Four undefeated teams lost on the road Saturday, but remarkably, that had no impact on the projections for the College Football Playoff or the New Year's Six bowl games.
Baylor and West Virginia lost at Texas and Oklahoma State respectively, making the Big 12 the first major conference to be without an undefeated team. Baylor and West Virginia were never really thought to be serious CFP contenders anyway. Those games weren't even considered much of an upset as both teams were only about four-point favorites.
However, many of the talking heads said those losses eliminated the Big 12 from CFP. And even though I have felt that Oklahoma's loss to Ohio State ended any reasonable hope of the Big 12 having a playoff participant, it's too soon to totally declare the league dead. An 11-1 Big 12 champion would need some help to get a spot in the CFP, with Baylor needing more assistance than West Virginia, but it's too early to say that definitely won't happen.
| College Football Playoff projections | |||
| Bowl | Date | Location | Matchup |
| Peach Bowl | Dec. 31 | Atlanta, Ga. | (1) Alabama vs. (4) Ohio State |
| Fiesta Bowl | Dec. 31 | Glendale, Ariz. | (2) Clemson vs. (3) Washington |
Another formerly undefeated team that lost its first game this weekend was Boise State, which fell 30-28 at Wyoming. A lot of people who don't follow Mountain West football may not understand what a tough road trip that is in that league. Craig Bohl has done a great job rebuilding the Cowboys, and now it is Wyoming that is in control of the Mountain Division of that conference. Boise needs the Cowboys to lose twice just to get a chance at the conference championship, which is required for consideration for the Group of Five bowl spot in the New Year's Six.
That did not affect my projections though, because I've had San Diego State winning the league all along. That is no sure thing, of course. The Aztecs have a trip to Wyoming coming up in November, too.
Western Michigan, which had the week off, is the lone Group of Five team that remains undefeated. The Broncos also have to be considered a serious contender for the New Year's Six bowl spot.
The other team that picked up its first loss of the season was Nebraska, which fell at Wisconsin in overtime. Despite the loss, the Cornhuskers have moved into a New Year's Six bowl in the current projection. They replace Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl. The Volunteers lost at South Carolina, which dealt a serious blow to Tennessee's hopes to win the SEC East.
| New Year's Six bowl projections | |||
| Bowl | Date | Location | Matchup |
| Sugar Bowl | Jan. 2 | New Orleans, La. | Oklahoma (Big 12) vs. Texas A&M (SEC) |
| Rose Bowl | Jan. 2 | Pasadena, Calif. | Michigan (Big Ten) vs. Utah (Pac-12) |
| Cotton Bowl | Jan. 2 | Arlington, Tex. | San Diego State (At-large) vs. Nebraska (At-large) |
| Orange Bowl | Dec. 30 | Miami, Fla. | Louisville (ACC) vs. Wisconsin |
This week's bowl projections have the most teams predicted to be eligible of any projection so far this season. I am now up to 75 teams with projected bowl eligibility, meaning I only needed to add five teams from the pool of those predicted to be 5-7. This week, those teams are Cincinnati, NC State, Northern Illinois, Texas and Utah State. Notre Dame is also projected to finish 5-7 and would be on that list, but I don't think the Irish will choose to accept a bowl bid at 5-7.
Check out the rest of Jerry Palm's complete set of bowl projections here.
