2010 Bowl Projections: Where Will Oregon, Auburn, TCU, Boise State End Up?

Michigan State has to be satisfied with the way this year’s come off, in the end. The Spartans are 10-1, hover in the BCS top ten at No. 10, and have only to get past 7-4 Penn State to cap off a very successful season.

They’re the lowest-ranked team of the three one-loss squads in the Big Ten, true, and did hand BCS No. 7 Wisconsin the Badgers’ one loss, but Sparty’s worst-case scenario in 2010 involves a trip to Florida in January, so that’s nice for them.

At minimum, MSU will play in a New Year’s Day bowl game. If Wisconsin and Ohio State both melt down in their final games, they’ll of course grab the Big Ten’s Rose Bowl slot, but if everybody wins out and things hold steady in the rankings, the Spartans are headed to the Outback Bowl to face an SEC team, and to the Capital One Bowl if they can manage to leap Ohio State in the standings.

For more on Michigan State sports, visit SB Nation’s The Only Colors, and follow the race to Glendale at SB Nation’s BCS Evolution.

Much like TCU, Boise State’s BCS fate is still up in the air, making a bowl projection tricky.

Should Boise State win out, it seems likely to take the third slot in the final BCS rankings, sliding past TCU. If that happens, the Broncos will play in the Rose Bowl, probably meeting Wisconsin.

TCU and Boise State are both in similarly dire straits as far as their bowl projections for this season go, thanks to the BCS selection process.

If TCU wins out, it might be ahead of Boise State in the final BCS rankings. If the Horned Frogs do beat out the Broncos, they will earn the automatic bid for the highest-ranking team from a non-BCS automatic qualifier conference and play in the Rose Bowl, likely lining up against Wisconsin.

Auburn is likely to be the nation’s top-ranked team with two weeks in the next two weeks against Alabama and South Carolina. But it’s the bowl projection the Tigers could end up with a pair of losses that would be really interesting.

The Auburn winning out scenario is easy: the Tigers will be playing for a national title in the BCS National Championship Game, likely against Oregon.

Not much happened to change the national college football landscape in Week 12, thanks largely to off weeks for Oregon, Auburn, and TCU. So the projection for Oregon isn’t much different from last week’s — or last month’s.

If Oregon wins out, the Ducks will play in the BCS National Championship game, likely meeting Auburn for a chance at the school’s first national title.