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Editor’s note: This article was originally published by USA TODAY Sports and has been republished below in its entirety.
Consider this weekend the calm before the storm in college football.
Three of the Power Five conferences already have their championship games set. The Big Ten will have its resolved if Ohio State takes the field Saturday. Only the Pac-12 remains up in the air entering the penultimate weekend.
The lack of upsets from the last few weeks means there is again no change in the projection for the College Football Playoff. Saturday’s light schedule should have little impact on the outlook, meaning championship weekend should resolve the key questions about the status of Clemson and Notre Dame in the ACC and whether Florida can drastically impact the picture by upsetting Alabama.
If Ohio State does beat Michigan this week, then a win against Northwestern would seem to assure the Buckeyes a place in the field. This leaves Texas A&M and Cincinnati hoping for major upsets ahead of them.
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The changes to the bowl picture this week come among the New Year’s Six. Brigham Young falls out after its memorable loss to Coastal Carolina on short notice. That opens the door for Indiana, which last played in a major bowl at the Rose Bowl at the end of the 1967 season. Also losing its place is Oregon. The Ducks fell to California, leaving the Pac-12 spot to Southern California.
The bowl lineup for the postseason, including the College Football Playoff game, stands at 34 games with the Las Vegas Bowl and LA Bowl dropping out because of pandemic worries since last week’s projection. It’s possible more will be called off as cities balance health concerns and benefits of hosting games. Teams in bold have accepted berths.
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