The experts have spoken! The college football bowl season is beginning to materialize, and a panel of college football's gurus has made their mid-season college bowl projections. SB Nation has tabulated the predictions of Scout.com, Phil Steele and the ESPN duo of Brad Edwards and Mark Schlabach (see below) for the avid college fan's convenience, but let's take a closer look at some of the key teams in the region:
Unfortunately for Mizzou fans, their pedestrian 4-4 overall record and 2-3 conference record has put a major damper on their bowl season's chances. Both Phil Steele and Mark Schlabach project the Missouri Tigers to make a play for the New Era Pinstripe Bowl against presumably the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Meanwhile, Brad Edwards foresees a Mizzou matchup against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Meineke Car Care of Texas Bowl -- a pairing that no-doubt favors Penn State -- and Scout.com expects a matchup against the Arizona St. Sun Devils in the Valero Alamo Bowl. Altogether, the experts don't seem terribly optimistic about Mizzou's chances at a bowl game, and seem altogether unconvinced they can make it to any prestigious bowl game.
For Illinois Fighting Illini fans, the outlook is only marginally less bleak. The panel seems divided between whether the Illini are bound for the TicketCity Bowl or the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. Perhaps a strong finish -- a finish that would require wins against ranked teams -- can net the Illini some December or January games, but the chances seem slim.
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Bowl |
Phil Steele |
Edwards |
Scout |
Schlabach |
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BCS Championship, 1/9 |
Alabama-Oklahoma State |
Alabama-Oklahoma State |
LSU-Oklahoma |
Alabama-Oklahoma State |
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Orange, 1/4 |
Clemson-Cincinnati |
Clemson-Cincinnati |
Clemson-West Virginia |
Clemson-West Virginia |
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Sugar, 1/3 |
LSU-Stanford |
LSU-Boise State |
Alabama-Boise State |
LSU-Boise State |
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Rose, 1/2 |
Michigan State-Oregon |
Wisconsin-Oregon |
Wisconsin-Oregon |
Stanford-Nebraska |
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Fiesta, 1/2 |
Oklahoma-Boise State |
Oklahoma-Stanford |
Oklahoma State-Stanford |
Oklahoma-Oregon |
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GoDaddy, 1/8 |
Temple-FIU |
Toledo-UL Lafayette |
Temple-UL Lafayette |
Toledo-UL Lafayette |
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Compass, 1/7 |
Pitt-UL Lafayette |
South Florida-Vanderbilt |
Rutgers-Vanderbilt |
Syracuse-Ohio |
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Cotton, 1/6 |
Texas A&M-Arkansas |
Texas-Arkansas |
Kansas State-Auburn |
Kansas State-Georgia |
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Outback, 1/2 |
Nebraska-South Carolina |
Nebraska-South Carolina |
Nebraska-Georgia |
Penn State-South Carolina |
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Gator, 1/2 |
Penn State-Florida |
Ohio State-Florida |
Michigan State-Florida |
Wisconsin-Florida |
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Capitol One, 1/2 |
Wisconsin-Arkansas |
Michigan-Georgia |
Michigan-Arkansas |
Michigan-Arkansas |
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TicketCity, 1/2 |
Iowa-Tulsa |
Iowa-SMU |
Illinois-SMU |
Illinois-SMU |
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Chick-fil-A, 12/31 |
Virginia Tech-Auburn |
Virginia Tech-Auburn |
Virginia Tech-South Carolina |
Virginia Tech-Auburn |
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Liberty, 12/31 |
Houston-Mississippi State |
Houston-Tennessee |
Houston-Mississippi State |
Houston-Mississippi State |
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Sun, 12/31 |
Georgia Tech-California |
Georgia Tech-Utah |
Georgia Tech-California |
Georgia Tech-Utah |
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Texas, 12/31 |
Ohio State-Baylor |
Penn State-Missouri
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Ohio State-Texas A&M |
Ohio State-Baylor |
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Kraft, 12/31 |
Syracuse-N.C. State |
Fresno State-Wake Forest |
Utah-Pitt |
Fresno State-N.C. State |
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Insight, 12/30 |
Kansas State-Michigan |
Michigan State-Kansas State |
Penn State-Texas |
Michigan State-Texas A&M |
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Music City, 12/30 |
Miami-Tennessee |
Virginia-Mississippi State |
Wake Forest-Tennessee |
Virginia-Vanderbilt |
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Armed Forced, 12/30 |
Southern Miss-BYU |
Southern Miss-BYU |
Tulsa-BYU |
Southern Miss-BYU |
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Pinstripe, 12/30 |
Rutgers-Missouri
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Rutgers-Baylor |
Syracuse-Baylor |
Rutgers-Missouri
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Alamo, 12/29 |
Texas-Arizona State |
Texas A&M-Arizona State |
Missouri-Arizona State |
Texas-Arizona State |
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Champs Sports, 12/29 |
Florida State-Notre Dame |
Florida State-Notre Dame |
Florida State-Notre Dame |
Florida State-Notre Dame |
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Holiday, 12/28 |
Texas Tech-Washington |
Texas Tech-Washington |
Texas A&M-Washington |
Texas Tech-Washington |
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Military, 12/28 |
Virginia-UTEP |
N.C. State-East Carolina |
Miami-Marshall |
Miami-Western Michigan |
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Belk, 12/27 |
North Carolina-West Virginia |
West Virginia-North Carolina |
Cincinnati-North Carolina |
Cincinnati-North Carolina |
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Little Caesars, 12/27 |
Illinois-Toledo |
Illinois-Northern Illinois |
Toledo-Iowa |
Temple-Iowa |
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Independence, 12/26 |
Air Force-Wake Forest |
Miami-Air Force |
Wyoming-Virginia |
Wake Forest-Wyoming |
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Hawaii, 12/24 |
SMU-Hawaii |
UTEP-Hawaii |
UCF-Hawaii |
Tulsa-Hawaii |
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Las Vegas, 12/22 |
TCU-Utah |
TCU-California |
TCU-UCLA |
TCU-California |
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Poinsettia, 12/21 |
San Diego State-Nevada |
San Diego State-Nevada |
Air Force-Louisiana Tech |
San Diego State-Nevada |
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St. Petersburg, 12/20 |
South Florida-UCF |
Syracuse-UCF |
South Florida-Southern Miss |
Pitt-East Carolina |
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New Orleans, 12/17 |
Arkansas State-Marshall |
Arkansas State-Tulsa |
Arkansas State-UTEP |
Arkansas State-UTEP |
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Idaho Potato, 12/17 |
Fresno State-Ohio |
Temple-Louisiana Tech |
Nevada-Northern Illinois |
Louisiana Tech-Northern Illinois |
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New Mexico, 12/17 |
Colorado State-Northern Illinois |
Wyoming-Ohio |
San Diego State-Purdue |
Air Force-Eastern Michigan |