Oklahoma State Vs. Oklahoma: The De Facto Big 12 Championship Game Will Be Full Of Bedlam

The Oklahoma Sooners and the Oklahoma State Cowboys will square off in the annual game of 'Bedlam' with the Big 12 Championship and a BCS bowl berth also at stake.

Bowl Projections: Oklahoma State To Alamo, Nebraska To Insight, Mizzou To Holiday

2010 Bowl projections are coming down to the wire which means the predictions are a little easier. There are a few Big 12 teams whose future bowl games are still up in the air. The Oklahoma Sooners will be going to a BCS Bowl after beating the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Big 12 Championship game on Saturday night. The Texas A&M Aggies have already accepted an invite to the Cotton Bowl.

That leaves three teams and three Big 12 affiliated Bowls.

Alamo Bowl: This is expected to go to the Oklahoma State Cowboys and not the Huskers, who lost to the Sooners this week. OSU can fill that stadium and, unfortunately, things like attendance still matter in NCAA. This looks like it'll be Washington or Arizona in this game.

Insight Bowl: Assuming Nebraska isn't in the Alamo Bowl, they'll go here. It'll possibly be a preview of what's to come with Nebraska, whose headed to the Big Ten next year, against possibly Iowa.

Holiday Bowl: This looks like where we'll see Mizzou. The perception that Mizzou fans don't travel well knocks them down a little bit but they could be playing Arizona or Washington.

This looks like the way it'll be going down this evening when the BCS bowls are announced.

Bowl Projections: Nebraska Vs. Oklahoma Will Clear Many Big 12 Questions

We're going through various bowl projections this week figuring out where the Missouri Tigers, Oklahoma State Cowboys and other Big 12 teams could land when bowl selections are made. Basically, it's a guessing game until the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Oklahoma Sooners play Saturday evening in the Big 12 Championship game.

A Nebraska win can dramatically change things and an Oklahoma win can dramatically change things. But, after the game, it's the Alamo Bowl that will get first crack at the Big 12 Championship loser, which will get the ball rolling. Via Columbia Tribune:

"The ball bounces over to the Alamo’s court," said Andy Bagnato, spokesman for the Fiesta and Insight. "Clearly that game Saturday is a big game for everybody involved, not just for the Fiesta but all the bowls down the pecking order, because it’ll bring some clarity to where everybody’s going."

Following the Cotton Bowl, who has picked Texas A&M, we'll hear from the Alamo Bowl, Insight Bowl and Holiday Bowl.

The Alamo Bowl could be looking at the loser of Saturday night's Big 12 Championship game, which would be Nebraska or Oklahoma. But it's also possible they don' take one of those teams. Consider this: Oklahoma and Washington win today. Nebraska would be the Big 12 loser and they would potentially be matched up with Washington in the Alamo Bowl. The problem? The Huskers already beat up on Washington earlier this in a 35-point victory. So in this scenario the Alamo Bowl goes with Oklahoma State.

The Insight Bowl is next in line. You've got Nebraska or Mizzou. Kansas City area folks wouldn't have a problem making that decision -- they'd take Mizzou. The problem? Everyone else would probably take Nebraska as a Big Ten preview of sorts. So you can chalk the Huskers up to the Insight Bowl if it comes down to those two teams.

Which leaves....the Holiday Bowl.

Bowl Projections: Notre Dame In Holiday Bowl? Yes Please, Mizzou Fans Say

The Missouri Tigers could be playing the Notre Dame Irish in the Holiday Bowl, according to various bowl projections. We've got no official word from anyone on that except...Mizzou fans. A poll conducted at the Columbia Tribune is asking Mizzou fans where they would like to see the Tigers play.

Here are the results: The Insight Bowl against Iowa (7-5) is at 28 percent, Insight Bowl against Michigan (7-5) is at 22 percent, Holiday Bowl against Arizona (7-5) is at 4 percent, Holiday Bowl against Washington (6-6) is at 1 percent, Holiday Bowl against Notre Dame (7-5) is at 44 percent and the Holiday Bowl against Louisville (6-6) is at 0 percent.

