Bowl projections: Arizona, ASU likely playing for Sun Bowl bid

Saturday’s winner will likely go to the Sun Bowl. The loser will likely head to Las Vegas.

The Arizona Wildcats have lost two of their last three games and their postseason fate is becoming clearer and clearer as only one regular season game against the Arizona State Sun Devils remains on their schedule.

Bowl projections in the past have put the Wildcats in the Holiday Bowl, Foster Farms Bowl, and Alamo Bowl among others, but now nearly every major outlet believes 7-4 Arizona is headed for the Sun Bowl in El Paso.

Here are the latest projections:

Foster Farms Bowl (Dec. 27, Santa Clara, CA)

• Sporting News (vs. Purdue)

USC, Washington, Washington State, and Stanford are likely to earn the top four spots in the Pac-12 bowl pecking order, so it seems unlikely Arizona will be sent to Santa Clara.

Sun Bowl (Dec. 29, El Paso, TX)

• Sports Illustrated (vs. Louisville)
• ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura (vs. Boston College)
• ESPN’s David Hale (vs. Louisville)
• SB Nation (vs. Wake Forest)
• NBC Sports (vs. Louisville)
• Bleacher Report (vs. Boston College)

The idea of playing Wake Forest or Boston College in El Paso does not sound that appealing, but facing the Louisville Cardinals would definitely be a game that would not only be fun, but surely garner national attention because of the talent that quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Khalil Tate bring to the table.

That said, if Arizona loses to ASU on Saturday, the Sun Devils would finisher high in the Pac-12 South than the Wildcats, which means UA would likely be pushed down to the Las Vegas Bowl.

Pac-12 bowl tie-ins

1. New Year’s Six
2. Alamo Bowl vs. Big 12
3. Holiday Bowl vs. Big Ten
4. Foster Farms Bowl vs. Big Ten
5. Sun Bowl vs. ACC/Notre Dame
6. Las Vegas Bowl vs. Mountain West
7. Cactus Bowl vs. Big 12

(Note: The Rose Bowl is a CFP Semifinal game this season so the Pac-12 champion is not automatically eligible for a spot in the game.)

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