From Talking Points:
Florida State's loss to Boston College really shakes up the ACC bowl picture. I now project the Seminoles finishing fourth in their division, making it less likely for the Gator Bowl to jump over three teams and take Florida State.
Tulsa and East Carolina both lost this weekend, but they're still on target to meet in the Conference USA title game.
Read more here.
• Nov. 9 predictions
• Nov. 2 predictions
• Oct. 26 predictions
Florida State's loss to Boston College really shakes up the ACC bowl picture. I now project the Seminoles finishing fourth in their division, making it impossible for the Gator Bowl to jump over three teams and take Florida State. No other surprises this week, really -- everything remains on track for a Virginia Tech-Maryland matchup in Tampa, as it has for weeks.
Tulsa and East Carolina both lost this weekend, but they're still on target to meet in the Conference USA title game as long as ECU wins one of its final two games. They hold the tie-breaker over Memphis and the rest of the East Division stinks. It could get really interesting if Houston wins at Rice on Nov. 29, which would move the Cougars past Tulsa and throw the C-USA bowl picture into a mess. Until that happens, though, ECU's still likely to end up in Mobile on Jan. 6.
• Nov. 2 predictions
• Oct. 26 predictions
No changes at the top in the ACC this week, with Virginia Tech and Maryland still meeting in the ACC title game and the Hokies taking the BCS bid. Some shuffling down the line, though, with Clemson and Duke falling out of the ranks of the bowl-eligible and Wake Forest moving up to the Music City Bowl.
East Carolina solidified its position atop Conference USA's East Division with a win over Marshall, giving the Pirates the tiebreaker edge over both Marshall and Memphis, the two teams that have a chance in that division. ECU can lose one more conference game -- maybe two -- and still go to the conference championship game. Their opponent there remains likely to be Tulsa, although the Golden Hurricane still has to play at Houston and at Marshall.
Duke's loss to Wake put a big damper on the Devils' bowl hopes. They now have to win two of their final four games -- vs. N.C. State, at Clemson, at Virginia Tech and vs. North Carolina -- to get to six wins. It's going to be tough to do better than 1-3 in that stretch.
No changes at the top despite Boston College and Virginia losing at home. I've still got a Maryland vs. Virginia Tech title game, with the Hokies getting the BCS bid. North Carolina's still going to the Peach Bowl. At the bottom, the ACC could end up with 10 or 11 bowl-eligible teams, with four 6-6 teams battling it out for two bowl spots.
UPDATE: ECU's overtime win in Orlando on Sunday moves the Pirates one step closer to the Conference USA title game.
With the football season more-or-less two-thirds over, the bowl picture is starting to shape up.
I've believed since the start of the season that UNC would win eight games and go to the Peach Bowl, which would love to have the Heels in Atlanta for New Year's Eve. I see no reason to change that prediction now.
I forsee a Virginia Tech win over Maryland in the ACC Championship Game, which would put the Hokies in the Orange Bowl. And while after watching Duke self-destruct against Miami I never thought the Devils could get six wins, I wasn't figuring on Vanderbilt being one of them.
As for East Carolina, the Pirates should win Conference USA's weaker division, only to be slaughtered by Tulsa in the title game. With the two Texas bowls snapping up Houston and Rice, look for the Pirates to head down to Mobile for the GMAC Bowl at the late date of Jan. 6.
