SB Nation's Bill Connelly released his latest bowl projections and unfortunately, neither of the local teams are involved. Though Boston College was able to knock off N.C. State at home in the O'Brien Bowl, wins in their final two games would leave them at five wins, one shy of bowl eligibility. Meanwhile, UConn had a bye week, but can become bowl eligible by winning two of its final three games.
Though Boston College won't make the postseason the vanquished Wolfpack is predicted to play Louisville in the BBVA Compass Bowl. This is something of a bold prediction as two of N.C. State's five wins have come against Football Championship Subdivision opposition, meaning the Wolfpack would have to beat both Clemson and Maryland in its final two games to be bowl eligible. Connelly picked the Clemson Tigers, who clinched the ACC Atlantic Division title Saturday with a win over Wake Forest, to prevail in the ACC title game and take on Cincinnati in the Discover Orange Bowl. Likely Coastal Division champs Virginia Tech are predicted to meet Florida in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Connelly has Florida State headed to the Champs Sports Bowl to play Notre Dame, Wake Forest to the Military Bowl for a date with Navy, North Carolina facing West Virginia in the Belk Bowl and Virginia taking on Arizona State in the Sun Bowl.
Aside from the aforementioned Cincinnati, Wake Forest and Louisville, the Big East is also expected to send Rutgers, South Florida and Pittsburgh to the postseason. Rutgers is projected to play Texas Tech in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium, Pittsburgh to the Beef O'Brady Bowl to take on ECU and South Florida to the Independence Bowl to play Wyoming.
Connelly's projections for the BCS bowls are as follows:
BCS National Championship Game (1/9/2012): LSU vs. Oklahoma State
Rose Bowl (1/2/2012): Oregon vs. Wisconsin
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (1/2/2012): Oklahoma vs. Houston
Allstate Sugar Bowl (1/3/2012): Alabama vs. Stanford
Discover Orange Bowl (1/4/2012): Clemson vs. Cincinnati