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College Football Bowl Projections Shift After Week 2
Confirmed
In Short: ESPN La Crosse and CBS Sports offer updated projections for the College Football Playoff and bowl games following a wild week of games.
ESPN La Crosse and CBS Sports have released their latest projections for the College Football Playoff and bowl games, reflecting significant changes after a tumultuous Week 2.
According to ESPN La Crosse, the projections now include several new teams, such as Colorado and UMass, and intriguing matchups, including an old Big Eight reunion in the Frisco Bowl.
CBS Sports notes that Ole Miss' impressive win over LSU has pushed the Rebels into the updated College Football Playoff bracket, highlighting the impact of recent games on playoff projections.
Despite concerns about the future of college football's postseason, CBS Sports has confirmed that they will continue to update their projections for every matchup weekly until the season concludes.
The network reached out to several bowl directors this week, but received no comments on the future of college football's postseason, indicating uncertainty around the format and interest in high-end Group of Six teams.
Sports Illustrated's latest bowl projections also reflect notable changes, with several newcomers and intriguing matchups, such as the Frisco Football Classic featuring old FCS foes.
CBS Sports projects 35 traditional bowl games and 11 in the CFP for the 2026 season, with the possibility of pushing games like the Citrus, ReliaQuest, Music City, and Gator Bowl to before the season if playoff growth materializes.
FantasyAlarm is providing MLB picks for August 30, 2026, breaking down projections for Tristan Peters and Steven Kwan, while ESPN La Crosse and CBS Sports focus on college football projections.
The projections highlight the dynamic nature of college football's postseason and the impact of recent games on team rankings and bowl game pairings.
What's confirmed
- ESPN La Crosse and CBS Sports have released their latest projections for the College Football Playoff and bowl games, reflecting significant changes after a tumultuous Week 2.
- According to ESPN La Crosse, the projections now include several new teams, such as Colorado and UMass, and intriguing matchups, including an old Big Eight reunion in the Frisco Bowl.
- CBS Sports notes that Ole Miss' impressive win over LSU has pushed the Rebels into the updated College Football Playoff bracket, highlighting the impact of recent games on playoff projections.
- Despite concerns about the future of college football's postseason, CBS Sports has confirmed that they will continue to update their projections for every matchup weekly until the season concludes.
- The network reached out to several bowl directors this week, but received no comments on the future of college football's postseason, indicating uncertainty around the format and interest in high-end Group of Six teams.
- Sports Illustrated's latest bowl projections also reflect notable changes, with several newcomers and intriguing matchups, such as the Frisco Football Classic featuring old FCS foes.
- CBS Sports projects 35 traditional bowl games and 11 in the CFP for the 2026 season, with the possibility of pushing games like the Citrus, ReliaQuest, Music City, and Gator Bowl to before the season if playoff growth materializes.
- FantasyAlarm is providing MLB picks for August 30, 2026, breaking down projections for Tristan Peters and Steven Kwan, while ESPN La Crosse and CBS Sports focus on college football projections.
- The projections highlight the dynamic nature of college football's postseason and the impact of recent games on team rankings and bowl game pairings.
What's still developing
- Bowl projections: How did big wins and tough losses affect the postseason picture?
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- New policy projections showed 16 of 18 policymakers anticipate at least one more quarter-percentage-point hike by the end of this year, with only two seeing rates remain stable from here.
- The Fed's new policy statement and economic projections, by contrast, show the central bank opening the door to tighter monetary policy through next year, with the policy rate rising to the 4.00%-4.25% range by the end of this year and ending 2027 at the same level.
- In June, the dot plot, the component of the SEP that shows policymakers’ interest rate forecasts, highlighted that policymakers’ projections implied only a 25 bps increase in 2026, followed by a 25 bps rate cut in 2027 and another 25 bps cut in 2028.
- The United States (US) Federal Reserve (Fed) announces its interest rate decision on Wednesday, following another pivotal meeting that could provide key insights into the monetary policy outlook heading into the end of the year.
- Hence, the revised Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s comments in the post-meeting press conference could offer important clues on the rate outlook and drive the US Dollar’s (USD) valuation.
- Even if the dot plot points to a rate hike at the end of the year or a hawkish tilt in next year’s projections, a policy hold at this meeting could cause the Fed to lose its credibility, suggesting that the US central bank might be under political pressure not to tighten policy ahead of the midterm election.
- Reports of bowl season's potential demise earlier in the week had me in my feelings, with writing on the wall largely dependent on college football's future playoff format and Power Four programs no longer being interested in playing high-end Group of Six teams after moving to nine-game conference schedules.
- Danske Bank has made the same change, saying the new projections came as a very hawkish surprise and revealed a reaction function firmly focused on energy prices.