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 Ohio State Buckeyes defeated Michigan once again in the best rivalry in all of sports. The #10 Buckeyes cruised to a 21-10 victory. Next up for Ohio State is the 2010 Rose Bowl on New Years Day. Iowa moved up two slots to #11 following a 12-0 victory over Iowa. At 10-2, the Hawkeyes still have hopes for a BCS bowl bid and in the latest bowl projections Iowa is picked to play Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl. Penn State moved up one slot to 13 with an impressive 42-14 victory at Michigan State.

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 Iowa Hawkeyes’ luck finally ran out as the Hawkeyes lost on their home turf to Northwestern 17-10. QB Ricky Stanzi sustained a knee injury in the contest, and his availability is unknown. Iowa lost all hope at a National Championship but still can win the Big Ten in Columbus when they face Ohio State. Ohio State moved up in the Top 25 rankings to #11 after an impressive victory at Penn State. The victory sets up what is essentially a Big Ten title game between the Buckeyes and Iowa this weekend. The winner will win the conference and earn a trip to the Rose Bowl. The loss sent Penn State down the rankings to #18 as the Nittany Lions will host Indiana this week. The Badgers of Wisconsin moved up one slot to #20 with their victory over Indiana. Wisconsin hosts Michigan on Saturday.

The Iowa Hawkeyes pulled out another miracle with an amazing comeback over Indiana. Iowa trailed 21-7 at halftime before out scoring the Hoosiers 35-3 in the 2nd half. QB Ricky Stanzi threw 5 interceptions on the day but finally settled down to guide Iowa to the victory. The Hawkeyes host Northwestern on November 7th. The Nittany Lions moved up from #12 to #11 in the Top 25 rankings after a big 34-13 victory over Northwestern. Penn State will face #16 Ohio State on November 7th in what could go a long way in deciding the Big Ten Championship. The Buckeyes moved up one slot after stepping out of conference to face New Mexico State. Terrelle Pryor lit up the Aggie defense in the 45-0 victory. The Buckeyes will face a white out when they travel to Happy Valley to face the Nittany Lions. The 6-2 Badgers of Wisconsin jumped in

New Year’s Day 2008 featured two Big Ten vs. SEC showdowns in bowl games as the Michigan Wolverines and Wisconsin Badgers matched up with SEC opponentts in their bowl games. #18 Wisconsin kicked off at 11 am in the Outback Bowl against #16 Tennessee and fell to the Vols 21-17. Just two hours later, unranked Michigan, led by head coach Lloyd Carr in his final game, faced heavy-favorite Florida in the Capital One Bowl. Michigan led 21-14 at the half over the #12 Gators and kicked two late FG’s and picked off a Tim Tebow pass to seal a 41-35 victory. With the win, Carr ends his coaching career at Michigan 122-40 overall and Chad Henne, Mike Hart & Jake Long, the three seniors who returned to Michigan this season to play for a National Championship, were able to get their first bowl win in four tries.

After Purdue kicked off the 2007-2008 bowl season for the Big Ten with a 51-48 win in the Motor City Bowl, Michigan State and Penn State were the next two teams up for the Big Ten. Michigan State faced off with Boston College on Friday in the Champs Sports Bowl and gave the Eagles a fight. But in the end, Boston College extended their bowl winning streak to 8 games with a 34-31 win over the Spartans. Meanwhile, Satuday’s Alamo Bowl featured the Penn State Nittany Lions in Joe Paterno’s 500th game as head coach @ PSU. The Lions fell behind 14-0 early but came back for a 24-17 victory.

As it stands now, the Big Ten is currently 2-1 in bowl games with Indiana playing on Monday, Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois on January 1st and Ohio State playing in the BCS Championship Game on January 7th.