CBS Sports switched up its bowl projections after Florida's Week 1 win over FAU.
Brad Crawford now has the Gators facing NC State in the Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. ET. That is a change from the preseason projection, which had Florida matched with Duke in the Gasparilla Bowl. Crawford’s updated board instead sends Auburn to the Gasparilla Bowl against South Florida.
The curious part about the prediction involves the conference tie-ins. Florida meets the SEC requirement, but the Birmingham Bowl's marquee billing is SEC vs. American. Due to a conditional tie-in, where the AAC does not produce enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all guaranteed slots, the ACC holds a second-tier bowl tie-in.
Crawford kept Miami as his projected No. 1 seed,
while Georgia is projected as the SEC champion and No. 2 seed. LSU, meanwhile, moved into the projected playoff field as a No. 9 seed after its 51-10 win over Clemson.
Florida is still a long way from knowing where — or whether — it will play in the postseason, but the early projection gives the Gators a different landing spot after just one week. With Campbell up next and SEC play beginning at Auburn on Sept. 19, the picture should start becoming more meaningful soon.
CBS Sports Week 1 bowl projection
- Bowl: Birmingham Bowl
- Opponent: NC State
- Date: Dec. 29
- Time: 2 p.m. ET
- Location: Birmingham, Alabama
- Conference matchup: SEC vs. American
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: CBS Sports changes Florida bowl projection after Week 1 win
