Big Ten Football & Basketball Blog

The conference opens their bowl season with the Wisconsin Badgers facing a tough test against the Miami Hurricanes on December 29th in the Champs Sports Bowl. The Golden Gophers of Minnesota will face Iowa State on New Years Eve with the game being broadcast on the NFL Network. On New Years Day Northwestern will face good Auburn squad while Penn State will battle LSU. In “The Granddaddy of them All” the Ohio State Buckeyes will face the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl on New Years Day at 4:30. Sparty will face Texas Tech on January 2nd. In the Big Ten’s other BCS game Iowa will face Georgia Tech on January 5th.

The Big Ten season is over for all teams ranked in the conference. However it is a big week for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Oregon and Oregon State will battle on Thursday, December 3rd for the Pac 10 title with the winner will play Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. With Big Ten football action halted until bowl games, fans can find great sports gifts including Fathead posters online at DFN Sports sites.

The battle for the Big Ten Championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl lived up the billing as Ohio State defeated Iowa 27-24 in overtime in front of over 100,000 fans in the Horse Shoe. With the victory Ohio State moved up to #10 in this week’s BCS Top 25 standings while Iowa fell to #13. Ohio State will face Michigan in the one game season in Ann Arbor where it is expected that several fans will be wearing Ohio State Snuggies, while Iowa hosts Minnesota. Penn State moved up 4 slots to #14 following their 31-20 victory over Indiana. Penn State will face a difficult task when they travel to Michigan State this week. Wisconsin moved up 4 slots to #16 following a big victory over Michigan. The Badgers travel to Northwestern this week.

The Big Ten Conference continues it’s lackluster play and now has its hopes placed on undefeated Iowa. The Big Ten has only one team in the top 10 as the Hawkeyes enter the BCS at #6. Their 7-0 record includes big road victories at Penn State and Wisconsin, and Iowa will face another stiff road test at Michigan State on October 24th. The Nittany Lions debut at #13. Penn State, 6-1, will have their hands full at Michigan on October 24th. Ohio State debuts with an inauspicious #19 ranking after the Buckeyes were horrible in a loss at Purdue. The Boilermakers were on a 5 game losing streak coming into the game, nowhere near a sniff of college football’s Top 25. The Buckeyes host Minnesota on October 24th. The 5-2 Badgers of Wisconsin are on a 2 game losing streak with losses to Ohio State and Iowa. Wisconsin will have a bye week before hosting Purdue on October 31st. Nine Big Ten teams seem poised for postseason bowl games in the latest bowl projections at Football-Bowl.com as the key will be keeping the four 4-3 Big Ten teams bowl eligible.

For the second year in a row the Ohio State Buckeyes are the #1 team in the BCS and will play in the BCS National Championship. Also for the second year in a row, the Buckeyes will play the SEC Champions who come in as a controversial #2 in the BCS thanks to a final BCS rankings jump over teams below the previous week. Last year it was Florida surpassing Michigan to take the #2 sport and eventually beat the #1 Buckeyes for the National Championship. This season the LSU Tigers are the team in the #2 spot thanks to a jump from #7 to #2 in BCS after their 21-14 win over Tennessee in the SEC Championship yesterday.

Fans can find a great selection of Ohio State apparel, LSU gear and more college merchandise online.