College football bowl projections, playoff predictions: Texas A&M stumbles, Big Ten rises in Week 11 update

Texas A&M is no longer the SEC's top threat in the College Football Playoff race following Saturday night's shocking 44-20 loss at South Carolina, which takes the Aggies out of the Week 11 updated bowl projections for the expanded playoff. Now in a multi-team tie for first with Texas and others, Mike Elko's team must win out to give its a chance and will not be inside the top 10 of Tuesday's first playoff rankings.

Clemson's another team whose season took a dreadful turn after a home loss to Louisville. The Tigers will likely miss the playoff now since they're a game back of league-leading Miami and SMU in the ACC. USC fell out of this week's bowl projections after a loss to Washington, the Trojans' fifth setback in seven games against Big Ten competition this fall. It's a massive letdown for Lincoln Riley, who's in line for another disappointing campaign in Los Angeles despite being ranked inside the preseason top 20.

A couple notes about the playoff sites and the start of bowl season next month: Due existing bowl deals, the SEC champion will automatically play its first playoff game (in the quarterfinals) at the Sugar Bowl, while the Big Ten champion goes to the Rose Bowl. The ACC champ will play in the Peach Bowl and the Big 12 champion heads to the Fiesta. Legacy Pac-12 schools will be slotted to bowl games with existing Pac-12 agreements.

RELATED: Updated FPI Top 25 rankings revealed after Week 10 stunners

Here are the latest playoff and bowl projections entering Week 11:

Birmingham Bowl

Projection: Georgia Tech vs. Memphis

Needing one more win to reach bowl eligibility, the Yellow Jackets have to get it against NC State unless they upset Miami or Georgia. Memphis is still at the top of the AAC Championship picture with a huge Thursday night game against Tulane in a couple of weeks.

Frisco Bowl

Projection: ULM vs. Central Michigan

Camellia Bowl

Projection: JMU vs. Ohio

Boca Raton Bowl

Projection: Coastal Carolina vs. Buffalo

Las Vegas Bowl

Projection: Missouri vs. Utah

Even if the Tigers win out and finish 10-2, two top-20 teams blew them out, and their best win would be Vanderbilt. Road setbacks against Texas A&M and Alabama are tough to overlook for Eli Drinkwitz's squad. Utah, the preseason favorite to win the Big 12, hasn't won a conference game yet this season and has to beat UCF along with one of three top 25 opponents it faces down the stretch to get to six wins.

Los Angeles Bowl

Projection: Washington vs. UNLV

New Orleans Bowl

Projection: Texas State vs. WKU

Cure Bowl

Projection: Arkansas State vs. UConn

Gator Bowl

Projection: Clemson vs. Ole Miss

Ole Miss is one of several multi-loss SEC teams jockeying for position coming out of Week 11 in need of another momentous win next week against Georgia to stay alive in the playoff picture. Clemson's unexpected loss to Louisville at home removes the Tigers from previously being slotted at No. 3 in the playoff projection to outside of the top 12. Brutal.

Gasparilla Bowl

Projection: USF vs. NC State

Myrtle Beach Bowl

Projection: Georgia Southern vs. Miami (Ohio)

Potato Bowl

Projection: Colorado State vs. Toledo

Guaranteed Rate Bowl

Projection: Wisconsin vs. TCU

The Badgers and Horned Frogs are both 5-4 overall after Week 10, meaning each team needs another win this month to reach the postseason. We think both are going to get it, too. The Badgers host unbeaten Oregon on Nov. 16 which is not favorable, but finish with Nebraska and Minnesota. TCU gets the bottom of the barrel of the Big 12 against Oklahoma State, Arizona and Cincinnati.

Hawaii Bowl

Projection: Liberty vs. San Jose State

GameAbove Sports Bowl

Projection: Western Michigan vs. Michigan State

Liberty Bowl

Projection: Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt

The Commodores are bowl eligible after slamming the door on Auburn on the Plains, 17-7. Vanderbilt should jump back into the top 25 and could be playing for one of the SEC's top-tier non-playoff postseason games if this keeps up. Clark Lea's team hosts red-hot South Carolina next week in what surprisingly could be a showdown of ranked teams. The Commodores relish the underdog role.

68 Ventures Bowl

Projection: Louisiana Lafayette vs. Bowling Green

Armed Forces Bowl

Projection: Baylor vs. North Texas

Pinstripe Bowl

Projection: Syracuse vs. Nebraska

After consecutive losses to Indiana and Ohio State and now a surprising setback to UCLA, the Huskers still need one more win to become bowl-eligible following Saturday's stunning loss Syracuse has enjoyed a strong season under first-year coach Fran Brown, but quarterback Kyle McCord would like to have a do-over after his five-interception game at Pitt recently. Other than that outing, McCord's been a strong addition for the Orange.

