College Football News is a great site for the college football junkie with year round reviews, projections, and rankings. They recently came out with their way too early bowl projections and I picked up this nugget from SB Nation's Utah site Block U talking about how CFN thinks that the TCU/Utah winner will go to the BCS title game.
January 10, 2011 Glendale, AZ
BCS Championship 8:00 pm ABC
BCS No. 1 vs. BCS No. 2
Way Too Early Projection: Ohio State vs. TCU
WHY? Here's the call (and remember, it's May ... don't get mad if and when we flip-flop before the season). The SEC champion will have two losses, but if it's undefeated or has one loss, it's in Glendale over an unbeaten TCU/Utah winner. The ACC, Pac 10, Big East, and Big 12 champions will also have two losses, Ohio State will lose once, to either Wisconsin or Iowa, and will have the best record among BCS teams. The other out-of-left-field call is Nebraska, who has the right schedule and gets Texas at home. Basically, if there are two BCS teams with one loss or, of course, are unbeaten, TCU is out.
Wow! just wow! They are giving Utah a lot of props in this scenario, as well as assuming Boise State loses to either Oregon State or Virginia Tech. Most super early polls have Utah outside or in at 25th to start the 2010 season. That will be a tough hill for Utah to climb from unranked to number two in the country. Utah has a good schedule to do it by playing at Notre Dame (a perceived big game), top 20 Pitt, at Iowa State, TCU, BYU, and two other bowl teams in the Mountain West. Now, this will not happen but interesting to see Utah getting love for a potential BCS title team.
Now, onto the early bowl projections.
December 18, 2010 Albuquerque, NM
New Mexico Bowl
Mountain West No. 5 vs. WAC
Way Too Early Projection: San Diego State vs. Nevada
WHY? Colorado State might be here instead of San Diego State, but the Rams play Nevada on September 11th. The Emerald Bowl will want Fresno State, who's the better fit here, so Nevada will try to finally crack the run of four straight bowl losses.
This would be huge for the Aztecs who by getting to a bowl game would have theirfirst winning season in Mountain West history and first since 1998. As for their Colorado State assessment, unless the Rams get huge returns from their defense or running game they will struggle.
December 22, 2010 Las Vegas, NV
MAACO Las Vegas Bowl 8:00 pm ESPN
Mountain West No. 1 vs. Pac 10 No. 4 or 5
Way Too Early Projection: Utah vs. WashingtonWHY? The Utah/TCU loser will likely end up here, while Washington, UCLA, or Arizona are the three most possible candidates from the Pac 10.
This seems right for Utah, before they make a big run in 2011 at the BCS.
December 23, 2010 San Diego, CA
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl 8:00 pm ESPN
Mountain West No. 2 vs. Navy (or WAC if Navy not eligible)
Way Too Early Projection: BYU vs. Navy
WHY? Navy gets the automatic bid by being bowl eligible, while BYU will likely be the No. 3 team in the Mountain West pecking order with the Utah/TCU winner in the BCS and the loser in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Interesting matchup, because Navy could be really, really good and get over looked playing in this bowl game and be ranked in the top 20. Also, take note that CFN really likes the winner of the league to be in the BCS by keep mentioning the Utah/TCU winner will be in the BCS.
December 30, 2010 Fort Worth, TX
Bell Helicopters Armed Forces Bowl 12:00 pm ESPN
C-USA No. 3 vs. Mountain West No. 4 (or Army if eligible before Navy game and there’s no C-USA or M-West team)
Way Too Early Projection: East Carolina vs. Colorado State
WHY? Air Force always makes sense from the Mountain West, while Colorado State or San Diego State could get the nod. Take your pick of Conference USA teams with Southern Miss, UCF, and Tulsa all in the mix.
Hmm... the Rams being bowl eligible after losing nine straight to end the season. CFN does know they are possibly starting a freshman quarterback, and are replacing the majority of their offensive line, right? Personally, Wyoming looks to be a good fit to make another bowl game.