Week 11 Big Ten Bowl Projections

Submitted by oriental andrew on

So another week gone by and another win by the boys in the winged helmets.  Hooray for nobody selecting Michigan lower than the Outback!  Although now nobody is selecting Michigan in the BCS, either. 

This week's lineup adds CNNSI's Stewie Mandel, along with ESPN's Adam Rittenberg, Mark Schlabach, and Brad Edwards; CBS Sports's Jerry Palm; BTN's Tom Dienhart; and CFN/Scout

The chart shows the MNC and all BCS bowl game projections, followed by the Big Ten bowl game projections.

Week 11 Rittenberg Schlabach Edwards CBS Sports CNNSI BTN CFN
MNC   LSU LSU LSU LSU   LSU
    Ok State Ok State Oklahoma Ok State   Oklahoma
Rose Wisconsin msu Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin
    Oregon Oregon Oregon Oregon Oregon Oregon
Sugar   Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama   Alabama
    Houston Houston Houston Houston   Houston
Fiesta Nebraska Oklahoma Oklahoma Ok State Oklahoma   Ok State
    Stanford Stanford Stanford Stanford   Stanford
Orange   Clemson Clemson Clemson Clemson   Clemson
    Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati   Cincinnati
Capital 1 msu Wisconsin Michigan Nebraska Michigan msu msu
    Arkansas Arkansas Arkansas Georgia Arkansas Arkansas
Outback Michigan Michigan msu Michigan Nebraska Michigan Michigan
    S Carolina S Carolina Georgia S Carolina S Carolina Georgia
Gator Penn St Penn St osu osu osu osu Nebraska
    Florida Florida Florida Florida Florida Florida
Insight osu Nebraska Nebraska msu msu Nebraska osu
    Missouri TAMU Texas Baylor Missouri TAMU
Care Care Iowa osu Penn St Purdue Penn St Penn St Penn St
    TAMU Baylor Baylor TTU Baylor TTU
TicketCity NW Iowa Iowa Illinois Iowa Iowa Purdue
    La-Lafayette SMU Marshall SMU SMU S Florida
PizzaPizza Purdue Illinois Purdue Penn St Purdue Illinois Illinois
    NIU NIU Toledo Ohio (NTO) NIU NIU
New Era Pinstripe   NW   Iowa   Purdue  
    Rutgers   Rutgers   Pitt  
Kraft Fight Hunger       NW   NW  
        Cal   Cal  
New Mexico Bowl             Iowa
              Wyoming
Other Illinois            
               

So yeah, that's a big chart.   You can see Michigan bolded throughout.  The big changes for U-M are that Dienhart no longer has Michigan in the TicketCity, Rittenberg elevates us from the Insight to the Outback, and Palm drops us from the Fiesta to the Outback.  Potential bowl opponents include Georgia, South Carolina, and Arkansas. 

Rittenberg is now the only one to have a Big Ten team earn an at-large BCS berth (Nebraska to the Fiesta).  Last week, Rittenberg had msu-Rose and Wisco-Sugar, and Palm had Wisco-Rose and Michigan-Fiesta.

Everyone has Wisconsin to the Rose, except Schlabach, who sticks with msu.  Speaking of msu, they're predicted in the Rose (1), Cap1 (3), Outback (1), and Insight (2).  Michigan, on the other hand, is pretty much a concensus at the Cap1 (2) or Outback (5). 

Of note is that several of these guys are predicting 10 Big Ten teams to be bowl eligible: Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska, msu, Penn St, osu, Illinois, Iowa, Purdue, and Northwestern.  There is a clear top half and botom half, but that's just crazy, man.  That's why you're seeing random bowl games like New Era Pinstripe, Kraft Fight Hunger, and New Mexico Bowl.  Rittenberg can't commit, so he just puts Illinois in "Other". 

Comments

Logan88

November 14th, 2011 at 10:06 PM ^

Georgia has won 8 in a row, but look at the teams they have beaten and you won't be all that impressed:

  • Coastal Carolina (6-4 FCS team) --   59-0
  • @Mississippi (2-8/0-6 SEC) -- 27-13
  • Mississippi State (5-5/1-5 SEC) -- 24-10
  • @Tennessee (4-6/0-6 SEC) -- 20-12
  • @Vanderbilt (5-5/2-5 SEC) -- 33-28
  • Florida (5-5/3-5 SEC) -- 24-20
  • New Mexico St. (4-6/2-3 WAC) -- 63-16
  • Auburn (6-4/4-3 SEC) -- 45-7

That is a whole lot of crappy teams and several of those wins were nail-biters. Auburn isn't even as good as their 6-4 record might appear as they have had 3 close wins and are averaging only 338 ypg on offense while giving up 413 ypg on defense.

Georgia has feasted on an incredibly soft schedule. I am not saying that UM would roll Georgia by any means, but UGA is a paper tiger if there ever was one. UM vs. Georgia would be a pretty competitve matchup.

