Way-too-early bowl projections

If BYU is able to squeak its way to bowl eligibility, this has the potential to be an entertaining contest to kick off the bowl season. The Aztecs will be playing in a bowl for a ninth consecutive season. That included a Poinsettia Bowl loss to BYU in 2012.

South Florida started 7-0 but has lost two in a row to hurt its chances of reaching the American Athletic Conference title game. Louisiana-Monroe is having a solid year in the Sun Belt and looks poised to earn its first bowl bid since the 2012 Independence Bowl against Ohio.

Can't beat spending the weekend in Vegas and also playing a little football while there. The Trojans have a shot at the Pac-12 South Division title at the moment, but it's been a rather underachieving season for them thus far. Boise State will extend its bowl streak to a remarkable 17 consecutive seasons. 

Though Toledo has had its issues stopping opponents, it's capable of scoring in bunches. Troy, meanwhile, has held four teams to fewer than 20 points this season. Something will have to give should these two teams meet on the first day of the bowl season. The Trojans of Troy have won their last three bowl games.

Coastal needs one more victory to earn bowl eligibility. If it does, history will be made with the program's first bowl appearance since transitioning to the FBS. North Texas is headed to a third consecutive bowl but will try to avoid a third straight defeat in such games when it gets there.

These teams met last season, with Marshall snapping a three-game losing streak in the series. Cincinnati started 6-0 before losing to Temple, but it has rebounded well from that defeat. Marshall, meanwhile, should have a chance to extend its impressive bowl-winning streak to seven games.

Should this matchup materialize, it would pit two of the nation's top running backs against each other. Memphis' Darrell Henderson enters the weekend second in the nation with 1,280 rushing yards. Devin "Motor" Singletary of Florida Atlantic currently ranks eighth with 1,021 on the ground.

The 4-5 Ragin' Cajuns need a late surge to become eligible for a bowl, but that's very much possible with a favorable final stretch. Middle Tennessee will make a fourth consecutive bowl trip and has a chance to possibly do so as the champions of Conference USA. This will be the end of the line for MTSU quarterback Brent Stockstill, who began his career at the school in 2014. 

Just getting to spend time in the Bahamas is a victory in itself for both schools. Eastern Michigan, which totaled seven victories from 2012-2015, appears in good shape to claim its second bowl bid in the last three seasons. Florida International, meanwhile, will make back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time since 2010-11.

Buffalo is the favorite to win the Mid-American title and a trip to the blue turf in Boise seems like a just reward. Bulls receiver Anthony Johnson will be playing on Sundays soon. Nevada, which has wins over good San Diego State and Hawaii teams, appears set to make its first bowl since 2015.

The Owls look like they are good for a fourth consecutive bowl trip, which is something, considering the program won just two games in 2013. Frank Solich, meanwhile, has turned Ohio into a perennial bowl contender with this set to be the school's ninth trip in the last 10 seasons.

Two of the nation's highest scoring offenses in Utah State (50.1 points per game) and Houston (47.7 ppg). Grab some takeout, have dessert and maybe a snack before this one is over. College football fans can only be so lucky to be awarded with some high-octane, offensive-first football. 

Since the 2014 season, Northern Illinois has qualified for 12 bowl games, including the Orange Bowl. However, the Huskies have dropped five in a row. Georgia Southern's only other bowl appearance as a member of the FBS came in 2015, when it beat another MAC school Bowling Green in the GoDaddy Bowl.

Hawaii and its pass-happy offense get to stay home for the bowl season. The Rainbow Warriors' last three bowl games have been played on their home island. The fact that UAB has a good chance to win the Conference USA title and will earn a second straight bowl bid after not having football for two seasons is pretty remarkable.

Louisiana Tech has one of the nation's top defenders in Jaylon Ferguson, who leads the FBS in sacks. The Bulldogs will be trying for a fifth consecutive bowl victory. Arkansas State is one victory away from punching its ticket to an eighth bowl appearance in a row. However, the Red Wolves have lost three of their last four such games.

Pitt has had some ugly losses this season (Penn State and UCF), but it leads the ACC Coastal Division thanks to wins over Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Duke and Virginia. Western Michigan's last bowl appearance came in the Cotton Bowl while rowing P.J. Fleck's boat to a magical 13-1 season in 2016.

Baylor has worked its way back to football relevance, while Arizona is starting to show promise in Kevin Sumlin's first year as coach. This would be an intriguing matchup for the simple fact that both teams are looking to take the same step in their overall progression. A bowl victory would provide a massive boost for each.

For the first time since a four-year run from 2002-05, Virginia will make back-to-back bowl trips. Cal has a chance to return to bowl eligibility following two straight 5-7 seasons. Another case of two programs looking to use a bowl victory as a springboard for even more success in 2019.

Yankee Stadium would be the perfect backdrop for Syracuse to make its return to a bowl game for the first time since 2013. There are plenty of Orange alumni in the Big Apple, so this makes sense. Purdue is 3-0 against Top 25 teams this seasons, and that includes a win over ACC member Boston College.

Should the Red Raiders punch their ticket to a bowl game, that still might not be enough to save Kliff Kingsbury's job. Wins over ranked teams in Michigan State, Utah and USC have highlighted Herm Edwards' first season in charge of Arizona State, which has lost its last two bowl games.

