College Football Bowl Predictions: Where Will Big Ten Teams Bowl This Year?
College football bowl predictions can be a hard thing to assemble.
There are a variety of factors that play into projecting the bowl games before the regular season is even finished, from injuries to possible upsets.
But with just a few weeks remaining until the 2010-11 bowl schedule is revealed, I thought it would be a good idea to at least try to predict where some teams will end up.
And we're going to focus on the Big Ten, which has seen Ohio State and Michigan State crack the top five while Wisconsin continues to lurk just outside it.
So here we go. It's time to predict which Big Ten team will make it to the bowl season and where they'll go.
Let's get to it.
The Bowl Eligible Teams
1 of 8
There are seven Big Ten teams that are locks to be bowling come December and January: Wisconsin, Michigan State, Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan, Northwestern and Penn State.
Purdue, Minnesota and Indiana are all but eliminated from becoming bowl eligible, although the Boilermakers do have a very slight chance of getting there.
I honestly don't see that happening, but Illinois does have the opportunity to be the eighth Big Ten team to make it to a bowl game.
The Fighting Illini sit at 5-5 and have to beat either Northwestern or Fresno State to keep their hopes alives.
Unfortunately for Illinois both of those games are on the road, so I see them falling to 5-7 and missing out on bowl season.
So on to the Big Ten teams that will make it there...
Michigan
2 of 8
Where They'll Go: Though Michigan currently sits at 7-3, the Wolverines will more than likely finish the season at 7-5 because their remaining two games are against Wisconsin and Ohio State.
Michigan has relied too heavily on Denard Robinson and the Wolverine defense has struggled too much (93rd in points allowed) to get past the Buckeyes or Badgers.
That leaves Michigan with a spot in the Insight Bowl. Excluding any BCS teams, that game features the No. 3 team from the Big 12 and the No. 3 or 4 team from the Big Ten.
Who They'll Face: The Wolverines will head to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe to face Landry Jones, DeMarco Murray and Oklahoma.
The Sooners are one of the nation's more balanced teams, ranking 19th in points scored and 27 points allowed.
Prediction: Oklahoma 42, Michigan 31. The Wolverines' No. 14 scoring offense will certainly hang with the Sooners, but in the end it will be Oklahoma's fourth-ranked passing attack that is too much for them to handle.
Northwestern
3 of 8
Where They'll Go: Northwestern sits at a surprising 7-3 on the season, but the Wildcats have been a hard team to figure out---they lost to Purdue but beat Iowa last week.
If everything goes like I think it will, the Wildcats will finish the season at 8-4 after a season-ending loss to Wisconsin.
The 8-4 finish should send Northwestern to just the fifth-ever Texas Bowl, which will pit the Big Ten against the Big 12 once again.
Who They'll Face: The Wildcats will make the trip to Reliant Stadium in Houston to take on Robert Griffin and the Baylor Bears.
Baylor has one of the country's top offenses, averaging 292 yards through the air and 197.2 yards on the ground.
Prediction: Baylor 34, Northwestern 24. Baylor's defense is pretty weak, but I'm not sure the Wildcats have enough offensive firepower to hang with the Bears.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Iowa
4 of 8
Where They'll Go: Iowa has looked incredibly dominant at times—like when the Hawkeyes dismantled Michigan State—but they've also disappointed, like in games against Indiana, Northwestern and Arizona.
At 7-3 and with a game against Minnesota still on the schedule, the Hawkeyes are almost guaranteed to win at least eight games this season.
But they do have a huge showdown at home with Ohio State this week. I actually like the Hawkeyes pulling the upset, but it won't be enough.
Iowa will have to settle for an appearance in the Outback Bowl, which matches up the No. 3 Big Ten team and the No. 3 SEC team.
Who They'll Face: Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay will be rowdy as the Hawkeyes take on the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Ryan Mallett and company boast the nation's No. 3 passing offense and No. 13 scoring offense, which should be a nice matchup against Iowa's No. 7 scoring offense.
