B1G in bowl games

**ISUclones19** · 12-05-2011, 07:44 PM

Any thoughts on how they will fair this year in bowl games? I will be rooting hard against them.

Western Michigan vs. Purdue
Iowa vs. Oklahoma
Northwestern vs. Texas A&M
Illinois vs. UCLA
Penn State vs. Houston
Nebraska vs. South Carolina
Ohio State vs. Florida
Michigan State vs. Georgia
Michigan vs. Virginia Tech
Wisconsin vs. Oregon

I think they will go 3-7 with possible wins coming from Purdue, Illinois ( because of there favorable matchups) and I think OSU and Wisconsin also have a chance. I don't know, just my thoughts

**CyFan61** · 12-05-2011, 07:46 PM

I've got Purdue, Penn State, and Michigan winning for them. Toss them an upset and 4-6 is pretty reasonable.

Also, Penn State plays Houston, not Utah.

**ISUclones19** · 12-05-2011, 07:51 PM

Oops! Good catch, not sure what I was doing. It's all fixed.

**andjhostet** · 12-05-2011, 07:55 PM

Penn State and Purdue will win, Illinois is on a 6 game losing streak, not really sure on the other matchups. I will definitely be cheering against all of them though.

**Tre4ISU** · 12-05-2011, 07:59 PM

Say what you want about the Big Ten but that's a pretty tough lineup for them. They will play a conference champ, four teams that played in their conference championship and one that played for the championship.

**1100011CS** · 12-05-2011, 08:00 PM

Originally Posted by Tre4ISU

Say what you want about the Big Ten but that's a pretty tough lineup for them. They will play a conference champ, four teams that played in their conference championship and one that played for the championship.

The price of two BCS teams.

**ISUclones19** · 12-05-2011, 08:01 PM

Yeah they definitely got some pretty hard matchups but I can't say I feel for them. That's what they get after getting 2 into BCS bowls.

**HFCS** · 12-05-2011, 08:43 PM

I'm not sold on Purdue beating a Michigan MAC team in Michigan.

They had a painfully average year and were rescued by an easy schedule and the general mediocracy of the Big Ten. They lost to Rice. They finished the year by beating the worst team in FBS by 8 points.

**hawkeyescott** · 12-05-2011, 08:57 PM

Originally Posted by 1100011CS

The price of two BCS teams.

And how exactly would only having one team in a BCS Bowl change the fact that the Big Ten will still play a conference champ, four that played in their conference championship game and one that played for the championship?

**Gonzo** · 12-05-2011, 08:57 PM

Nothing new here. Getting 2 BCS bowls is a blessing and a curse. As a result we have teams that are a bit overmatched... look no further than 7-5 Iowa against 9-3 Oklahoma. And we match up head-to-head with SEC's top tier teams every year.

**Tre4ISU** · 12-05-2011, 09:03 PM

Originally Posted by hawkeyescott

And how exactly would only having one team in a BCS Bowl change the fact that the Big Ten will still play a conference champ, four that played in their conference championship game and one that played for the championship?

This isn't that hard. You move your second best to the BCS, and then everyone has to play one "harder" oppoent so instead of 2 vs 2 it is now 2 vs 3 which, IMO is a lot of the reason the Big Ten has had a poor recent bowl history. A lot of the time they have been playing better teams relative to their conference. Their bowl setup was also bad from a competetive advantage standpoint.

**kas4cy** · 12-05-2011, 09:04 PM

Purdue and Penn State should win their games. Ohio St./Florida should be a toss up, although Florida will probably win the Urban Meyer Bowl. And I really want to say aTm chokes and loses to Northwestern, but they're essentially just a crappy Big 12 team, so they should win that. Then we get to the bowl nobody will ever want to watch, unless there's nothing else on. UCLA/Illinois is going to be ugly. I'd have them at 4-6.

**Tre4ISU** · 12-05-2011, 09:06 PM

Also, they could very well lose all of those games. I think Michigan, Illinois, OSU and Purdue are the only teams not completely overmatched. Illinois has Zook background though so they are always overmatched. It's going to be ugly strictly looking at record.

**andjhostet** · 12-05-2011, 09:27 PM

Originally Posted by Tre4ISU

Also, they could very well lose all of those games. I think Michigan, Illinois, OSU and Purdue are the only teams not completely overmatched. Illinois has Zook background though so they are always overmatched. It's going to be ugly strictly looking at record.

Maybe Penn State too? Houston is largely overrated.