As the college football season began three months ago, most figured Matt Barkley and the USC Trojans would be playing in a BCS bowl game somewhere in January. A couple of heartbreaking losses later, and it's looking like the Trojans will make one of the Pac-12's middle-tier bowl games.

According to the latest bowl game projections from SB Nation, USC will take on North Carolina State in the Sun Bowl. There were rumors early in the week that the Sun Bowl could take Arizona over USC due to regional ties and the fact that the Wildcats beat the Trojans earlier in the year, although that no longer appears to be the case.

If it is the Sun Bowl, USC would play on New Year's Eve (Dec. 31).

As for the rest of the major bowl games, SB Nation sees Alabama taking on Notre Dame for the national title. Oregon and Kansas State would meet for the Fiesta Bowl, while Stanford and Nebraska will play in the Rose Bowl.

The full list of bowl games can be found here.