Last week, we took look at bowl projections after week one from USA TODAY Sports’ Erick Smith. The Oklahoma Sooners were projected to earn a date with the No.1 Georgia Bulldogs in the College Football Playoff semifinal. This week, we found the same things with a few changes among OU’s Big 12 peers in Smith’s projections.
So yes, Smith still has the Sooners losing to the Bulldogs in the Peach Bowl. That’s obviously not the ideal outcome, but not exactly unlikely should those teams meet in January.
The interesting stuff in the new projections lie among the rest of the Big 12.
After Baylor’s loss to BYU in Provo, the Bears have lost their projection to the Sugar Bowl to Oklahoma State. Meanwhile, after having the Texas Longhorns projected to face the Kentucky Wildcats in the Liberty Bowl after week one, Smith now has the Texas Longhorns facing the USC Trojans in the Alamo Bowl.
After defeating the formely top ten Baylor, Smith has future Big 12 team BYU making the Cotton Bowl to face Cincinnati, another future Big 12 program.
The Cougars have not made it to a New Year’s Six bowl game since they went independent, while the Bearcats are the only Group of Five program to make the College Football Playoff.
Baylor isn’t the only team to fall out of a New Year’s Six projection. After week two, both Wisconsin and Texas A&M are absent from the marquee matchups of bowl season. Should Jimbo Fisher underachieve again, seats might get a bit warm in College Station.
As long as the Sooners keep winning games, their projection is going to stay the same. Keep an eye on the other teams in the Big 12 with conference play inching closer and closer on OU’s schedule.
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