2009-2010 Bowl Projections

Football-Bowl.com is a leading provider of college football bowl game information, schedules, historical data & much more. We are well aware of the fact that numerous sports site provide their annual bowl predictions as they make their picks for the 34 college bowl games to be played this season, and as a result we're here to bring you what we feel are the top sites for bowl projections. If you are looking to find out where your favorite school may be bowling this season, look no further than the 2009-2010 bowl projections here at Football-Bowl.com, the leading online destination for information on college football bowl games! Also, be sure to check out the 2009-2010 college football bowl schedule for all of the important dates & times for bowl games this winter.

Bowl Predictions & Projections for 2009-2010

Bowl games were originally founded as a way to match up some of the top teams in the country for an exhibition game after the season has concluded. In fact, the finals polls didn’t include bowl games until the 1970s! The original bowl game, the Rose Bowl, has become the most celebrated in the country outside of the newly created BCS National Championship Game and is known now as the ‘Granddaddy of them All.’ Since then, bowl games have become an integral part of every college football season.

Bowl games are also the reward for a great season. Teams must finish with a minimum of a 6-6 record to qualify for a postseason berth and each conference has specific bowl tie-ins that are listed next to each game. Follow along with football-bowl.com all season as we project where your favorite team will end up.

Remember, bowls often strike deals with one another to get a more favorable match up to sell more tickets. For example, the Hawai’i Bowl always gets the local Warriors if they’re bowl eligible and not playing in a BCS game. So, don’t assume that a team has a berth because that is their expected outright finish.

For example, the Outback Bowl took Iowa over Northwestern last year because Iowa travels much better. That happened despite Northwestern finishing ahead of Iowa in the Big Ten standings! Thus, when I say that a bowl has the #4 team from your favorite conference, it isn’t obligated to take the 4 th place finisher.

One more interesting note: The BCS bowl selection order after bowls replace their lost automatic bids to the National Title Game is Orange, Fiesta, Sugar for this particular postseason. That should help guide questions about the selection process.

Here are the November 15 th, 2009 predictions for all 34 bowl games!

BCS BOWLS

BCS Championship (BCS #1 vs. BCS #2): Alabama vs. Texas

It would take a monumental upset for the Longhorns to miss out at a shot the national title as their remaining schedule is quite easy. Meanwhile, Alabama-Florida is going to work out as a national semifinal game and Alabama is my pick to emerge from the SEC unbeaten.

Rose Bowl (Pac Ten Champ vs. Big Ten Champ): Oregon vs. Ohio State

Oregon rebounded well from their first conference loss to Stanford two weeks ago. They blew out Arizona State and still control their destiny in conference championship chase. Meanwhile, Ohio State has clinched the Big Ten’s Rose Bowl bid thanks to their overtime win against Iowa on Saturday.

Sugar Bowl (SEC Champ vs. At Large): Florida vs. Pittsburgh

Florida will be the replacement choice for Alabama. After that, the Sugar Bowl will have the final remaining selection and that will likely be the Big East Champion. I’ve been on record saying that Pitt will knock off Cincinnati and win the conference and that will earn them a date with the Florida Gators.

Orange Bowl (ACC Champ vs. At Large): Georgia Tech vs. Iowa

Georgia Tech is the automatic tie-in with the Orange Bowl. After that, the O.B. has the first at-large selection and I think that Iowa, assuming they can beat Minnesota this week, are a shoo-in thanks to their excellent season and enormous fan base. This would set up an extremely good match up for a game which has not boasted a ‘marquee’ match up since 2005.

Fiesta Bowl (Big XII Champ vs. At Large): Oklahoma State vs. Texas Christian

The Fiesta Bowl could be put into a tough spot when they have to pick a replacement for Texas. Oklahoma State would continue their strong ties to the Big XII. However, they would also have to turn down the enormous fan bases and equally strong resumes that Iowa and Penn State would bring to the table. In the end, I think that the Fiesta Bowl sticks with their conference tie and selects the Cowboys. The Fiesta Bowl also has a strong record of bringing in BCS Busters and TCU would be too tough to pass up in favor of the Big East Champion.

