I started thinking about bowl games in Florida roughly around 6pm on Saturday.
I spent 30 minutes sitting on the floor of my shower roughly around 8pm on Saturday.
Here are this week's CQ BOWL PROJECTIONS.
OUR PICKS
CFP: Baylor, (uhhhhh), TCU, (oh my god I have no idea)
Begin to embrace it now. This is the year we officially begin the "EXPAND TO 8" line of argument, if it hasn't begun already. Everyone's going to cannibalize each other -- because no truly great teams exist in CFP this season. It's very conceivable to end up with the following doomsday scenario: 1-loss Ohio State, 1-loss Michigan State, 1-loss Iowa, 1-loss Utah, 1-loss Notre Dame, 1-loss TCU, 1-loss Clemson, 1-loss Florida State, 2-loss Stanford, 2-loss Michigan, 2-loss Alabama, 2-loss Ole Miss, 2-loss LSU, 2-loss Florida, 2-loss A&M. Absurd and mind-melting, right? Nah.
Here's how we get there.
- Ohio State beats Michigan State
- Michigan beats Ohio State
- Michigan beats Iowa in B1G Championship
- Notre Dame beats Stanford
- Stanford beats Utah in PAC-12 Championship
- LSU beats Alabama
- Ole Miss beats LSU
- Ole Miss beats Texas A&M
- Texas A&M beats LSU
- Florida beats Florida State
- Ole Miss beats Florida in SEC Championship
- Florida State beats Clemson
NOBODY AINT PLAYED NOBODY THE YELLING OH GOD EVERYTHING HURTS. Wanna get even weirder? THROW IN THAT UNDEFEATED AAC CHAMPION BABY YEAH THAT'S THE STUFF. Will this happen? Probably not, because it's all built on the idea that Baylor is the best team in the land and Ole Miss can salvage their season. But pleeeeeeease let it happen. I want to see the entire collective football universe combust when Notre Dame is selected as the fourth team in this scenario.
What happens with the rest of the B1G in CHAOS SCENARIO? We have answers.
Rose Bowl: IOWA (12-1) v. Stanford (10-2)
Peach Bowl: OHIO STATE (11-1) v. Alabama (10-2)
Citrus: MICHIGAN STATE (11-1) v. Florida (10-2)
Outback: WISCONSIN (10-2) v. Georgia (9-3)
Pinstripe: PENN STATE (7-5) v. Pitt (8-4)
Holiday: NORTHWESTERN (8-4) v. Arizona (8-4)
Foster Farms: INDIANA (6-6) v. Cal (8-4)
Music City: ILLINOIS (6-6) v. Missouri (7-5)
CHAOS SCENARIO or not, the Big Ten West is weeeeeeird, man. It's totally conceivable that Nebraska, Minnesota, and Illinois all cannibalize each other to the tune of 5-7. I might be buying Wisconsin more than others, but save a couple of Purdue matchups and a Nebraska trip to Rutgers, there are no 'should win' games out there left for any of these three teams. Even if the Huskers manage to beat both the Boilers and Knights, they'll need to pick off Northwestern, Michigan State, or Iowa to get to 6 wins. That's a tall task for a team with a losing record heading into week 8.
What does that mean for the Hoosiers? If you can keep the wheels on the bus over the next three weeks and break what could be a six-game losing streak with wins over Maryland and Purdue, you might end up in a better bowl game than expected -- just because of the West's balance from top to bottom. The prize? Maybe a trip to Santa Clara to take on Cal and give up roughly 69,069 points in sixty minutes. Nice.
There's still hope for this Indiana football team, y'all.
I'm gonna go sit on the shower floor again.