Big Ten Football & Basketball Blog

Another weekend of play in the Big Ten has the conference on it’s head. With Michigan State losing to Nebraska and Ohio State’s upset of Wisconsin, along with Michigan and Penn State winning again, the Big Ten now boasts 5 teams in the BCS Top 25 wit all 5 ranked from 10-20. A look at the Big Ten football standings shows an undefeated Penn State sitting atop the Leaders Division at 5-0 ahead of Wisconsin, Ohio State and Purdue who each have a 2-2 conference record. Meanwhile in the Legends Division, Michigan, Michigan State and Nebraska each have 3-1 records in the conference with Iowa a game behind at 2-2. The intra-conference parity has the bowl projections showing just one Big Ten team in a BCS bowl game this season, something rarely seen in the past given the conference’s (sometimes unfounded) reputation as a top-tier football conference.

Each year the bowl season gives each team participating and the conference they represent an opportunity to make a statement to the college football world. By playing a non-conference opponent on national TV teams can either help, or hurt, their program’s reputation.

January 1st, 2011 is a day that the Big Ten Conference will not remember fondly. Just weeks after unveiling their new Legends and Leaders Conferences and new logos that have been referred to as “laughable,” the Big Ten has fallen flat on it’s own face in their bowl games. The 2011 bowl schedule showed 5 Big Ten teams with New Year’s Day games, 3 against SEC teams. Unfortunately the Big Ten schools did not just lose all 5 of those games, but 4 of the games saw their opponents allow 37 or more points with the state of Michigan holding their heads in embarrassment as MSU lost to Alabama 49-7 in the Capital One Bowl while Michigan lost 52-14 to Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl.

Looking at the big picture, the bowl losses will surely continue to hurt the Big Ten’s already weakened reputation which seemed to be on the mend in 2010. Big Ten teams are now 2-5 during the 2010-2011 bowl season with only Ohio State remaining to salvage some semblance of respect when they face Arkansas on Tuesday, January 4th in the Sugar Bowl.

Sports fans across the globe can agree that college bowl season is indeed “the most wonderful time of the year.” With 35 college football games and 70 teams looking to finish their season off with a big win, these bowl games can have a major impact on recruiting and the development of younger players as well as on tradition and pride. Because of all of this excitement around the bowl season, picking teams in the college bowl pick ‘em contests has become somewhat of a tradition in offices and amongst friends.

The 2010-2011 bowl season will see eight Big Ten teams extending their season with the bowl eligible minimum of 6 wins. Here is a look at the 2010-2011 bowls for those eight Big Ten schools:

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.

Big Ten Fans & partner site College Sports Fans are pleased to announce that the 2008-2009 bowl previews have been released for every bowl game that the Big Ten is participating in. From the Northwestern’s Alamo Bowl match-up with Missouri to Penn State’s face-off with USC in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day, you can find previews for every Big Ten bowl game for the 2008 college football season below.

• 2008 Rose Bowl preview - Penn State
• 2008 Fiesta Bowl preview - Ohio State
• 2008 Capital One Bowl preview - Michigan State
• 2008 Outback Bowl preview - Iowa
• 2008 Insight Bowl preview - Minnesota
• 2008 Alamo Bowl preview - Northwestern
• 2008 Champs Sports Bowl preview - Wisconsin

The college bowl games were announced on Sunday as 7 Big Ten teams will be bowling to conclude the 2008 college football season. Headlines by the two BCS Bowl teams, Penn State & Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern & Wisconsin will join the co-Big Ten Champions in bowl games. Here’s a look at each bowl match-up featuring Big Ten football teams.
- Rose Bowl - Penn State vs USC
- Fiesta Bowl - Ohio State vs Texas
- Capital One Bowl - Michigan State vs Georgia
- Outback Bowl - Iowa vs South Carolina
- Insight Bowl - Minnesota vs Kansas
- Alamo Bowl - Northwestern vs Missouri
- Champs Sports Bowl - Wisconsin vs Florida State