Post-Week 5 BCS Bowl Projections

College football Week 4 is in the books and the BCS bowl projections have been duly updated. TheSportsNotebook’s college football coverage has gone deeper into eleven games from this past Saturday that are worthy of the attention of BCS bowl game trackers, and now it’s time to see how the field shakes out and what matchups that creates.

There is one change from last week and that’s the at-large bid out of the SEC. I had South Carolina in this spot, pegging them for 11-1. Even if they were kept out of the conference championship game thanks to the loss to Georgia, that’s the same formula that worked for Florida last year. Bowl people like fan bases that have not yet traveled, and that aren’t feeling dispirited by December title game loss.

That’s why, even though I am quite convinced Georgia is the second-best team in the SEC, I had hesitancy about putting them in the field of ten, presuming–as I currently am–a loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. If Georgia enters that game 12-0 they’ll be fine to still pick up an at-large, but that’s pretty demanding. (Late Editor’s Note: Even more demanding, given they lost to Clemson 38-35. Brain lock alert).

For now, I am overlooking my concerns and giving Georgia this spot. For one, the win over LSU makes the 12-0 regular season very viable. For another, there’s no one else I really like. I’m concerned about South Carolina, I don’t like Texas A&M’s defense, LSU hurt itself with the loss to the Bulldogs, and while I’ve got an eye on Ole Miss, that’s still a pretty big leap for this team.

THE FIELD OF TEN
SEC: Alabama
Pac-12: Stanford
Big 12: Oklahoma
Big Ten: Ohio State
ACC: Clemson
American Athletic (old Big East): Louisville
At-Larges (4): Georgia, Oregon, Wisconsin, Florida State

THE MATCHUPS
BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: Alabama-Stanford
Sugar: Georgia-Florida State
Orange: Clemson-Louisville
Fiesta: Oklahoma-Wisconsin
Rose: Ohio State-Oregon