Will a Big Ten Team Win a Bowl Game This Post-season?

The Big Ten conference sent seven of its 11 teams bowling this holiday season, but maybe they should have sent them fishing instead.

It's Saturday night, Dec. 27, and the Florida State Seminoles have just overwhelmed their opponent, and Big Ten representatives, the Wisconsin Badgers.

Overwhelmed is a good word, but there are others that would certainly do justice as well, because ladies and gentlemen, it got ugly.

Florida State proved to be too much for a struggling Badgers team. Their defense was too fast, and while their offense didn't play to expectations, they did what needed to be done, and the Wisconsin defense was no match.

One Big Ten team up, one Big Ten team down.

The question is how far will this go? Will any Big Ten team walk away with a win this Bowl season?

I for one would hope so, but looking at the schedule for the next week, there is a possibility that the Big Ten teams go 0-7 in postseason play.

The next team to step up to the plate for this Midwestern conference is Northwestern. The Wildcats will face the Tigers from Missouri in San Antonio for the Valero Alamo Bowl.

Just hearing this matchup makes you wince if you're a Big Ten fan.

Northwestern is perennially at the bottom of the standings in the Big Ten, but finishing their season at 9-3 has the Wildcats in postseason play for the first time since 2005. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they haven't won a bowl game since 1949.

Missouri finished first in the Big 12 North division and is powered by Chase Daniels and an explosive offense. The Tigers however proved to be inferior in big games and didn't beat a ranked opponent all year.

Two days after Northwestern takes the field, Minnesota takes on Kansas in Tempe, AZ for the Insight Bowl.

Minnesota started the season off strong, going 7-1 in the first 8 games, their only loss at the hand of co-Big Ten Champions Ohio State. And when the first BCS standings were released, Minnesota sat at the 24th position.

The very next week they lost to Northwestern and then proceeded to lose every game after that. The finished their regular season losing to Iowa 55-0.

Kansas is a struggling Big 12 team, but have momentum heading into this game after beating Big 12 North champ Missouri in the season finale. Aside from that victory, their season looks unimpressive, and the Golden Gophers certainly feel that they have a chance for a "W".

The first game of 2009 has South Carolina pitted against Iowa in the Outback Bowl.

Iowa started the 2008 campaign slower than anticipated, but have recovered some of their swagger after beating No. 3 Penn State in November. In fact, the Hawkeyes have won their last three games including the blow out game against the Golden Gophers, in which their offense put up Oklahoma-like numbers.

South Carolina has been mediocre at best, losing three of their final five games. The Gamecocks are making their third appearance in the Outback Bowl and have won both of their previous appearances. History might be the only thing on their side.

Before the South Carolina/Iowa game is concluded, Michigan State will begin their battle with the Georgia Bulldogs.

Michigan State sports an impressive 9-3 record, but their losses tell the story of their season. They lost their opening game to California, and added losses to Ohio State and Penn State. Both of their Big Ten losses were complete embarrassments for the Spartan team.

The Spartans lean heavily upon star running back Javon Ringer, but will this be enough to stop the Georgia team?

Georgia saw a promising season slip right out of their hands. The preseason No. 1, the Bulldogs lost the games they needed to win and ended their season at 9-3.

Offensive stars Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno will try to salvage their season with a win against their Big Ten foe.

And then the Granddaddy of them all: The Rose Bowl. Thursday night Penn State will strap their cleats on and take on the Trojans of Southern California.

This is a highly anticipated game and country will be watching for sure. The first of the BCS games, the Nittany Lions hope to prove a nation wrong by beating a USC team that many believe should be playing in Miami instead of Pasadena.

Penn State had a most impressive season, going way beyond expectations and finishing tied for first in the Big Ten. Their only loss came to Iowa, a surprise to not only Penn State but most any other NCAAF fan as well.

USC had their national title hopes crushed as well by Oregon State in their third game of the season. But upon being embarrassed by the Beavers, the Trojans have outplayed their opponents the rest of the way, leaving no doubt that they were the Champions once again of the Pac-10 conference.

Finally, on Jan. 5, the last Big Ten team takes the field. Ohio State will once again travel to Glendale, Ariz., to take on the Texas Longhorns.

Ohio State has been under much scrutiny after losing its two previous bowl games, which just happened to be national title games as well. And after losing to USC in early September, the water didn't get any cooler.

Ohio State finished their season at 10-2, co-champions of the Big Ten and are looking to show everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, that they are still one of the best football programs in the country.

But the Texas Longhorns have some proving of their own to do. The Longhorns, feeling snubbed by the BCS are out to show the computers and the pollsters that it should have been them, not Oklahoma, playing Florida for the National Championship.

Those are the remaining match-ups for the Big Ten teams. Will they in fact go 0-7, as the ESPN polls would suggest, or will they surprise everyone and win some of these key games?

Much is on the line, and if the Big Ten teams can't produce victories against these other major conferences, they might as well grab their tackle boxes and head to Florida for reasons other than post-season football.