Bowl projections: Two unlikely newcomers join College Football Playoff

The college football season enters its final week of September, and the constant narrative around the postseason picture is change. This week’s College Football Playoff projections see two unlikely newcomers added to the field as the first full week of conference play started to sort out pretenders and contenders.

One of the weekend’s surprise results, however, was a non-conference game that saw James Madison post 70 points in an impressive win at North Carolina. The Dukes again look to be one of the top teams in the Sun Belt after winning their first 10 games last season. Couple that with a loss by previous Group of Five representative Memphis and they look to be in poll position for the fifth berth to a league champion in coach Bob Chesney’s first year at the school.

Also joining the field is Iowa State. The Cyclones have won their first three games, including a road win at Iowa, and benefit from Kansas State’s shocking road loss at Brigham Young that knocks the Wildcats out of the picture. Iowa State’s schedule looks manageable with its only two games against teams in the Top 25 coming in November.

Note: Legacy Pac-12 schools in other conferences will fulfill existing Pac-12 bowl agreements through the 2025 season.