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Week 8 Russell Athletic Bowl Projections

After Florida State fell to Georgia Tech thanks to a crazy special teams play to win the game, the Seminoles are one of just two ACC teams (plus Notre Dame) projected for Orlando. On the Big 12 side, three different teams are projected to come to Orlando.

Here are the latest projections for the 26th Russell Athletic Bowl.

Jerry Palm (CBSSports.com):  Florida State vs. Oklahoma State

Jason Kirk (SBNation):  Florida State vs. Oklahoma

Brandon Chatmon (ESPN Big 12 Blog): Oklahoma

David Hale (ESPN ACC Blog): Florida State

Mark Schlabach (ESPN):  Florida State vs. Oklahoma State

Brett McMurphy (ESPN):  Florida State vs. Oklahoma

Bill Bender (Sporting News):  Florida State vs. Oklahoma State

College Sports Madness: Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma State

Bryan Fischer (Bleacher Report): Florida State vs. Texas Tech

Pete Fiutak (Campus Insiders): North Carolina vs. Oklahoma State

Florida State was projected by seven of the 10 media members to make its fourth appearance in the Russell Athletic Bowl. The Seminoles have a 3-0 record in Orlando and would be its first appearance since 2011. They also already have two dates booked in the Orlando Citrus Bowl for 2016 – the ‘Noles will play their spring game in Orlando on April 9 and return to meet Ole Miss in the inaugural Orlando Kickoff game on September 5.

The other ACC team, North Carolina, has just one appearance in the Russell Athletic Bowl but none in Orlando. They appeared in the game in 1995 when it was played in Miami Gardens.

Notre Dame was also projected to make it to Orlando by College Sports Madness. The Fighting Irish have just one bowl appearance in Orlando and it came in 2011 against FSU.

Of the Big 12 schools, Oklahoma is the most recent participant in the Russell Athletic Bowl. The Sooners played in the game last year against Clemson.

Texas Tech, like Oklahoma, has just one appearance in Orlando and that came in 2002 with current head coach Kliff Kingsbury under center as the Red Raiders’ quarterback.