At Husker Locker, we try to let the bowl picture shake out a bit before we start handing out any predictions on the issues for Nebraska. Now that we've traversed ten games, we continue our weekly Bowl Watch.

Ready? Ready!

Now, remember – when reading through this, please remember two key things that most national pundits almost never do:

1. After the BCS, the slots are merely a guide. The No. 3 Big 12 team doesn't really have to go to the Holiday Bowl, for example. It'll be a cold day in hell before you ever see Florida or Georgia in the Cotton Bowl ever again, as another example. The slots are really meaningless. The bowls try to create games they think people will attend in person and often, the bowls work in concert to make it happen. That's how NU headed to the Gator Bowl last year despite finishing behind Missouri.

2.Teams with the best following get more preferential treatment. This includes Nebraska.

On with the watch, which takes the best game Nebraska could play in – the Fiesta Bowl – and works down to the worst - the Texas Bowl.

BCS Fiesta Bowl
Nebraska must: Win the Big 12 Championship.
Likely opponent: Boise State
Odds: Very Poor. Texas is peaking at the right time.

Cotton Bowl
Nebraska must: Lose to Texas in the Big 12 title game
Likely opponent: Arkansas or LSU
Odds: Very Poor. The first Les Miles Bowl looks probable

Holiday Bowl
Nebraska must: Beat OU, win North, lose to UT
Likely opponent: Stanford, Oregon State, USC
Odds: Good. But USC may be out of the mix

Alamo Bowl
Nebraska Must: Win 8, but lose North to KSU
Likely Opponent: Northwestern
Odds: Fair. We think NU wins the North.

Sun Bowl
Nebraska Must: Finish at least 7-5
Likely Opponent: Arizona
Odds: Poor. We like Texas Tech here. Natural fit.

Insight Bowl
Nebraska Must: Finish at least 6-6
Likely Opponent: Minnesota
Odds: Zero. NU's won 7.

Independence Bowl
Nebraska Must: Finish 6-6
Likely Opponent: Auburn or Georgia
Odds: Zero. NU's won 7

Texas Bowl
Nebraska Must: Finish 6-6
Opponent: Navy
Odds: Zero. Iowa State punched its ticket, we think.

Our Big 12 bowl projections:

BCS title: Texas vs. Florida
Cotton: Oklahoma State vs. LSU
Holiday: Nebraska vs. Stanford
Alamo Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Northwestern
Sun Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Arizona
Insight Bowl: Missouri vs. Michigan State
Independence Bowl: Texas A&M vs. Auburn
Texas Bowl: Iowa State vs. Navy


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