I think the best matchup, given the circumstances, would be Notre Dame. Since they beat USC last week, that's pretty unlikely but an Irish game brings more media and more attention. Hopefully, if that was the case, people would be bringing up the question of why Mizzou dropped all the way to the Holiday Bowl when they went 10-2 and beat the No. 1 team in the country at one point. Missouri can win any of those games although Notre Dame would be a test, for sure.

Of course an ND invitation to the Holiday Bowl likely only comes with a Washington loss today sending Arizona to the Alamo Bowl, and leaving the Holiday Bowl looking for someone.

Last week, Holiday Bowl executive director Bruce Binkowski said:

"We’d have to see what is the pool of available teams and make the best decision we could for the bowl."

Mizzou players have said they want to play in warm weather and San Diego would fit that bill. With Notre Dame's victory over USC last week, the more likely scenario at this point has them going to another bowl, perhaps the Champs Sports Bowl.

Bowl Projections: Alamo And Insight Bowl, Big 12 And Mizzou's Attendance Problem

Now that the Texas A&M Aggies has been invited to the 2011 Cotton Bowl, it's time to look into our bowl projections and see where the Missouri Tigers will land. It's always difficult to project some of these bowl games for Mizzou because they have a perceived attendance problem which makes them a less valuable candidate in the eyes of various Bowl committees. Whatever, but that's the case.

So where will the Tigers go now? We're looking at the Alamo Bowl, Insight Bowl and Holiday Bowl.

Alamo Bowl: Does Mizzou fit here? Again, it comes down to the attendance question. They went there in 2008 and didn't do very well with the attendance. An Alamo Bowl rep called it "One of toughest, most challenging years in memory." So that seems unlikely Mizzou would get a shot. They will probably try to snag the loser of the Big 12 Championship game. Nebraska has had a Mizzou-like attendance problem at the Alamo Bowl in the past -- and Oklahoma State hasn't -- so you pick where they'd go with that.

Insight Bowl: Again, it'll come down to attendance and Oklahoma State has killed it here before so, if they've available, I could see them getting the nod over Mizzou. Nebraska, likewise, would likely get the nod over Mizzou if they were available.

This would leave....the Holiday Bowl. It's looking like Mizzou will be considered the fifth best team in the Big 12, which would be disappointing to Missouri fans. There was some outside chance that the Holiday Bowl could pick Notre Dame and Mizzou but with ND beating USC last week that's not going to happen now. Playing Notre Dame would have drawn a little more media attention, which Mizzou likely wouldn't have minded if put in that situation.

I'm an amateur bowl predictor but I'm having trouble finding a way Mizzou goes anywhere but the Holiday Bowl at this point. I'd gladly be wrong if it meant a Bowl upgrade, though.

Bowl Projections: Oklahoma To The BCS As Nebraska Tumbles

2010 Bowl projections are starting to come into focus as the college football season winds down. We've already seen the BCS rankings for this week and the top looks the same. The Big 12 has had an up and down year with Mizzou as a front-runner early in the season after beating then-No. 1 Oklahoma and then later Nebraska moving into the top 10 before losing.

ESPN has a few bowl projections for this season. Here they are:

ESPN's Mark Schlabach has Oklahoma playing Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl which means he thinks the Sooners will top the Nebraska Cornhuskers next week in the Big 12 Championship game. Oklahoma State is playing Alabama in the Cotton Bowl, according to Schlabach, and the Ticket City Bowl will have Northwestern and Texas Tech. Kansas State will face Syracuse in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl while Nebraska will tumble and face Arizona in the Alamo Bowl. Baylor will face the Big Ten's Illinois in the Texas Bowl and Michigan will play Missouri in the Insight Bowl.

ESPN's Andrea Adelson has familiar bowl projections including Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. She sees Texas A&M playing LSU in the Cotton Bowl and, like Schlabach, Texas Tech in the Ticket City Bowl. Missouri will face Washington in the Holiday Bowl while Kansas State meets Syracuse in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. Oklahoma State falls to the Alamo Bowl while Nebraska goes tumbling into the Insight Bowl.

The most interesting one of these comes between Oklahoma and Nebraska. Part of me wants to send Nebraska out on a losing note and part of me thinks Nebraska could do a hell of a job representing the conference. With the way Nebraska has played at times this year, anything less than a BCS bowl would be a disappointment, in my mind. We'll see how it shakes out.