Bowl Projections: Big Ten fills New Year's Six bowls after Week 9

Four Big Ten teams make the New Year's Six bowl games in SI's latest Bowl Projections, topped by Michigan in the College Football Playoff.

Although the College Football Playoff field remains the same, just about every other major bowl game gets a new matchup after Week 9. That’s hardly surprising given the number of pivotal outcomes the week produced, including the first loss of the season for four teams.

One of the biggest winners of the week is actually a loser. Nebraska slides up to the New Year’s Six bowls despite its defeat at Wisconsin, as the Cornhuskers capitalize on South Carolina’s upset of Tennessee to take the Volunteers’ spot in the Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma and Western Michigan also move in the New Year’s Six bowls this week, spurred by the losses of Baylor and West Virginia (for the Sooners) and Boise State (for the Broncos).

Before we get to the bowl projections, a reminder about how the college football postseason works. The playoff selection committee will choose the teams for the two playoff semifinals—the Peach Bowl and Fiesta Bowl this year—and the four other marquee bowls that are part of the New Year’s Six. The highest ranked Group of Five conference champion must play in one of those six games, and other games, such as the Rose Bowl, have conference tie-ins.

The remaining bowl games are also governed by agreements with the 10 FBS conferences, though if a league doesn’t produce enough bowl-eligible teams to fulfill all of its tie-ins, that bowl can select another conference’s representative. In some cases, leagues will pool together their bowl tie-ins to create more flexibility. The Music City Bowl, for example, can choose either an ACC or Big Ten team to face an SEC opponent.

And lastly, just because a bowl may be designated to have a particular order of selection among a conference’s teams doesn’t mean it has to adhere exactly to the standings. The Alamo Bowl’s second choice among Pac-12 teams, for example, does not require it to choose the No. 2 available team from the Pac-12 standings or from the playoff committee’s rankings. Other factors, such as location, the matchup, the size of a school’s fan base and the willingness of that fan base to travel, can influence bowls’ decisions.

New Year's Six bowls

Bowl	Date	Location	Matchup	Pick
Peach (semifinal)	Dec. 31	Atlanta	TBD vs. TBD	Alabama vs. Washington
Fiesta (semifinal)	Dec. 31	Glendale, Ariz.	TBD vs. TBD	Michigan vs. Clemson
Orange	Dec. 30	Miami	ACC vs. Big Ten/SEC/ND	Louisville vs. Wisconsin
Cotton	Jan. 2	Arlington, Texas	TBD vs. TBD	Western Michigan vs. Nebraska
Rose	Jan. 2	Pasadena, Calif.	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Ohio State vs. Utah
Sugar	Jan. 2	New Orleans	SEC vs. Big 12	Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma

Michigan moves into the top three of Power Rankings after Week 9

bowl	date	location	matchup	pick
New Mexico	Dec. 17	Albuquerque, N.M.	C-USA vs. MW	Southern Miss vs. New Mexico
Las Vegas	Dec. 17	Las Vegas	MW vs. Pac-12	Boise State vs. Arizona State
Camellia	Dec. 17	Montgomery, Ala.	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Eastern Michigan vs. South Alabama
Cure	Dec. 17	Orlando, Fla.	AAC vs. Sun Belt	UCF vs. Georgia Southern
New Orleans	Dec. 17	New Orleans	Sun Belt vs. C-USA	Appalachian State vs. Middle Tennessee
Miami Beach	Dec. 19	Miami	AAC vs. MAC	Tulsa vs. Central Michigan
Boca Raton	Dec. 20	Boca Raton, Fla.	AAC vs. C-USA	Memphis vs. Western Kentucky
Poinsettia	Dec. 21	San Diego	BYU vs. MW	BYU vs. San Diego State
Famous Idaho Potato	Dec. 22	Boise, Idaho	MAC vs. MW	Ohio vs. Wyoming
Bahamas	Dec. 23	Nassau, Bahamas	AAC vs. MAC	Cincinnati vs. Akron
Armed Forces	Dec. 23	Fort Worth, Texas	Big 12 vs. Navy	Texas Tech vs. Navy
Dollar General	Dec. 23	Mobile, Ala.	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Toledo vs. Troy
Hawaii	Dec. 24	Honolulu	C-USA vs. MW	Louisiana Tech vs. Air Force
St. Petersburg	Dec. 26	St. Petersburg, Fla.	ACC vs. AAC	Wake Forest vs. South Florida
Quick Lane	Dec. 26	Detroit	ACC vs. Big Ten	Georgia Tech vs. Arkansas State*
Independence	Dec. 26	Shreveport, La.	ACC vs. SEC	NC State vs. SMU*
Heart of Dallas	Dec. 27	Dallas	Big Ten vs. C-USA	TCU* vs. Old Dominion
Military	Dec. 27	Annapolis, Md.	ACC vs. AAC	Army* vs. Temple
Holiday	Dec. 27	San Diego	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Northwestern vs. Washington State
Cactus	Dec. 27	Phoenix	Big 12 vs. Pac-12	Kansas State vs. Cal
Pinstripe	Dec. 28	New York	ACC vs. Big Ten	Miami vs. Maryland
Russell Athletic	Dec. 28	Orlando, Fla.	ACC vs. Big 12	Florida State vs. Oklahoma State
Foster Farms	Dec. 28	Santa Clara, Calif.	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Indiana vs. USC
Texas	Dec. 28	Houston	Big 12 vs. SEC	Baylor vs. Kentucky
Birmingham	Dec. 29	Birmingham, Ala.	AAC vs. SEC	Houston vs. Georgia
Belk	Dec. 29	Charlotte, N.C.	ACC vs. SEC	North Carolina vs. Tennessee
Alamo	Dec. 29	San Antonio	Big 12 vs. Pac-12	West Virginia vs. Colorado
Arizona	Dec. 30	Tucson, Ariz.	MW vs. Sun Belt	Colorado State vs. Idaho
Liberty	Dec. 30	Memphis, Tenn.	Big 12 vs. SEC	Texas vs. Ole Miss
Sun	Dec. 30	El Paso, Texas	ACC vs. Pac-12	Pittsburgh vs. Stanford
Music City	Dec. 30	Nashville, Tenn.	ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC	Iowa vs. Arkansas
TaxSlayer	Dec. 31	Jacksonville, Fla.	ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC	Virginia Tech vs. LSU
Citrus	Dec. 31	Orlando, Fla.	Big Ten/ACC vs. SEC	Penn State vs. Auburn
Outback	Jan. 2	Tampa, Fla.	Big Ten vs. SEC	Minnesota vs. Florida

*Replacement team