Bowl projections: Stanford moves into Playoff spot as Clemson falls back
Stanford was the big winner in the latest Paste BN Sports bowl projections even though the Cardinal didn't take the field last weekend.
A struggling effort by Clemson against Troy pushed the Tigers out of the College Football Playoff. Their spot was taken by Stanford, which was idle before a tough run of consecutive Pac-12 games against USC, UCLA and Washington this week.
Even if the Cardinal should stumble in one of those contests, they'll still have a chance to move back into contention. Road wins against Notre Dame and Oregon and a possible conference title game would make them an attractive one-loss team in a year where most champions will have a least one blemish to their record.
Some conferences may not fulfill their bowl allotment. Asterisks denote a replacement pick. Bold indicates teams that have accepted berths.