Bowl Projections Update: Experts Are All Over The Place With MSU, UM
We are slowly creeping closer and closer to the bowl season and there's still so much up in the air for Michigan and Michigan State. It's fair to say the bowl projection experts have no idea how this season will finish up.
Can Michigan State play themselves into a New Year's Six bid? Will Michigan be heading out west to the Holiday Bowl or south to a New Year's Florida bowl? With only three games left in the regular season for both teams, a lot can still change but if both keep winning they'll find themselves in good spots this holiday season.
For now, let's see where the so-called experts have Michigan and Michigan State heading this holiday season.
Michigan – San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl vs. Arizona and Foster Farms Bowl vs. Stanford
Michigan State – Outback Bowl vs. Mississippi State and Outback Bowl vs. Mississippi State
Michigan – New Era Pinstripe Bowl vs. Boston College
Michigan State – San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl vs.Washington State
Michigan – San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl vs. Arizona
Michigan State – Outback Bowl vs. Auburn
Michigan – San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl vs. Stanford
Michigan State – Citrus Bowl vs. Auburn
Michigan – Outback Bowl vs. LSU
Michigan State – Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic vs. TCU
To see how these bowl projections compare to last week, click here.
Since Michigan State got the big win this past week, I'll start with breaking down their latest bowl projections, which saw a mix of results compared to last week. Ironically, the Spartans actually may have hurt their bowl stock with the win over Penn State. A few of the projections actually had Michigan State drop a spot because the win over Penn State knocked the Nittany Lions out of a New Year's Six slot. Combine that with Ohio State's embarrassing loss over the weekend and you saw Michigan State slotted behind both the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions in some projections.
Now of course the win was good news for Michigan State in the long run, and ultimately should result in at least a bid to one of the Florida New Year's bowl games. If the Spartans somehow pull the upset in Columbus this week, Michigan State will be looking good for one of the New Year's Six games.
For Michigan, they too saw little bit of the ripple effect from both Ohio State and Penn State losing. Most notably was in CBS Sports projection that now has the Wolverines in the Pinstripe Bowl. Overall, we did see more of a pattern with Michigan as the Holiday Bowl remains the popular choice. If everything goes as planned and the Wolverines finish 8-4, odds are they'll be in the Holiday Bowl in late December.