Arizona Bowl

Projection: Fresno State vs. Northern Illinois

Fenway Bowl

Projection: Virginia Tech vs. Navy

New Mexico Bowl

Projection: San Diego State vs. Marshall

Holiday Bowl

Projection: Colorado vs. Duke

If not for Kalani Sitake's success at BYU, Deion Sanders would be the Big 12's favorite to win coach of the year based on what he's done with the Buffaloes. Last week's win over Cincinnati clinched a postseason berth for Colorado, which finished 4-8 last fall amid a Year 1 tailspin for Sanders. Not this time, however. Colorado could really making things interesting down the stretch in conference play.

Military Bowl

Projection: UNC vs. Tulane

Independence Bowl

Projection: Army vs. Oregon State

Army's 8-0 following Saturday's win over Air Force, but the Black Knights will have to beat Notre Dame in a couple of weeks and win the AAC to reach the playoff as the highest-rated Group of Five program. That might not even be enough if Boise State has 12 wins, with its only loss being at Oregon. Best-case scenario for the selection committee would be for Army to make it easy and take the conference title as an unblemished team.

Sun Bowl

Projection: Arizona State vs. Louisville

ReliaQuest Bowl

Projection: Illinois vs. LSU

Unless the Tigers win out, they're not going to the playoff with multiple losses, so it looks like a Central Florida-based postseason game might be the best there is for Brian Kelly's team. They'll host Alabama next week in one of Week 11's most important showdowns within the SEC.

Alamo Bowl

Projection: Kansas State vs. Washington State

Texas Bowl

Projection: Texas Tech vs. Arkansas

Mayo Bowl

Projection: Minnesota vs. Pittsburgh

Music City Bowl

Projection: Michigan vs. South Carolina

There were representatives from the Citrus and Gator Bowl at Williams Brice Stadium for Saturday night's win over Texas A&M, which means the Gamecocks could move up in the SEC's bowl pecking order if this streak continues next week at Vanderbilt. Shane Beamer's team has posted consecutive impressive wins and can get to bowl eligibility with a victory over the Commodores.

Pop-Tarts Bowl

Projection: SMU vs. Iowa State

Citrus Bowl

Projection: Iowa vs. Texas A&M

The Aggies are out of the playoff projection after losing their first game in SEC play and now must win out to remain in the mix with two losses. That would include a home victory over a Texas in a few weeks, which no longer looks as advantageous as it once did. The Citrus Bowl gets its pick of Big Ten teams after the playoff is announced and Iowa should finish with nine wins.

First Responder Bowl

Projection: Rutgers vs. West Virginia

Bahamas Bowl

Projection: Sam Houston vs. Eastern Michigan

No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Texas

No. 11 Alabama at No. 6 Ohio State

No. 10 Tennessee at No. 7 Notre Dame

No. 9 Indiana at No. 8 Penn State

The door is open in the SEC for Alabama and Tennessee following Texas A&M's stunning loss at South Carolina. Alabama, despite two losses, is projected in should the Crimson Tide win out and the Vols could reach the SEC Championship Game if they topple Georgia. Indiana's hopes heightened with the win at Michigan State and quarterback Kurtis Rourke's return is a great sign.

No. 5 Texas vs. No. 4 Miami (Peach Bowl)

No. 6 Ohio State vs. No. 3 BYU (Fiesta Bowl)

No. 10 Tennessee vs. No. 2 Georgia (Sugar Bowl)

No. 9 Indiana vs. No. 1 Oregon (Rose Bowl)

Unless SMU beats Miami in the ACC Championship Game, should those teams keep it up, it looks like that's going to be a one-bid league with the Hurricanes entering the playoff as one of three unbeatens, joining top-ranked Oregon and No. 3 BYU. Per our latest projection, Miami would face fifth-seeded Texas in the second round while the Cougars would battle Ohio State — difficult matchups for the respective conference champions.

No. 6 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Georgia (Orange Bowl)

No. 5 Texas vs. No. 1 Oregon (Cotton Bowl)

Are these the four best teams in college football coming down the stretch? They're certainly the most-talented quartet. When there's a multi-team playoff, the best rise to the top and it would make sense that the Big Ten and SEC are the two left standing. It would would only be fitting for the national champion to emerge from one of them.