Recent B1G Bowl History (January Bowls)
- Overall, the B1G posted a record of 20-28 in these games (especially interesting if I could find the number of games the B1G was the underdog ... 20-28 as a dog is a pretty good record)
- Avg score 24.6 - 29.4 / avg winning margin 6 pts / avg losing margin 13 pts
- Biggest offenders (Illinois, Nebraska, Purdue ... combined 0-5, avg 24 pt losses)
- Worst matchups: USC (0-5, avg. 19 pt losses), Alabama (42 pt win over Sparty, 2012), Ok St (44 pt drubbing of Purdue last year). Houston over Penn St (16 pt loss) and Miss St over Rich Rod's 2011 squad also hurt overall average
- ohio state's two Nat'l Champ game appearances also hurt, probably the most in terms of national perception (0-2, 21 pt avg loss)
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Real fun with numbers? Remove 2012 Alabama/MSU, all Rose Bowls, and all Nebraska/Purdue games? (2-12 in those games, outscored by 16 ppg)
- B1G is 19-15 in January bowl games !!!
- Against the SEC (games all in Florida, right?) the B1G is 13-14. Their average win is by just over 5 points, but average loss is by almost 13 points
- The B1G's failures in the Rose Bowl are well documented (1-8 over this strech). They have been outscored by only 9 points (average) in those games. Considering opponents (USC dynasty, Texas, etc) and location (USC's backyard), that's not as terrible as it sounds.
- B1G went 2-12 vs Pac 10/12 and Big 12 combined
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Au1PX2xzKJe7dG9NVmpqN3N6d3…)
| Conference | No of Games | B1G Avg Score | Opp Avg Score | |
| ACC | 4 | 26 | 20 | 6 |
| Big 12 | 6 | 30 | 39 | -9 |
| Pac 12 | 8 | 21 | 33 | -12 |
| SEC | 27 | 25 | 28 | -3 |
| Other | 3 | 22 | 24 | -2 |
| Team (record) | Win Pct | Scoring Margin | |
| Iowa (4-2) | .667 | +4 | |
| ohio state (5-4) | .556 | -1 | |
| Penn St (3-3) | .500 |
-5 |
|
| Michigan St (2-2) | .500 | -15 | |
| Michigan (3-5) | .375 | -7 | |
| Northwestern (1-2) | .333 | +6 | |
| Wisconsin (2-5) | .286 | -1 | |
| Illinois (0-1) | .000 | -32 | |
| Nebraska (0-2) | .000 | -16 | |
| Purdue (0-2) | .000 | -25 | |
The point that B1G teams play de facto away games in every relevant bowl seems to go largely overlooked by the media. Not to mention that the B1G usually plays a higher seed from the other conference.
Until these things change (they won't) we'll likely be stuck talking about whether the conference's average margin of loss is that bad.
You sure they've won 2 bowls over that span? I thought their win over Miss St was their first bowl win in a LOOONG time.
The Wildcats are 2-9 all time in bowl games, with a 1948 Rose Bowl win and the victory over Mississippi State this past bowl season. They are 1-4 in the past five years, with two tough OT losses.
Here is some obvious data to add to the discussion. This is the tale of one big conference, 4 mediocre ones, and one playing catch up. Since 2003 the conferences have recorded the following number of wins versus opponents ranked 1-10 -
SEC - 69
Pac 12 - 31
Big 12 - 21
ACC - 18
Big 10 - 17
Big East - 11
Wins versus opponents ranked 11-25
SEC - 131
Big 12 - 91
ACC - 75
Big 10 - 70
Pac 12 - 63
Big East - 37
Wins versus opponents ranked 1-25
SEC - 200
Big 12 - 112
Pac 12 - 94
ACC - 93
Big 10 - 87
Big East - 48
It may be interesting to look at rankings within the conferences. Like is it the number 3 SEC team vs the number 6 B1G as someone suggested or the other way round?
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