New Year’s Six Bowl Projections Part I
Orange Bowl: Friday, Dec. 30 at 8 p.m.; Hard Rock Stadium; Miami Gardens, Fla.
Louisville Cardinals vs Michigan Wolverines
We still have not changed on the Louisville Cardinals. Although they don’t really deserve to go, the ACC has an automatic bid to the Orange Bowl, and the ACC Champion is heading to the College Football Playoff. As a result, the Cards are still the team who should go. They finished 9-3 and ahead of the Florida State Seminoles, whom they beat 63-20. The playoff committee cannot overlook that while doing these rankings.
On the other side, the Michigan Wolverines and Jim Harbaugh’s team got screwed out of a chance at the College Football Playoff with terrible officiating against the Ohio State Buckeyes. As a result, we have them going to the Orange Bowl in our bowl projections. After all, the other automatic Orange Bowl bid is for the SEC, Big Ten, or Notre Dame. Only the Big Ten can fill that slot.
Cotton Bowl: Monday, Jan. 2 at 1 p.m.; AT&T Stadium; Arlington, Texas
West Virginia Mountaineers vs Western Michigan Broncos
The West Virginia Mountaineers are still about to finish 10-2 on the year and have done more than enough to garner consideration for a New Year’s Six bowl game. Sure, a fourth Big Ten team could go. But it’s more fair to put a second Big 12 team in there. Also, West Virginia would be a great and entertaining match-up against the Group of Five team getting in, which would be their opponent.
That at-large team is now going to be the Western Michigan Broncos. The Houston Cougars losing and Western Michigan’s blowout over the Toledo Rockets last week earned them the right to go to the Cotton Bowl. They don’t really deserve it, but after the Boise State Broncos’ loss last week, no Group of Five team does. So this team gets the best chance.