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Football Mon Dec 06 2010
Big Ten Football Monday: The Bowls Are Upon Us
With one final game in the books -- Illinois' 25-23 loss Friday at Fresno State -- we turn officially to bowl season in the Big Ten. Which means nearly everyone gets a bowl bid. Because nearly every Big Ten school churns out 3 million alumni each year who want to get stupid drunk and spend big money on hotels and restaurants and souvenir tchotchkes at the bowl destination of their choice.
It's all about the Chamber of Commerce, which is why Michigan State had no chance at a BCS bowl bid despite sharing the conference championship with Wisconsin and Ohio State. Instead, the Badgers end up in the Rose Bowl, with the BCS standings used as a tiebreaker over the Buckeyes, who will head to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl.
Money is the reason the Big Ten will have teams in five of the six New Year's Day bowl games. (Yes, that includes you, Northwestern, and the brand new TicketCity Bowl.)
The schedule, in rough order of importance:
(all times Central)
Rose Bowl
Wisconsin (11-1) vs. TCU (12-0)
Jan. 1, 4 p.m.
Pasadena, Calif.
Sugar Bowl
Ohio State (11-1) vs. Arkansas (10-2)
Jan. 4, 7:30 p.m.
New Orleans
Capital One Bowl
Michigan State (11-1) vs. Alabama (9-3)
Jan. 1, 12 p.m.
Orlando, Fla.
Outback Bowl
Penn State (7-5) vs. Florida (7-5)
Jan. 1, 12 p.m.
Tampa, Fla.
Gator Bowl
Michigan (7-5) vs. Mississippi State (8-4)
Jan. 1, 12:30 p.m.
Jacksonville, Fla.
Insight Bowl
Iowa (7-5) vs. Missouri (10-2)
Dec. 28, 9 p.m.
Tempe, Ariz.
Texas Bowl
Illinois (6-6) vs. Baylor (7-5)
Dec. 29, 5 p.m.
Houston
TicketCity Bowl
Northwestern (7-5) vs. Texas Tech (7-5)
Jan. 1, 11 a.m.
Dallas
Also:
Sun Bowl
Notre Dame (7-5) vs. Miami (7-5)
Dec. 31, 1 p.m.
El Paso, Texas
Humanitarian Bowl
Northern Illinois (10-3) vs. Fresno State (8-4)
Dec. 18, 4:30 p.m.
Boise, Idaho
Note: According to my math, every team in the nation finished 7-5 this season.