December, 19th Bowl Games

• St. Petersburg Bowl (Big East #6 vs. C-USA/Sun Belt): Iowa State (Not Enough Big East Teams) vs. Middle Tennessee State
• New Mexico Bowl (WAC #3 vs. MWC #5): Fresno State vs. Southern Methodist (Not Enough Mountain West Teams)

December, 20th Bowl Games

• New Orleans Bowl (Sun Belt #1 vs. C-USA #4): Troy vs. Southern Mississippi

December, 22nd Bowl Games

• Las Vegas Bowl (Pac Ten #4/5 vs. MWC #1): California vs. BYU

December, 23rd Bowl Games

• Poinsettia Bowl (Pac Ten #6 vs. MWC #2): Arizona vs. Utah

December, 24th Bowl Games

• Hawai’i Bowl (C-USA #2 vs. WAC #2): Houston vs. Nevada

December, 26th Bowl Games

• Meineke Car Care Bowl (Big East #3 vs. ACC #5/6): West Virginia vs. Boston College
• Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl (Big Ten #7 vs. MAC #1): Marshall(Not Enough Big Ten Teams) vs. Central Michigan
• Emerald Bowl (ACC #7 vs. Pac Ten #4/5): Boise State (ACC moves FSU to EagleBank Bowl) vs. Southern California

December, 27th Bowl Games

• Music City Bowl (ACC #5 vs. SEC #6/7/8): North Carolina vs. Georgia

December, 28th Bowl Games

• Independence Bowl (Big XII #7 vs. SEC #6/7/8): Missouri vs. South Carolina

December 29th Bowl Games

• Champs Sports Bowl (Big Ten #4 vs. ACC #4): Northwestern vs. Clemson
• Chik-Fil-A Bowl (ACC #2 vs. SEC #3/4/5): Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee
• Eaglebank Bowl (ACC #8 vs. Army/C-USA): Florida State vs. Temple

December 30th Bowl Games

• Holiday Bowl (Pac Ten #2 vs. Big XII #3): Stanford vs. Oklahoma
• Humanitarian Bowl (WAC #1 vs. MWC #3/4): Idaho (WAC agrees to Emerald Bowl deal for Boise State) vs. Wyoming

December 31st Bowl Games

• Sun Bowl (Pac Ten #3 vs. Big XII #5, Notre Dame tie-in ): Notre Dame vs. Oregon State
• Insight Bowl (Big XII #6 vs. Big Ten #6): Texas A&M vs. Minnesota
• Texas Bowl (Big XII #8 vs. C-USA #3/4): Kansas State vs. Navy (clinched)
• Armed Forces Bowl (Pac Ten #7 vs. MWC #3/4): UCLA vs. Air Force

January 1st Bowl Games

• Gator Bowl (Big East #2/Notre Dame vs. ACC #3): Cincinnati vs. Miami
• Capital One Bowl (Big Ten #2 vs. SEC #2): Penn State vs. Louisiana State
• Cotton Bowl (Big XII #2 vs. SEC #3/4/5): Nebraska vs. Ole Miss
• Outback Bowl (Big Ten #3 vs. SEC #3/4/5): Wisconsin vs. Auburn

January 2nd Bowl Games

• Papajohns.com Bowl (Big East #5 vs. SEC #9): South Florida vs. Kentucky
• Alamo Bowl (Big Ten #5 vs. Big XII #4/5): Michigan State vs. Texas Tech
• Liberty Bowl (SEC #6/7/8 vs. C-USA #1): Arkansas vs. East Carolina

January 3rd Bowl Games

• International Bowl (Big East #4 vs. MAC #3): Rutgers vs. Northern Illinois

January 6th Bowl Games

• GMAC Bowl (ACC #9 vs. MAC #2): Central Florida (Not Enough ACC Teams) vs. Ohio

Past 2009-2010 Bowl Projections:

• October 19, 2009 Bowl Predictions
• October 26, 2009 Bowl Predictions
• November 2, 2009 Bowl Predictions
• November 9, 2009 Bowl Predictions

By Matt Baxendall
DFN Sports Staff Writer

Matt Baxendell is collegesports-fans.com’s football writer. Keep an eye out all fall for his multiple weekly articles discussing everything college football. If you want to get in touch with him, email him at Matt.Baxendell@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @MattBaxendell