SEATTLE — Reaching a bowl game was never in question. Where the Washington Huskies will land, at least for another week, remains a little bit of a mystery.
UW (10-2, 7-2 Pac-12) has a good chance of landing in either the Alamo Bowl or the Holiday Bowl. The Pac-12 has tie-ins with both. The No. 2 team in the conference goes to San Antonio and faces an opponent from the Big 12. Meanwhile, the No. 3 team heads to San Diego with a battle against a Big Ten program.
Everything hinges on what happens in the Pac-12 Championship Game. If Southern California wins, the Huskies head to San Antonio. But should Stanford win, UW is bound for San Diego instead.
Both bowl games will have 6 p.m. PST kickoffs on Dec. 28. The Alamo Bowl is on ESPN while the Holiday Bowl is on FOX Sports 1.
Most college football experts are projecting UW will reach the Alamo Bowl and will face Oklahoma State (9-3). Sports Illustrated, however, suggests UW will face Northwestern in the Holiday Bowl.
There’s also been some discussion about the Huskies potentially sneaking into a coveted New Year’s Six bowl game.
UW’s path to a New Year’s Six becomes a little clearer after the latest College Football Playoff rankings are released Tuesday. The Huskies are 13th in The Associated Press Poll and could be in a similar spot in the CFP rankings.
A best case scenario for UW is to be right behind Texas Christian in the CFP. If UW is a spot below TCU and the Horned Frogs lose, it could open the door for the Huskies to make a New Year’s Six.
Right now, CBS projects Clemson, Georgia, Oklahoma and Wisconsin will reach the CFP semifinal. The Orange Bowl is a tie-in with the ACC playing a Big Ten/Notre Dame/SEC team. CBS calls Alabama vs. Miami for the Orange.
The remaining three bowls — Cotton, Fiesta and Peach — are all at-large bids. CBS has Auburn and Penn State in the Cotton, USC and TCU in the Fiesta with Ohio State and UCF in the Peach.
SI predicts Auburn, Clemson, Oklahoma and Wisconsin as its CFP teams.
It has Alabama-Miami in the Orange, USC-Georgia in the Fiesta, UCF-Ohio State in the Peach and Penn State-TCU in the Cotton.
Bottom line: UW needs to be really close to TCU in the most recent CFP rankings and hope a loss is enough to send the Huskies to a New Year’s Six.
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