IronDMK

November 14th, 2011 at 1:10 PM ^

Michigan faces in the bowl game, it will be a tough contest (from the 3 most likely, that is).  But if the defense keeps improving week to week, I think they'll be in the game with a good chance to come out on top.  Georgia does seem to be on a roll, so I think playing them would be my least favorite matchup.

But more important to me than any bowl game is WINNING THE NEXT TWO GAMES!!

babarblue99

November 14th, 2011 at 2:21 PM ^

I like playing any SEC team other than LSU or 'bama in the bowl game...will be a great opportunity for the team to see the speed and skill of the SEC well ahead of the game in Dallas. While bowl wins are important, I think this year has proven to be a learning experience for the staff and players - bowl game should be no different.

JClay

November 14th, 2011 at 1:18 PM ^

In all honesty, if we aren't in the BCS, I'd rather us be in the gator bowl and roll Florida in-state, in front of all the instate talent. (Probably) losing to Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl -- which I'm not certain has more name recognition/appeal than the Gator now that it's dropped the Citrus Bowl moniker -- doesn't seem like an upgrade to me.

Fredgoblu

November 14th, 2011 at 6:13 PM ^

...that has to be one of the most godawful cities and venues for a bowl game. Absolutely dreadful. They put up both fan bases at the same hotel, and there's nothing to do in the town, unless you've got something to pawn or need a bail bond.

No Gator Bowl. Ever.

bronxblue

November 14th, 2011 at 2:34 PM ^

I have no desire to make the BCS this year with this team - it is a good unit but clearly a step behind the likes of Bama, Stanford, etc.  Last year everyone watched MSU get waxed when they played a legit team, and this year has been good enough that I'd hate to see it be sullied by a drubbing at the hands of Oregon or some similar team.  Georgia scares me (though their streak has been aided by running through the lower half of the SEC), but a matchup against an Arkansas or South Carolina would be interesting. 

My only other goal is to see MSU play a team that destroys them, continuing the 0-for-career for guys like Worthy, Cousins, etc.  Let Dantonio remain winless in bowl games (save for a Fort Worth Bowl victory while at Cincy). 

MichiganITtoWINit

November 14th, 2011 at 3:43 PM ^

I hate MSU just as much as the next guy, but come bowl season, I will always root for the Big Ten team over any other team. We have taken a huge hit concidering our reputation amongst other conferences, bowl season is where we have a chance to prove that we are more credible than the rankings project. An Oregon waxing of MSU would be awesome though, especially since the pac 12 might have just as much to prove 

In The Shadow …

November 14th, 2011 at 3:56 PM ^

You have to be kidding right?  I guess the only good thing about this matchup would be Houston getting their a$$es handed to them like they have been doing to all their opponents with losing records this year.

RoseBowlBound

November 14th, 2011 at 4:33 PM ^

If I'm a ticket broker, I don't think I want to get long any more Cincy/Clemson tickets than I can sell immediately.  That isn't even a good regional matchup for a typical saturday 3:30 start time.

joeyb

November 14th, 2011 at 4:59 PM ^

If Nebraska wins out, I would not be suprised to see them picked up in the Fiesta Bowl. Can you imagine if Oklahoma and Nebraska faced off for the first time since Nebraska left the Big 12? That could happen if Oklahoma wins the Big 12 and doesn't get selected to the NCG or if they lose to OSU and get selected as their replacement. It won't happen if Nebraska has 3 losses, though.

smwilliams

November 14th, 2011 at 6:24 PM ^

Explain to me again, why the Big East has a BCS bid.

Cincinnati is in a BCS game after they got blasted by 22 by Tennessee who currently sits at 0-6 in the SEC.

Clemson-West Virginia is the more intriguing game, even though West Virginia barely got by Cincy, lost to Syracuse and got killed by the one good team they faced.

Interesting that most everybody is basically saying...

BCS Championship: LSU (if they win out) vs Oklahoma State-Oklahoma winner

Rose Bowl: Michigan State-Wisconsin winner vs Oregon (assuming no Pac 12 title game upset)

Sugar: Alabama vs Houston

Fiesta: Oklahoma-Oklahoma State loser vs Stanford

Orange: Clemson-Virginia Tech rematch winner vs Big East Champ

 

oriental andrew

November 14th, 2011 at 7:11 PM ^

the Big East wasn't always so hapless.  They did have Miami and Florida St and VaTech and BC, to go along with WVU, Pitt, Syracuse (they were good a decade+ ago at the start of the BCS era).  That's a pretty good lineup of teams.  Of course, when 4 of them leave...   Also, it's always easier to give a benefit than it is to take it away.  It made sense at the time.  Given the change in the football landscape, it makes less and less sense. 

ForeverVoyaging

November 18th, 2011 at 10:29 AM ^

Agreed,a BCS bowl is only good if we get the ACC/Big East champion. I say this only because I watched part of Virginia Tech's game last night,and I came to the conclusion that they might be worse than half the Big Ten. Saying a win over Georgia Tech merits a top 10 ranking is like saying that beating Michigan in 2009 was an impressive victory. As for the Big East, well, what can you say about the Big East?