Bowl Projections Thread

And this is all predicated on us winning our final two games, correct? I assume if we lose to Iowa or Maryland, we would fall to a lesser bowl.
Yes, but we'll fall to the TaxSlayer/Music City Bowl or Pinstripe Bowl since we were at the former iteration of the National Funding Bowl within the past six years. Both of which would suck something fierce (especially Pinstripe playing in NYC in winter...)

And folks are overlooking the fact that the strongest conference in the country is the B1G. If we finish strong and/or two B1G teams make the playoffs (e.g. Wisky and tOSU/Michigan) I could see the Cotton Bowl tapping us to play. There's a lot of Nebraska alumni in the DFW area, and the name of the game is making money (or at least attempting to) on these bowls, after all. It may be against Western Michigan...but if they fall, I wouldn't be shocked to see an Oklahoma/Nebraska tilt in the Cotton Bowl.

And yes, that's a lot of "if" statements. But then again, it's been one of those years...

 
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And folks are overlooking the fact that the strongest conference in the country is the B1G. If we finish strong and/or two B1G teams make the playoffs (e.g. Wisky and tOSU/Michigan) I could see the Cotton Bowl tapping us to play. There's a lot of Nebraska alumni in the DFW area, and the name of the game is making money (or at least attempting to) on these bowls, after all. It may be against Western Michigan...but if they fall, I wouldn't be shocked to see an Oklahoma/Nebraska tilt in the Cotton Bowl.
NU/OU can't happen in the Cotton. Cotton has to take the highest ranked non Power 5 conference champion.

If the season ended today, based on the CFP rankings (which is who places teams in these bowls) the top bowls would look like:

Peach (Playoff) - Alabama/Clemson

Fiesta (Playoff) - Ohio St/Michigan

Rose - Wisconsin (B1G #1) vs. Washington (Pac #1)

Sugar - Auburn (SEC #1) vs Oklahoma (Big 12 #1)

Orange - Louisville (ACC #1) vs Penn St (Big Ten #2/SEC #2/Notre Dame)

Cotton - Colorado (Top Remaining At Large) vs Boise St (Group of 5)

So in order to make the Cotton, we need to end around #10 in the final CFP rankings.

 
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CFB Playoff - Ohio State

Rose - Penn State

Orange - Wisconsin

Outback - Michigan

Holiday - Nebraska (NU can play here because they can repeat one team in 6 years)

Music City - Minnesota/Northwestern

Pinstripe - Iowa

Foster Farms - Northwestern/Minnesota

 
God, come on. Don't give us the Holiday Bowl again.

Depending on how the CCG goes (assuming Wisconsin makes it and we don't), we might benefit from the possibility of them losing. Historically, the loser of the championship game will pretty often get dropped a spot in the bowl pecking order.

 
CFB Playoff - Ohio State

Rose - Penn State

Orange - Wisconsin

Outback - Michigan

Holiday - Nebraska (NU can play here because they can repeat one team in 6 years)

Music City - Minnesota/Northwestern

Pinstripe - Iowa

Foster Farms - Northwestern/Minnesota
What about the Citrus bowl? I really, really do not want to play in the Holiday bowl - would much rather get an SEC team.

 
God, come on. Don't give us the Holiday Bowl again.

Depending on how the CCG goes (assuming Wisconsin makes it and we don't), we might benefit from the possibility of them losing. Historically, the loser of the championship game will pretty often get dropped a spot in the bowl pecking order.
Absolutely, but Wisconsin's perception has been very favorable all year. They have been treated like God's from the committee and other voters.

 
God, come on. Don't give us the Holiday Bowl again.

Depending on how the CCG goes (assuming Wisconsin makes it and we don't), we might benefit from the possibility of them losing. Historically, the loser of the championship game will pretty often get dropped a spot in the bowl pecking order.
Absolutely, but Wisconsin's perception has been very favorable all year. They have been treated like God's from the committee and other voters.
A lot of fans in here also think Wisconsin is amazing program/team this year. Yes, they are good, but NU had a very winnable game in Madison this year. It wouldn't have been a huge upset that some in here think it would have been.

 
CFB Playoff - Ohio State

Rose - Penn State

Orange - Wisconsin

Outback - Michigan

Holiday - Nebraska (NU can play here because they can repeat one team in 6 years)

Music City - Minnesota/Northwestern

Pinstripe - Iowa

Foster Farms - Northwestern/Minnesota
What about the Citrus bowl? I really, really do not want to play in the Holiday bowl - would much rather get an SEC team.
They are too high of a pick. They would be in place of the Orange if the Orange bowl picks away from the big10.

 
God, come on. Don't give us the Holiday Bowl again.

Depending on how the CCG goes (assuming Wisconsin makes it and we don't), we might benefit from the possibility of them losing. Historically, the loser of the championship game will pretty often get dropped a spot in the bowl pecking order.
Absolutely, but Wisconsin's perception has been very favorable all year. They have been treated like God's from the committee and other voters.
A lot of fans in here also think Wisconsin is amazing program/team this year. Yes, they are good, but NU had a very winnable game in Madison this year. It wouldn't have been a huge upset that some in here think it would have been.
Yea. Perception is everything in CFB. Clearly. Which is unfortunate, but also why Ohio State pours on points vs teams when they can, rather than milking clock.

 
Perception is everything, but thankfully, bowl selections have perceptions related to more than just who is the best team.

A big reason championship game losers get skipped over is because the bowls want to make money, which they do by getting people to attend. A team that just had fans travel/spend money on a championship game, combined with a team who's fans are disappointed following a loss, makes for a tougher argument than a team just beneath them that finished the regular season on a win and would be incredibly excited for the better opportunity.

You really think 10-3 Wisconsin fans following a CCG loss would fill the Orange Bowl the way 10-2 Nebraska fans would? Not a chance.

 
Perception is everything, but thankfully, bowl selections have perceptions related to more than just who is the best team.

A big reason championship game losers get skipped over is because the bowls want to make money, which they do by getting people to attend. A team that just had fans travel/spend money on a championship game, combined with a team who's fans are disappointed following a loss, makes for a tougher argument than a team just beneath them that finished the regular season on a win and would be incredibly excited for the better opportunity.

You really think 10-3 Wisconsin fans following a CCG loss would fill the Orange Bowl the way 10-2 Nebraska fans would? Not a chance.
No but the committee sets the new years six bowls now. So there's that.

From the selection committee FAQ site

The committee will assign teams to the non-playoff bowls to create the most compelling matchups, while considering other factors such as geographic proximity, avoiding rematches of regular-season games and avoiding rematches of recent years’ bowl games.
With perception being the way that it is. NU isn't going to a new years six bowl. The highest bowl NU gets to is Outback and that's IF the committee puts 3 into the new years six with OSU going to the playoff.

I have a hard time seeing that happen though because there are other conference schools that have 2 losses that should get in over a 3 loss Wisconsin or Penn State.

 
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