It's been a banner season for the Eagles, who are set for a third straight bowl trip. The same can't be said for Auburn, which is playing .500 football in the SEC but has victories over ranked opponents Washington and Texas A&M. Apparently, this will not be Gus Malzahn's swan song as Auburn coach.

Each squad has worked its way into the Top 25 this season, so the goings have been good for these power-conference members. North Carolina State's Ryan Finley could be the first quarterback taken in the 2019 draft, and Iowa State might have a budding star signal-caller of its own in freshman Brock Purdy.

A Big 12 title could give the Longhorns a better bowl destination, but this matchup really can't be beat. It's also an opportunity for the Huskies to save a somewhat disappointing season that began with loftier expectations than a bowl game before Dec. 29. Their last meeting came in the 2001 Holiday Bowl, which the Longhorns won by a score of 47-43.

LSU's dream of a College Football Playoff semifinal trip ended with that loss to Alabama, but it shouldn't take away from the season it's had to this point. Fans of undefeated UCF will continue to clamor that the Knights deserve a top-four ranking if they enter the bowl season without a loss. And the CFP selection committee will continue to ignore them.

The Blue Devils are headed to their sixth bowl in the last seven seasons. Not bad for a basketball school, right? Missouri could very well head into the bowl season on a four-game winning streak. The Tigers last made back-to-back bowl trips in 2013-14.

Both teams get the chance to cap stellar seasons with a matchup, in our opinion, that could be the most underrated pairing on the entire bowl slate. Appalachian State earned its first Top 25 ranking this season, while Fresno State has won seven in a row and allowed just 36 points in the last five games.

Many believe the only defense in the country that has a legitimate chance at containing Alabama's potent offense is Michigan's. That doesn't mean the Wolverines would win this matchup, but they might make Tua Tagovailoa and Co. work for it. On the flipside, would Michigan even be able to score? The Crimson Tide are that complete of a machine.

The Tigers hung on to beat the Irish in their most recent meeting during the 2015 regular season. The stakes will be much higher for this one. Notre Dame will not have seen a defense anywhere near as good as the one Clemson will show, assuming things play out like they should. A Clemson-Alabama championship game seems to make sense.

This game might finish in two hours, considering the way both teams run the option. These are the top two rushing teams in the nation, both averaging more than 300 yards on the ground. Maybe they'll throw everybody for a curve and showcase the passing attacks? Nah, let's just stick to what they do best.

Another matchup of teams that entered the season with plenty of promise but won't fulfill it. Quarterback issues continue to plague the Hurricanes, while injuries to star running back Bryce Love are a big reason the Cardinal won't even have a Pac-12 championship to hang their collective hat on this season. At least a trip to the most picturesque bowl environment on the schedule could be in the cards for both.

Prior to the season, Wisconsin had its sights set on a possible CFP berth, but it might not even get a shot at the Big Ten championship. Still, the Badgers will have a chance to extend their bowl winning streak to five, maybe with a potential rematch of the 2012 Rose Bowl, which Oregon rallied to win 45-38. Ducks quarterback Justin Herbert could hear the NFL calling after this one.

Both teams have some work to do before punching their respective tickets to a bowl. Oklahoma State is 5-4, and its bowl fate might come down to the regular-season finale at TCU. A pair of games outside of the SEC (vs. Chattanooga and Akron) will have the Gamecocks eligible.

Utah still has its sights set on a Pac-12 title, while Iowa needs to avoid a third straight defeat this weekend. When the regular season has concluded, this matchup would pit a pair of teams that showed real promise in 2018, but in the end are still a ways away from contending for anything more than a conference championship.

Jimbo Fisher takes the Aggies to a respectable bowl game in his first season at College Station, which is about what should have been expected. Northwestern, meanwhile, could find itself in the Big Ten championship game but at the very least will have a chance for a third consecutive bowl victory.

A pair of teams that have bounced in and out of the Top 25 all season should be rewarded to square off against each other. In true fashion, fans really won't know what to expect for this contest since uncertainty from week to week has defined both teams throughout the 2018 season.

The last two meetings between these storied programs came in bowl games. Florida concluded the 2010 season with a win over the Nittany Lions in the Outback Bowl. It was in the Citrus Bowl on New Year's Day 1997 that the Gators also took down Penn State. Why not meet again?

This would be a fun matchup. One of the nation's top offenses in West Virginia against Kentucky's stout defense. How often will the Wildcats talented outside linebacker Josh Allen be able to get to Mountaineers quarterback Will Grier? Hopefully, college football fans get the chance to find out.

Assuming the Buckeyes fall to Michigan, the Rose Bowl isn't a bad consolation. Will this be the last game Urban Meyer coaches at Ohio State? The Pac-12 won't have a team in the CFP, so once Washington State takes care of business in the conference's championship game, it can stake claim to the program's first Rose Bowl appearance since the 2002 season.

A rematch of last season's wild College Football Playoff semifinal that the Bulldogs won 54-48 in double overtime. The way the Sooners defense is playing, there's a chance Georgia could score 60. However, Kyler Murray would likely give the Bulldogs defense all it could handle in what should be another stellar meeting.