[CardinalSagehen]

With WSU at #13 in the latest CFP rankings, the only obvious scenario where they move up without being caught by others is if Memphis were to upset UCF and Oklahoma were to beat Texas. Short of that, unlikely, Stanford gets bumped down a notch in the bowl pecking order and it's even likelier they face Utah St or Fresno St. Or am I wrong. I was hoping they'd face a Big-10 or ACC opponent in the Holiday, Redbox or Sun...

Commenting on my own post, apparently Memphis and UCF already played this year to a 31-30 win for UCF. And now UCF is without their star QB. For whatever that's worth. UCF is currently #8 in the CFP standings, Texas #14 (WSU #13).

A few responses:
1) I don't think the UCF/Memphis game matters. The highest-ranked team from the Group of 5 conferences is guaranteed a spot in the NY6.  So it's either UCF or the Mountain West champ (Boise or Fresno).
2) Oklahoma/Texas may be irrelevant, too. If Oklahoma wins, they're likely to stay ahead of OSU, and Texas will replace them in the Sugar Bowl as the next-best team from the Big 12. If Texas wins, then they'll go to the Sugar, but Oklahoma will probably keep another spot in the NY6.
3) You are right that Wazzu seems to be out of the picture for the NY6 now, regardless of the outcomes of this weekend's games. However, I don't think this has much bearing on our bowl destination.  

The main thing that Wazzu's ranking does to us is practically guarantee that we are NOT going to the Holiday Bowl.  The Alamo will now take Wazzu, and the Holiday will take Utah (or possibly Oregon if Utah gets creamed in the CCG).  Exactly none of the 7 bowl projections that I saw had us going to the Holiday before the latest rankings, and now they certainly won't because Utah is in the mix. So it would be a big surprise if the Holiday took us. 

However, we are still a good bet for the Redbox (vs. Iowa or Wisconsin) if we beat Cal, because the Redbox will probably prefer us over Oregon and/or they will play nicely with the Sun Bowl, which had us just two years ago.  And if we lose to Cal, ironically, we would face a better and higher-ranked opponent in Boise St. or Fresno St. in the Las Vegas Bowl.  But I'm pulling for the Redbox, obviously. 

I always wanted us to get to Levi's Stadium this year, but not exactly in this way...

[CardinalSagehen]

With WSU at #13 in the latest CFP rankings, the only obvious scenario where they move up without being caught by others is if Memphis were to upset UCF and Oklahoma were to beat Texas. Short of that, unlikely, Stanford gets bumped down a notch in the bowl pecking order and it's even likelier they face Utah St or Fresno St. Or am I wrong. I was hoping they'd face a Big-10 or ACC opponent in the Holiday, Redbox or Sun...

Commenting on my own post, apparently Memphis and UCF already played this year to a 31-30 win for UCF. And now UCF is without their star QB. For whatever that's worth. UCF is currently #8 in the CFP standings, Texas #14 (WSU #13).

A few responses:
1) I don't think the UCF/Memphis game matters. The highest-ranked team from the Group of 5 conferences is guaranteed a spot in the NY6.  So it's either UCF or the Mountain West champ (Boise or Fresno).
2) Oklahoma/Texas may be irrelevant, too. If Oklahoma wins, they're likely to stay ahead of OSU, and Texas will replace them in the Sugar Bowl as the next-best team from the Big 12. If Texas wins, then they'll go to the Sugar, but Oklahoma will probably keep another spot in the NY6.
3) You are right that Wazzu seems to be out of the picture for the NY6 now, regardless of the outcomes of this weekend's games. However, I don't think this has much bearing on our bowl destination.  

The main thing that Wazzu's ranking does to us is practically guarantee that we are NOT going to the Holiday Bowl.  The Alamo will now take Wazzu, and the Holiday will take Utah (or possibly Oregon if Utah gets creamed in the CCG).  Exactly none of the 7 bowl projections that I saw had us going to the Holiday before the latest rankings, and now they certainly won't because Utah is in the mix. So it would be a big surprise if the Holiday took us. 

However, we are still a good bet for the Redbox (vs. Iowa or Wisconsin) if we beat Cal, because the Redbox will probably prefer us over Oregon and/or they will play nicely with the Sun Bowl, which had us just two years ago.  And if we lose to Cal, ironically, we would face a better and higher-ranked opponent in Boise St. or Fresno St. in the Las Vegas Bowl.  But I'm pulling for the Redbox, obviously. 

I always wanted us to get to Levi's Stadium this year, but not exactly in this way...