowl Matchups
Note Jackson State snagging Florida A&M's place in the Celebration Bowl after a 35–21 win over the Rattlers Saturday... Sam Houston and Texas State (Frisco Bowl) have spent a lot of time together over the years; the two schools helped found the Lone Star Conference way back in 1931... UNLV and Utah (LA Bowl) were in the Mountain West together from 1999 to 2010, and the WAC from 1996 to '98... Louisiana-Monroe and Western Kentucky locked horns in the Sun Belt from 2009 to '13... BYU and Ohio State, potential CFP opponents, have met three times in bowl games (the Buckeyes won all three matchups)... Depending on whether you consider CFP first-round matchups bowl games, we could be in line for a) the first bowl game in Ohio since the 1961 Aviation Bowl in Dayton and b) the first bowl game in Pennsylvania since the Liberty Bowl left Philadelphia in 1963... Tennessee and LSU are not scheduled to play this year; the Volunteers won their last meeting in 2022... Iowa and San Diego State (Rate Bowl) played in the 1986 Holiday Bowl; hilariously, the final score was 39–38 (the Hawkeyes won)... This would be Notre Dame and Alabama's (ReliaQuest Bowl) ninth matchup; the Fighting Irish lead the series 5-3 and the two teams will begin a home-and-home in 2029... SMU would be the first Texas-based team to appear in the Sun Bowl since TCU in 1998... Duke and Nebraska (Duke's Mayo Bowl) played in the 1955 Orange Bowl, won 34–7 by the Blue Devils.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Post-Week 8 Bowl Projections For the 2024 College Football Season.