Prediction: Iowa 28, Arkansas 24. Iowa may be known for its defense, but the Hawkeyes can put up some points and they'll do that against the Razorbacks.
Penn State
5 of 8
Where They'll Go: It's a shame for Penn State fans that Matthew McGloin didn't take over at quarterback sooner because he's performed well, and the Nittany Lions might be playing for a bigger prize had he started at the beginning of the season.
Anyway, Penn State (currently 6-4) will probably finish the season at 7-5, although they can get to 8-4 if they can upset Michigan State at home.
I don't have much faith in that happening, so I see the Nittany Lions making a trip to the Gator Bowl, which will feature a matchup between the Big Ten and the SEC.
Who They'll Face: The Nittany Lions should head to Jacksonville to take on Dan Mullen's Mississippi State squad.
The Bulldogs get it done the old fashioned way: by running the football (No. 18 in the nation) and playing defense (No. 15 in scoring)
Prediction: Mississippi State 24, Penn State 17. The Bulldogs' tough SEC schedule will prepare them for anything that Joe Paterno's offense throws their way.
Ohio State
6 of 8
Where They'll Go: Ohio State entered the season with national title aspirations, but a loss to Wisconsin back in October pretty much sealed the fate of the Buckeyes.
As of right now they still have just one loss, but I'm picking Iowa over Ohio State this week which will knock the Buckeyes down the bowl ladder.
Ohio State will likely be the first Big Ten team to miss the BCS in that case, which means they'll take on the top non-BCS team from the SEC in the Capital One Bowl.
Who They'll Face: Alabama vs. Ohio State. If I told you that game was for the BCS National Championship, you wouldn't even blink. But I actually see these two teams facing off in one college football's premiere non-BCS bowl games.
We all know about the Crimson Tide. They're the defending national champions and have a boatload of talent on both sides of the ball, including a Heisman winner and one of the nation's top wide receivers.
Prediction: Alabama 35, Ohio State 28. This one could probably go either way depending on how well Terrelle Pryor played against that tough Alabama defense, but I'll go with the Crimson Tide winning simply because they have more talent.
Wisconsin
7 of 8
Where They'll Go: By season's end I think Wisconsin will still have just one loss, but will get left out of the national championship picture.
Still, a trip to a BCS bowl game is a nice consolation prize and is exactly what the Badgers would get.
So is it the Rose Bowl or the Orange Bowl? I'm going to say it's the Orange Bowl.
Who They'll Face: The Badgers will take a trip to Miami to face the ACC Champions, the Virginia Tech Hokies.
Frank Beamer's crew has rolled to eight straight victories since that 0-2 start, and has developed quite the offensive attack with Tyrod Taylor and Darren Evans leading the way.
Prediction: Wisconsin 30, Virginia Tech 27. This would be a matchup of two top-25 defenses and two top-25 offenses, so it could could either be a shootout or a defensive struggle.
But I like these teams putting up a solid amount of points in the board with the Badgers winning late in regulation after grinding down Virginia Tech with that No. 12 rushing offense.
Michigan State
8 of 8
Where They'll Go: Michigan State has just one loss on the season, but it came in a horrific 31-point blowout against Iowa.
And it appears that the Spartans will more than likely finish the season undefeated to join Wisconsin as the second team to make it to the BCS.
I guess Michigan State could easily be in the Orange Bowl as well, but I have the Spartans heading to the Rose Bowl because they took down the Badgers in head-to-head competition.
Who They'll Face: The Spartans will head out West to California to take on the No. 2 Pac-10 team, Stanford.
Andrew Luck and the Cardinal have the league's No. 9 scoring offense and No. 27 scoring defense, and their only loss on the season came against No. 1 Oregon.
Prediction: Michigan State 31, Stanford 24. This is another tough call, but Michigan State has only allowed more than 17 points all season and has held its opponents to eight points or fewer four times.
The Spartans defense will step up once again in a nice win over the Cardinal.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
