It is Championship Week in college football, which means Bowl Season is right around the corner. The Valero Alamo Bowl will announce this year’s match-up on Sunday, December 7, after the College Football Playoff bowls have been announced.
With the new College Football Playoff in place the Valero Alamo Bowl will now feature the top teams from the Big 12 and Pac-12 conferences outside of the CFP structure. Currently there are at least eight ranked Big 12 and Pac-12 schools in all three major polls.
Based on the latest media bowl projections #9 Kansas State and #18 Oklahoma are popular picks from the Big 12 to play in this year’s Valero Alamo Bowl.
Kansas State throttled their in-state rival Kansas last weekend 51-13. In doing so, the Wildcats improved to 9-2 on the year and 7-1 in conference play. The receiving duo of Tyler Lockett and Curry Sexton continue to power K-State as both playmakers combined for 18 catches, 260 yards and three touchdowns against the Jayhawks. Lockett is now the all-time school leader in receiving yards and receptions.
K-State travels to Baylor this weekend with the winner claiming at least a share of the Big 12 title.
Oklahoma, 8-3 overall and 5-3 in conference play, was off this past weekend and will take on in-state rival Oklahoma State this weekend in the annual Bedlam Series. The Sooners have been without starting quarterback Trevor Knight the past two weeks as he nurses a neck injury, however that hasn’t slowed down the Oklahoma offense as freshman running back Samaje Perine set the NCAA record for rushing yards in a game against Kansas with 427 yards.
From the Pac-12, #8 Arizona, #16 UCLA and #17 Arizona State all are currently projected to play in the Valero Alamo Bowl by various media outlets.
Arizona claimed their first Pac-12 South division title by beating Arizona State last weekend and will take on #3 Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship game on Friday night. The victory over the Sun Devils marked just the third time in school history that Arizona has won 10 or more games and was their first win over their in-state rival since 2011.
UCLA fell to Stanford last weekend and now sits at 9-3 on the year. Before the loss, the Bruins were one of the hottest teams in the country and had won five straight games including wins over Arizona and USC.
Arizona State lost to in-state rival Arizona last weekend, and like UCLA, are now 9-3 overall and 6-3 in conference play. The Sun Devils feature one of the nation’s most dangerous trio of offensive weapons in quarterback Taylor Kelly, wide receiver Jaelen Strong and running back D.J. Foster.
Media Projections
Jerry Palm (CBS Sports): #9 Kansas State vs #17 Arizona State
Bill Bender (Sporting News): #9 Kansas State vs #16 UCLA
Phil Steele: #9 Kansas State vs #16 UCLA
USA Today: #18 Oklahoma vs #17 Arizona State
Jason Kirk (SB Nation): #18 Oklahoma vs #16 UCLA
Brett McMurphy (ESPN): #9 Kansas State vs #8 Arizona
Mark Schlabach (ESPN): #9 Kansas State vs #16 Arizona State
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Valero Alamo Bowl Travel Plans
Each week the Valero Alamo Bowl sends representatives to various Big 12 and Pac-12 games to scout teams that could potentially play in this year’s game. This week’s games are:
Pac-12
Pac-12 Championship Game: #3 Oregon vs #8 Arizona
Big 12
Iowa State @ #4 TCU
Oklahoma State @ #18 Oklahoma
#9 Kansas State @ #5 Baylor