Penn State could end up in the Rose Bowl
Penn State could get selected for the Rose Bowl despite being behind Ohio State in the College Football Playoff rankings.
While the Rose Bowl traditionally selects the highest-ranked Big Ten and Pac-12 teams if the champion is in the college football playoff, it isn’t obligated to do so. That’s important, since Ohio State went to the Rose Bowl and played Utah a season ago.
One of the reasons the Rose Bowl can depart from selecting the highest-ranked teams is based on the last time those teams played in the game. Since Ohio State played in the game last year, the Rose Bowl could be open to picking Penn State and Washington if the Huskies don’t move up ahead of Utah in the rankings if USC wins the Pac-12 title.
We’re going with that Penn State vs. Washington scenario at the moment with Ohio State sliding into the Orange Bowl against Clemson. Utah, meanwhile, could find itself in the Alamo Bowl against Texas.
At the moment, there are 79 teams with at least six wins. Buffalo is heavily favored to get its sixth win of the season on Friday against Akron and we’re projecting the Bulls will get that victory.
That would make 80 teams with six wins for 41 bowl games. New Mexico State is 5-6 and applying for a waiver to get to a bowl game after its game against San Jose State was canceled earlier this year because of the death of San Jose State’s Camdan McWright.
If NMSU gets its waiver, that’s still leaves one more spot. And that spot should be Rice’s. The Owls have the best Academic Progress Rate of the teams that finished the season at 5-7.
At the moment, we have New Mexico State getting its waiver and Rice getting into a bowl game to get to a full bowl field. In case you need a refresher, here’s a list of all the teams currently bowl eligible below.
AAC (7): Tulane, UCF, Cincinnati, SMU, Houston, East Carolina, Memphis
ACC (9): Clemson, North Carolina, Florida State, Pitt, Duke, NC State, Syracuse, Louisville, Wake Forest
Big 12 (8): TCU, Kansas State, Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Oklahoma, Kansas
Big Ten (9): Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Illinois, Minnesota, Maryland, Iowa, Wisconsin
Conference USA (5): UTSA, Western Kentucky, North Texas, Middle Tennessee, UAB
Independents (4): Notre Dame, Liberty, BYU, UConn
MAC (6*): Ohio, Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Bowling Green, Miami, Buffalo*
Mountain West (7): Boise State, Fresno State, Air Force, Wyoming, San Diego State, San Jose State, Utah State
Pac-12 (7): USC, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Oregon State, UCLA, Washington State
SEC (11): Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri
Sun Belt (7): Troy, Coastal Carolina, South Alabama, Marshall, Georgia Southern, Southern Miss, Louisiana
New Year’s Six bowl games
Orange Bowl (Dec. 30)
Clemson vs. Ohio State
Sugar Bowl (Dec. 31)
Kansas State vs. Alabama
Peach Bowl (Dec. 31 [CFP semifinal]
Georgia vs. USC
Fiesta Bowl (Dec. 31) [CFP semifinal]
Michigan vs. TCU
Cotton Bowl (Jan. 2)
Tennessee vs. Tulane
Rose Bowl (Jan. 2)
Penn State vs. Washington
Other bowl games
Bahamas Bowl (Dec. 16) [Confirmed]
UAB vs. Miami (Ohio)
Cure Bowl (Dec. 16)
UTSA vs. Troy
Fenway Bowl (Dec. 17)
Louisville vs. Cincinnati
New Mexico Bowl (Dec. 17)
BYU vs. Western Kentucky
LA Bowl (Dec. 17)
Boise State vs. Washington State
LendingTree Bowl (Dec. 17)
Toledo vs. New Mexico State
Las Vegas Bowl (Dec. 17)
UCLA vs. Mississippi State
Frisco Bowl (Dec. 17)
Rice vs. SMU
Myrtle Beach Bowl (Dec. 19)
Liberty vs. Coastal Carolina
Potato Bowl (Dec. 20)
San Jose State vs. Bowling Green
Boca Raton Bowl (Dec. 20)
Marshall vs. East Carolina
New Orleans Bowl (Dec. 21)
North Texas vs. Southern Miss
Armed Forces Bowl (Dec. 22)
Air Force vs. Louisiana
Gasparilla Bowl (Dec. 23)
Utah State vs. Georgia Southern
Independence Bowl (Dec. 23)
Houston vs. UConn
Hawaii Bowl (Dec. 24) [Confirmed]
San Diego State vs. Middle Tennessee
Quick Lane Bowl (Dec. 26)
Maryland vs. Buffalo
First Responder Bowl (Dec. 27)
Fresno State vs. Baylor
Birmingham Bowl (Dec. 27)
Memphis vs. Florida
Camellia Bowl (Dec. 27)
Ohio vs. South Alabama
Guaranteed Rate Bowl (Dec. 27)
Wisconsin vs. Oklahoma State
Military Bowl (Dec. 28)
Duke vs. UCF
Liberty Bowl (Dec. 28)
Kansas vs. Missouri
Holiday Bowl (Dec. 28)
North Carolina vs. Oregon
Texas Bowl (Dec. 28)
Texas Tech vs. Arkansas
Pinstripe Bowl (Dec. 29)
Syracuse vs. Minnesota
Cheez-It Bowl (Dec. 29)
Wake Forest vs. Oklahoma
Alamo Bowl (Dec. 29)
Texas vs. Utah
Duke’s Mayo Bowl (Dec. 30)
NC State vs. Iowa
Sun Bowl (Dec. 30)
Oregon State vs. Pitt
Gator Bowl (Dec. 30)
Florida State vs. South Carolina
Arizona Bowl (Dec. 30)
Wyoming vs. Eastern Michigan
Music City Bowl (Dec. 31)
Illinois vs. Kentucky
ReliaQuest Bowl (Jan. 2)
Notre Dame vs. Ole Miss
Citrus Bowl (Jan. 2)
Purdue vs. LSU
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