Pac-12 Week 7 bowl projections: Shuffle in the middle

A week after Washington secured bowl eligibility with its sixth win, Utah followed suit and clinched a postseason berth. The Utes' 19-14 win at Oregon State pushed them to 6-1 and made them the Pac-12's second qualifier of the year.

The Huskies were off this week, so they keep the top spot. Although Utah's triumph wasn't pretty, there isn't enough reason to supplant them from that Rose Bowl projection just yet. Colorado got back on the winning track -- at 5-2, the Buffs have laid claim to the upper tier of the Pac-12 -- and USC entered full surge mode.

We've updated the projections to reflect these latest trends, but it's still a tricky proposition at this point. It's tempting, for example,…