Pac-12 Bowl Projections: 8 of 12 Experts Have Pac-12 Team in CFP

Seven sites put Oregon in the College Football Playoff national semifinals; one has UCLA in the final four.

Suddenly there is a lot of support for a Pac-12 team getting into the College Football Playoff.

Seven of the 12 experts we cited project that Pac-12 leader Oregon will be in one of the four teams in the national semifinals competing for a national championship.  One of the sites predicts that UCLA will be one of the final four.

That's a big increase from last week when Oregon was projected to be in the CFP by just one site.  Losses by Clemson, Alabama and Tennessee this past week shook things up in favor of the Pac-12.

(See comments from ESPN's Kyle Bonagura and USA Today's Erick Smith regarding the Pac-12's situation.)

The Rose Bowl projections are split up.  Five of our experts put USC in the Rose Bowl, four others place Oregon in Pasadena and three predict that UCLA will play on its home field in the Rose Bowl.

Most predict that Michigan will be the Rose Bowl opponent for the Pac-12 representative, but two suggest that Penn State will be the Big Ten team, with Michigan getting a spot in the College Football Playoff.

The second CFP rankings come out Tuesday night.

Here are the Pac-12 and CFP bowl projections from out 12 experts, with a list of the dates and venues of the bowls with Pac-12 tie-ins listed at the bottom of this story.

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Sports Illustrated (Richard Johnson)

Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Ohio State

Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Oregon vs. TCU

Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan

Cotton Bowl – Tulane vs. Tennessee

Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. Baylor

Holiday Bowl – Washington vs. Wake Forest

Las Vegas Bowl – Oregon State vs. Air Force

Sun Bowl – UCLA vs. Syracuse

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. San Diego State

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ESPN (Kyle Bonagura)

Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. TCU

Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Oregon vs. Michigan

Rose Bowl – UCLA vs. Ohio State

Cotton Bowl – Alabama vs. Tulane

Alamo Bowl – USC vs. Kansas State

Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Notre Dame

Las Vegas Bowl – Washington vs. South Carolina

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Wake Forest

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Boise State

Matchup Bonagura is most excited to see

UCLA-Ohio State: This would be a fun Rose Bowl matchup. Ohio State coach Ryan Day played for UCLA coach Chip Kelly at New Hampshire and was later his quarterbacks coach on the staffs of the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers.

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ESPN (Mark Schlabach)

Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Michigan

Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Ohio State vs. TCU

Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Penn State

Cotton Bowl – USC vs. Tulane

Alamo Bowl – UCLA vs. Kansas State

Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Notre Dame

Las Vegas Bowl – Washington vs. Mississippi State

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Pittsburgh

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Boise State

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CBS Sports (Jerry Palm)

Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Tennessee

Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Ohio State vs. TCU

Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan

Cotton Bowl – Oregon vs. Cincinnati

Alamo Bowl – UCLA vs. Oklahoma State

Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Wake Forest

Las Vegas Bowl – Washington vs. South Carolina

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Louisville

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Boise State

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Action Network (Brett McMurphy)

Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Tennessee

Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – UCLA vs. Ohio State

Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Michigan

Cotton Bowl – LSU vs. Tulane

Alamo Bowl – USC vs. Texas

Holiday Bowl – Washington vs. Wake Forest

Las Vegas Bowl – Utah vs. Arkansas

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Louisville

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Boise State

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College Football News

Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Tennessee vs. Georgia

Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Oregon vs. Ohio State

Rose Bowl – UCLA vs. Michigan

Cotton Bowl – Penn State vs UCF

Alamo Bowl – USC vs. TCU

Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Notre Dame

Las Vegas Bowl – Washington State vs. Arkansas

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Duke

LA Bowl – Washington vs. Fresno State

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The Sporting News (Bill Bender)

Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. Michigan

Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Ohio State vs. TCU

Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Penn State

Cotton Bowl – USC vs. Tulane

Alamo Bowl – Utah vs. Kansas State

Holiday Bowl – UCLA vs. Florida State

Las Vegas Bowl – Washington State vs. Missouri

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Duke

LA Bowl – Boise State vs. Houston

First Responder Bowl – Washington vs. Texas Tech

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247 Sports (Brad Crawford)

Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Oregon vs. Georgia

Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Ohio State vs. Tennessee

Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan

Cotton Bowl – Mississippi vs. Tulane

Alamo Bowl – UCLA vs. Texas

Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Florida State

Las Vegas Bowl – Oregon State vs. Missouri

Sun Bowl – Washington vs. Louisville

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Boise State

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Pro Football Network (Oliver Hodgkinson)

Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Ohio State vs. Michigan

Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Georgia vs. TCU

Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Penn State

Cotton Bowl – USC vs. Tulane

Alamo Bowl – UCLA vs. Kansas State

Holiday Bowl – Utah vs. Notre Dame

Las Vegas Bowl – Kentucky vs. Appalachian State

Sun Bowl – Washington vs. Florida State

LA Bowl – Boise State vs. Washington State

Gasparilla Bowl – Oregon State vs. Cincinnati

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Athlon Sports (Steven Lassan)

Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Oregon vs. Georgia

Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) – Tennessee vs. Ohio State

Rose Bowl – USC vs. Michigan

Cotton Bowl – Penn State vs. Tulane

Alamo Bowl – UCLA vs. Texas

Holiday Bowl – Washington vs. Florida State

Las Vegas Bowl – Utah vs. Mississippi State

Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. Wake Forest

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Boise State

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USA Today (Erick Smith)

Peach Bowl (national CFP semifinals) -- Georgia vs. TCU

Fiesta Bowl (national CFP semifinals) -- Ohio State vs. Oregon

Rose Bowl -- USC vs. Michigan

Cotton Bowl -- Penn State vs. Cincinnati

Alamo Bowl -- UCLA vs. Oklahoma State

Holiday Bowl -- Utah vs. Notre Dame

Las Vegas Bowl -- Washington vs. Florida

Sun Bowl -- Oregon State vs. Florida State

LA Bowl -- Washington State vs. Fresno State

Smith comment: The Pac-12 looks best positioned to take advantage of the situation with three one-loss teams in the mix and the almost certainty of two reaching the conference championship game if Oregon beats Utah at home Nov. 19. Should that scenario play out, the winner of the league title would be a lock for the field and signs point to the Ducks being the ones that prevail.

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San Jose Mercury-News (Jon Wilner)

(Pac-12 representative only)

College Football Playoff – Oregon

Rose Bowl – UCLA

Alamo Bowl – USC

Holiday Bowl – Utah

Las Vegas Bowl – Washington

Sun Bowl – Oregon State

LA Bowl – Washington State

USA Today (Erick Smith).

Here are the bowls with Pac-12 tie-ins, listed in their pecking order:

College Football Playoff semifinals (if a Pac-12 team finishes among the top four teams in the final College Football Playoff rankings): Peach Bowl, Dec. 31, 1 p.m. Pacific time or 5 p.m. Pacific time, Atlanta Ga., ESPN, and Fiesta Bowl, Dec. 31, 1 p.m. Pacific time or 5 p.m. Pacific time, Glendale, Ariz., ESPN.

1. Rose Bowl: Jan. 2, 2 p.m. Pacific time, Pasadena, Calif., ESPN – Pac-12 vs. Big Ten.

1A. New Year's Six Bowls -- A Pac-12 team could qualify for one of the other three New Year's Six Bowls -- Orange Bowl on Dec. 30, Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2, Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31.

2. Alamo Bowl: Dec. 29, 6 p.m. Pacific time, San Antonio, Texas, ESPN – Pac-12 vs. Big 12.

3. Holiday Bowl: Dec. 28, 5 p.m. Pacific time, San Diego, FOX/FS1 – Pac-12 vs. ACC

4. Las Vegas Bowl: Dec. 17, 4:30 p.m. Pacific time, Las Vegas, ABC – Pac-12 vs. SEC

5. Sun Bowl: Dec. 30, 11 a.m. Pacific time, El Paso, Texas, CBS – Pac-12 vs. Notre Dame/ACC

6. LA Bowl: Dec. 17, 12:30 p.m. Pacific time, Inglewood, Calif., ABC – Pac-12 vs. Mountain West.

First Responder Bowl -- The Pac-12 might occupy a spot in this Dec. 27 bowl in University Park, Texas, against a team from the ACC, American Athletic or Big 12.

Gasparilla Bowl -- The Pac-12 might fill an opening in this Dec. 23 bowl in Tampa, Fla., against a team from the Big 12, ACC or SEC.

Armed Forces Bowl -- The Pac-12 could get a berth in this Dec. 22 bowl in Fort Worth Texas.

NOTE: The Rose Bowl, Alamo Bowl, Holiday Bowl and Las Vegas Bowl have the option of passing over one team in the Pac-12 standings for another team if those teams are not separated by more than one game in the conference standings. The Sun Bowl and LA Bowl do not have that option and must make their selections based on order of finish in the Pac-12 standings.

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Cover photo of Oregon's Justin Flowe by Ron Chenoy, USA TODAY Sports

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