Bowl Projections: Predicting the playoff, other bowls after Week 10

College football 2014-15 bowl projections: Predicting the playoff field, New Year's Six and more after Week 10.

Our latest bowl projections feature the same College Football Playoff field as last week, albeit with a twist.

After Florida State’s 42-31 comeback win over Louisville on Thursday night, the Seminoles are looking more and more like the No. 1 team in the country. That’s where we have them slotted this week, and that’d likely give the ‘Noles the Sugar Bowl spot in the semifinal, with No. 2 Mississippi State heading out to Pasadena. The rest of the New Year’s Six, however, look quite different than our projections from a week ago.

• BECHT: Bubble Watch: Sizing up contenders' playoff résumés

Before moving forward, a quick reminder on how this all works. The selection committee fills the two semifinal bowls based on its final rankings. It then rounds out the four non-playoff New Year’s Six bowls, while fulfilling certain contractual obligations, such as pitting an ACC team against an SEC/Big Ten/Notre Dame team in the Orange Bowl. The remaining teams are then fed into each league’s contract bowls. If a league doesn’t produce enough bowl-eligible teams, bowls can invite replacement teams from other leagues.

This season the ACC, Big Ten and SEC have each pooled a select number of bowls together and will decide where to place teams. While the Big 12 and Pac-12 use a more straightforward method -- the Pac-12’s No. 2 choice would go to the Alamo Bowl, the No. 3 to the Holiday Bowl, etc. -- the process for the other three Power Five leagues is less structured. For instance, the ACC’s No. 2 choice will go to the Russell Athletic Bowl, but teams Nos. 3-6 can land anywhere among the Sun, Belk, Music City/Taxslayer or Pinstripe bowls.

Keep in mind, “Pac-12 No. 2” doesn't mean the Pac-12’s second-place team. Fan travel and geographical location factor into bowl selection as much as conference standings. Thus, leagues aren't obligated to fill bowls based on records.

• STAPLES: Best/worst playoff scenarios for Power Five leagues

Bowl	Date	Location	Matchup	Pick
Peach	Dec. 31	Atlanta	TBD vs. TBD	Auburn vs. E. Carolina
Fiesta	Dec. 31	Glendale, Ariz.	TBD vs. TBD	Ole Miss vs. Kansas State
Orange	Dec. 31	Miami	ACC vs. Big Ten/SEC/ND	Duke vs. Alabama
Cotton	Jan. 1	Arlington, Texas	TBD vs. TBD	Notre Dame vs. Mich. St.
Rose (semifinal)	Jan. 1	Pasadena, Calif.	TBD vs. TBD	Miss. State vs. Oregon
Sugar (semifinal)	Jan. 1	New Orleans	TBD vs. TBD	Florida State vs. TCU

Bowl	Date	Location	Matchup	Pick
New Orleans	Dec. 20	New Orleans	MWC vs. Sun Belt	Colo. State vs. Ark. State
New Mexico	Dec. 20	Albuquerque, N.M.	MAC vs. MWC	La. Tech vs. Nevada
Las Vegas	Dec. 20	Las Vegas	MWC vs. Pac-12	Boise State vs. Stanford
Idaho Potato	Dec. 20	Boise, Idaho	MAC vs. MWC	NIU vs. San Diego State
Camellia	Dec. 20	Montgomery, Ala.	MAC vs. Sun Belt	W. Michigan vs. S. Ala.
Miami Beach	Dec. 22	Miami	AAC vs. BYU	Memphis vs. BYU
Boca Raton	Dec. 23	Boca Raton, Fla.	C-USA vs. MAC	Rice vs. C. Michigan
Poinsettia	Dec. 23	San Diego	MWC vs. Navy	Utah State vs. Navy
Bahamas	Dec. 24	Nassau, Bahamas	C-USA vs. MAC	Middle Tenn. vs. Akron
Hawaii	Dec. 24	Honolulu	C-USA vs. MWC	UTEP vs. Air Force
Heart of Dallas	Dec. 26	Dallas	Big Ten vs. C-USA	Minnesota vs. Marshall
Quick Lane	Dec. 26	Detroit	ACC vs. Big Ten	Pittsburgh vs. Rutgers
Bitcoin	Dec. 26	St. Petersburg	AAC vs. ACC	Houston vs. Virginia
Military	Dec. 27	Annapolis, Md.	AAC vs. ACC	UCF vs. UNC
Sun	Dec. 27	El Paso, Texas	ACC vs. Pac-12	Louisville vs. Arizona
Independence	Dec. 27	Shreveport, La.	ACC vs. SEC	NC State vs. Washington*
Pinstripe	Dec. 27	Bronx, N.Y.	ACC vs. Big Ten	BC vs. Maryland
Holiday	Dec. 27	San Diego	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Wisconsin vs. USC
Liberty	Dec. 29	Memphis	Big 12 vs. SEC	WVU vs. Tennessee
Russell Athletic	Dec. 29	Orlando, Fla.	ACC vs. Big 12	Clemson vs. Oklahoma
Texas	Dec. 29	Houston	Big 12 vs. SEC	Okla. St. vs. Texas A&M
Music City	Dec. 30	Nashville	ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC	Miami vs. Georgia
Belk	Dec. 30	Charlotte, N.C.	ACC vs. SEC	Ga. Tech vs. S. Carolina
San Francisco	Dec. 30	Santa Clara, Calif.	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Iowa vs. UCLA
Citrus	Jan. 1	Orlando, Fla.	Big Ten vs. SEC	Nebraska vs. LSU
Outback	Jan. 1	Tampa, Fla.	Big Ten vs. SEC	Ohio State vs. Missouri
Armed Forces	Jan. 2	Fort Worth, Texas	AAC vs. Army	Cincinnati vs. Cal*
TaxSlayer	Jan. 2	Jacksonville, Fla.	ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC	Penn State vs. Arkansas
Alamo	Jan. 2	San Antonio	Big 12 vs. Pac-12	Baylor vs. Arizona State
Cactus	Jan. 2	Tempe, Ariz.	Big 12 vs. Pac-12	Ohio* vs. Utah
Birmingham	Jan. 3	Birmingham, Ala.	AAC vs. SEC	Temple vs. Florida
GoDaddy	Jan. 4	Mobile, Ala.	MAC vs. Sun Belt	BGSU vs. UL-Laf.

* -- Replacement team