Big House Blog Turkey Day: Big Ten Bowl Projections

It's the time of year we all get together with family, eat way too much, talk about leaving the house for that $200 50-inch flat screen TV, and watch a lot of football.

So what a better time of year then to debate where some of the Big Ten finest will be spending the Christmas holiday.

First let's discuss where Illinois and Michigan will be playing this year. Both teams on 1/1/2008 played in the Rose and Capital One bowls, respectively. Oops, sorry both teams will be home this year thinking about what could have been, as Iowa and Northwestern take their bowl spots. What a year!

Now on to the bowl projections on this Turkey Holiday:

Motor City Bowl: (Big Ten #7 pick against MAC #1) Minnesota vs. Ball State: Doesn't Ball State deserve better? They will be 13-0 if they beat Buffalo in the MAC championship game and their reward? Playing a Golden Gophers team that is 0-4 in it's last four games and just got housed by Iowa 55-0. Wow, thanks for the undefeated season, Welcome to snowy Detroit!

Insight Bowl: (Big Ten #6 pick against Big 12 #6 pick) Wisconsin vs. Kansas: Wisconsin gets this spot over Minnesota because they travel so well and they get lucky on getting Tempe, Ariz., instead of Detroit. Both teams in this match up didn't live up the hype this year, and Kansas has a little better excuse since they played in the very difficult Big 12.

Champs Sports Bowl: (Big Ten #4/5 pick against ACC #4 pick) Iowa vs. Wake Forest: This will be an interesting match up with two football programs on the rise. Iowa saved the BCS from having to put another Big Ten team in the National Championship game and Wake Forest has played pretty good football at times during the last three seasons. Look for this to be a pretty entertaining match-up.

Alamo Bowl: (Big Ten #4/5 pick against Big 12 #4 pick): Northwestern vs. Nebraska: The Wildcats get this slot over Iowa due to their better overall record. Nebraska loves the Alamo Bowl and has fond memories of playing Michigan a few years ago with terrible officials and a wild last-second option play. This will be Bo Pelini and Pat Fitzgerald's first bowl berths as head coaches. This is also Northwestern's first bowl since 2005.

Outback Bowl: (Big Ten #3 pick against SEC #3/4 pick) Michigan State vs. Georgia: This match up couldn't be any worse for the overrated Spartans. They want nothing to do with the SEC after they got housed by Penn State last week. But they did reach their goal of beating a 3-9 Michigan team and got to play on New Year's Day. So there is always that! On a side note, this will be a good match up of two of the top running backs in the country: Javon Ringer and Knowshon Moreno. Look for Sparty to get embarrassed in this one.

Capital One Bowl: (Big Ten #2 pick against SEC #2 pick) Ohio State vs. LSU: Does anyone remember this game? I know OSU is holding it's breath for a BCS bid, but the Big 12 and/or Alabama will get it over the Buckeyes if they lose to Florida. Buckeye fans, pray that Alabama doesn't upset Florida in the SEC Championship game! OSU will have a good shot at ending their long losing streak against the SEC with an LSU QB that loves throwing picks for touchdowns. This should be a fun game and not a bad match up for The Vest and the boys from CBus.

Happy Thanksgiving!