Although unlikely, there is the ultimate chaos scenario where Iowa not only gets left out of the Rose Bowl but could miss a New Year's Six Bowl Game entirely:
- Michigan State beats Iowa in Big Ten title game
- North Carolina upsets Clemson in ACC title game
- Stanford wins Pac-12 title game over USC
Now after those games, assume Ohio State jumps ahead of Iowa in the final CFP rankings and Stanford moves ahead of Ohio State and is put into the playoff.
In that scenario:
- Playoff Teams: Alabama, Oklahoma, Michigan State, Stanford
- That leaves eight spots for the remaining New Year's Six Games (Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Peach)
- The Sugar Bowl has to be SEC vs. Big 12, which would likely be Ole Miss vs. Baylor
- The Rose Bowl has to be B1G vs. Pac-12. If Ohio State is ranked ahead of Iowa, the Buckeyes likely take the Big Ten slot and Oregon moves in to take the Pac-12 spot.
- North Carolina earns an automatic bid to a New Year's Six game by winning the ACC. And the highest-ranked Group of Five team also earns a spot in one of these games, which will be the winner of the Houston vs. Temple game in the American Athletic Conference title game.
- That leaves two spots remaining for likely three teams to fill out the Peach and Fiesta Bowls: Clemson, Iowa and Notre Dame. Iowa could very well be left out if it comes down to those three.