Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
We are more than halfway through October, so our projections for the 2016-17 bowl lineup are getting more interesting and less projection-ing.The bowl selection process has changed in the past three years, with the advent of the College Football Playoff and New Year's Six bowls, and conferences now have a greater say in the bowl pecking order than they did before.The top four teams go to the Playoff, regardless of conference, and the remaining New Year's Six bowls are filled out with conference tie-ins and at-large bids. All bowls have conference tie-ins, but those are broken when conferences can't fill all of their slots. Here's a good look at the tie-in and selection process. Teams have to be at least 6-6 to make a bowl, but if there aren't enough 6-6 teams to fill all of the slots, 5-7 teams are selected based on their Academic Progress Rate.The projected Playoff gets a shake-up this week, with Michigan replacing Ohio State as one of the top four. Other intriguing matchups: Baylor vs. Boise State, Louisville vs. Wisconsin, Iowa vs. Wisconsin (BERT BOWL), Florida State vs. Tennessee, and, incredibly, Washington State in the Rose Bowl and Idaho bowling.
