Earlier this week we looked at the CBS Bowl Projections done by Jerry Palm and discussed why, if Oregon were to make the College Football Playoff in 2020, it’d be infuriating to Notre Dame fans, assuming the Irish only have one loss and that comes in the ACC Championship Game.
The USA TODAY released their latest bowl projections on Tuesday and these, done by Erick Smith, should make Notre Dame fans a lot more pleased.
Smith’s projections call for Notre Dame to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff instead of a trip to Miami for the Orange Bowl.
Smith’s College Football Playoff Projection:
Alabama vs. Notre Dame in Sugar Bowl
Ohio State vs. Clemson in Rose Bowl
For what it’s worth this projection had Oregon earning a spot in the Fiesta Bowl and taking on BYU.
Related: Projecting the College Football Playoff Rankings Top 10
Miami vs. Florida in the Orange Bowl, Georgia vs. Cincinnati in the Peach, and Oklahoma vs. Northwestern in the Cotton Bowl round out Smith’s New Years Six predictions.
I’ve said it before and I will again unless something entirely unforeseen happens with Notre Dame having two losses on the season, I don’t see how the Pac-12 gets treated the same as the other Power Five conferences in regards to the College Football Playoff simply because of the lack of games.
And even with as good as they’ve looked at times in their three games, if Ohio State were to have another game canceled I’d be thinking the same thing about them.