New 2014 bowl projections and College Football Playoff picks, with Mississippi all over

Week 7 wasn’t as cataclysmic as Week 6, but the results of a few big games still reshape the College Football Playoff picture. Mississippi is running amuck, and there’s nothing you or I can do about it. Here are some new picks that might be slightly closer to the actual thing! Let’s wait and see!

Last week’s, for reference.

Florida State remains the only easy choice. Get past Notre Dame, and then it’s largely a question of beating Louisville and the ACC Coastal champion. This season seems likely to include just one or two unbeaten teams, tops, and FSU is the likeliest power-conference choice.

Ole Miss gets No. 2 after beating Texas A&M, one of the two teams I had the Rebels penciled in as losing to, and doing so with authority. A 12-1 Ole Miss would be talked about for No. 1 over even an unbeaten ACC champ.

Baylor enters, despite giving up 58 points to TCU in a three-point win. Oklahoma nearly sticks around, due to having a friendlier schedule down the stretch and getting the Bears in Norman. But look again at that TCU-Baylor box score. Baylor outgained the Frogs by 297 yards, giving up three turnovers and a kick return touchdown. Those are rare things. Who else on Baylor’s schedule will get two interceptions out of Bryce Petty?

Next is Mississippi State. The rest of the way, MSU has tough road games at Alabama and Ole Miss. But it also has four games in which it will be a heavy favorite. Split those two road games and win the SEC Championship, and we’d all yell for a week about whether the Bulldogs should steal the No. 1 seed. But all Bully likely needs to make it in, if this year’s mayhem continues? Ten wins, not 12.

Two Mississippi teams in. I know. It’s weird.

Also considered: Oregon, whose offensive line healed up and contributed to a Playoff elimination of UCLA. Still nervous about that line against the Stanford and Utah defenses back to back, though. And Auburn, Georgia, Michigan State, and Oklahoma.

Oklahoma falls down to swap with Baylor, and Georgia jumps up to take Alabama’s spot (though Alabama’s still pegged for 10 wins here).

The Orange Bowl remains the easy one. It’s contactually bound to the ACC’s No. 2 team, assuming FSU makes the Playoff. While Clemson’s injury situation is suddenly scary, the Tigers are still a solid choice for nine wins. Let’s monitor Duke, Louisville, and Virginia Tech. The other side is also contractually bound, and while I think an SEC team finishes ahead of Notre Dame, Clemson fans are probably sick of Auburn and Georgia, and vice versa. So let’s do something a little more fun, because we can.

We learned this week from a media mock Playoff exercise that the committee will sort the remaining three bowls in favor of good matchups, and not just geography. If that was known before, I’d missed it. That frees us up to send Auburn out west for an offense-friendly 2011 BCS Championship rematch.

One non-power-conference team is guaranteed a spot, and ECU remains, though it’s looking shaky. Keep an eye on Colorado State.

As always, conference standings don’t necessarily matter. Bowl matchups are all about money.

* Taking another conference’s unfilled spot.

Leaving us this week: Arkansas (yes, I had the Hogs down for a win against Alabama), NC State, Nevada, North Carolina (not due to giving Notre Dame a fight, but due to generally being not good), and UTSA.

Joining us this week: Air Force, Boston College, and [mumbles] Florida [mumbles], with room finally for Rice and Washington.

The biggest in-conference change: Bowling Green now tops the MAC after a blowout win at Ohio.

Thing you’ll be maddest about: I don’t think Kentucky’s in yet.

The saddest result: a pretty good Central Michigan team, on course for something like an 8-4 record, has no landing spot. Thinking a six- or seven-win Akron takes the MAC’s last bowl bid, due to the first-year Camelia Bowl needing to make a splash -- by bringing in Zips coach Terry Bowden, formerly a national coach of the year at nearby Auburn.