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Is the college football playoff format working? | Chicago Sports Tonight
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It's almost time for bowl season.
Here are our postseason bowl projections, based on conversations on and off the record, and educated guesses, for the three bowl-eligible teams: Notre Dame, Illinois and Northwestern.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Bowl Projection: College Football Playoff
The Irish had the day they needed to have.
BYU and Alabama lost in their Big 12 and SEC championship games, respectively. That was what Notre Dame needed, as the Cougars would have secured a top-12 spot with a win and Alabama’s loss most likely ensures the Tide will fall at least one spot.
Notre Dame would move up to No. 9 in this case. Alabama might not fall out of the playoff completely, as the committee might not punish a team harshly for losing in a conference title game. But, if the Tide move back and BYU moves back, that still creates a buffer between Miami and Notre Dame where the head-to-head result between the Irish and Canes doesn’t come into play. If the committee believed the head-to-head result was such a finite data point, it would have already come into play.
Again, this is all speculation. There’s no indication of what the CFP committee might do. But, as it stands, the Irish had everything go their way on Saturday in terms of making the field of 12. For now, we assume the Irish slid in by the skin of their teeth.
Northwestern Wildcats
Bowl Projection: Rate Bowl vs. Big 12
The ‘Cats clinched a bowl game after Minnesota missed a game-tying field goal attempt, but couldn’t improve their Big Ten standing against Illinois.
In this case, Northwestern gets slotted into the bowl game the day after the Christmas holiday.
The Rate Bowl has a Big Ten tie-in against a Big 12 team. This could be against Cincinnati or Kansas State, two bowl-eligible Big 12 teams.
This should come down to the GameAbove Sports Bowl against a MAC team or the Rate Bowl. We think it leans closer to the Rate Bowl because Northwestern beat Penn State, another 6-6 Big Ten team, earlier this season, giving NU the edge in the Big Ten standings.
A bowl win over a talented Big 12 program could be the springboard NU needs heading into the offseason.
Illinois Fighting Illini
Bowl Projection: Music City Bowl vs. SEC
Reports indicate that Illinois will head to the Volunteer State for its postseason game.
The Illini are heading to the Music City Bowl in Nashville, according to On3.com and other reports. This pits Illinois against an SEC opponent. Even without their regular-season finale win over Northwestern, Illinois was most likely heading to Nashville.
The Illini will face an SEC team for the second season in a row. Last year, they beat South Carolina on New Year's Eve in a testy game. Who they play this year will be the storyline to watch.
It might be the revival of Braggin’ Rights, with a game against Missouri. Or, it could be a game against the 7-5 LSU Tigers, who have just hired Lane Kiffin as the next head coach in Baton Rouge.