Current Bowl Records
FYI, current bowl records for the auto qualifiers and the Mountain West:
ACC -- 3-3
Big 12 -- 3-2
Big 10 -- 3-2
Big East -- 3-2
Pac 10 -- 2-5
SEC -- 3-3
MWC -- 4-0
The Pac 10 is the big loser this year. Their season is finished and they didn't do too well. The irony is that the Pac 10 seemed to be regarded by most pundits as on par with the SEC as the best conference this season. Maybe we'll get to hear about what's wrong with the PAC 10 all off season.
The Mountain West has had great success against the big boys again this year, and can round out a perfect 5-0 season if TCU can handle Boise St. The MWC may be weak on the bottom, but any conference would take an 80% winning percentage.
I'm pretty pleased with the Big 10 so far--despite the Big 10 consistently being stuck with poor match ups. If Sparty or Iowa can pull out a win, the Big 10 should be able to get the monkey off its back with a very strong bowl season.
January 2nd, 2010 at 3:22 PM ^
Things would look really great if Northwestern could have made a FG. Big Ten would be 4-1 and 2-0 vs SEC, while SEC would be 2-4.
January 2nd, 2010 at 3:24 PM ^
Both of them were so bad. If either team just didn't flail around, it would have been a blow out.
January 2nd, 2010 at 3:41 PM ^
for the Outback in Jacksonville versus the Champs Sports bowl in Orlando.
I know NW upset Wiscy to tie Wiscy for 4th place in the B10. (NW was 8-4 overall, while Wiscy was 9-3). Wiscy has the much better travelling fan base, and had been to Orlando the prior year in the Citrus. I would have expected the fanbase travel record to be the determining factor.
January 2nd, 2010 at 6:36 PM ^
in many years and bowls felt there was a lot of pent up demand in its fan base. One of the reasons they don't draw well at home is that its fan base is dispersed nationally. Wisconsin had been to either Tampa or Orlando for several years running and there was a feeling its fan base might have some Fla fatigue (why people from Wisconsin would ever tire of going to Fla in late Dec. is a mystery to me). The Champs Sports people were hoping that the Outback Bowl would make the conventional choice and take Wisconsin, so it could have NU this year. Outback thought the same way as Champs and went with NU. NU sold its entire allotment and then some, so it was not a bad choice. Don't know about TV ratings, but nobody that was watching with 3 minutes left in regulation changed the channel.
January 2nd, 2010 at 5:06 PM ^
Not to mention NW threw 2 picks in the end-zone in the first half. One of those being a pick six. Ouch... NW should have won that game.
January 2nd, 2010 at 3:23 PM ^
Especially if Iowa can win, that would give the Big 10 solid wins in all their higher-caliber games.
January 2nd, 2010 at 3:36 PM ^
The Big Ten has been very good this bowl season, despite some seemingly poor matchups. I think national perception is really based on the MSM, who seem to have an anti-Big Ten mantra about them. Miami lost that game more than Wisconsin won it seems to be the consensus. Ohio State won because of Oregon mistakes, just as Penn State won because of LSU's poor play-calling. Northwestern and Minnesota were lucky to hang around and keep it close. See, it's easy to twist the games to fit an agenda. Never mind that Wisconsin's "plodding" (per DocSat) team absolutely destroyed Miami on defense and were able to pick apart their team all game. If it weren't for a gimmick and Wisky's use of a prevent defense (and fortunate departure from it on the last drive), Jacory and the 'Canes were totally shut down. Ohio State and Pryor had "no chance" to stop Oregon's offense, but Pryor outplayed Masoli and the Bucks were in control all game. Penn State kept it too close and while Miles had another lapse in clock-management, the Nittany Lions kicked four field goals from within the ten-yard line! Northwestern survived 5 Kafkaesque picks to stay close, and outgained the Tigers by 200 yards, the same Auburn team that stood toe-to-toe with the "best" team in the country, Alabama. Minnesota choked that game away, but that game was between two creampuffs anyways, so not much can be taken from that game, other than that the seventh-best team in the conference is just as good as number eight in the Big XII.
Unfortunately, national perception will go as Michigan goes, when the flagship program of the conference finishes last, the conference will be seen as weak. Michigan is bad so the Big Ten is bad. Logic of sports fans right there. Ohio State is an elite program that finally broke through, Iowa is a group of tremendous overachievers, Penn State is solid as always, Northwestern and Wisconsin are set up for great teams, and MSU with Minnesota managed to get six wins.
And this was supposed to be a down year. The Big Ten is good.
January 2nd, 2010 at 3:51 PM ^
Big 10 does look really good this bowl season--especially Wisky and tOSU. They beat the shit out of Miami and Oregon.
Penn State was also a huge win--I thought they were seriously hosed against LSU.
BTW, South Carolina is getting shut out in the 3rd quarter by UConn 13-0. That's not a bad opener next year.
January 2nd, 2010 at 4:02 PM ^
I think that subjectively, the Big Ten looked really strong this bowl season so far.
And by "not a bad opener" you mean a good opponent, right? Personally, I think that we have a good chance of losing, which is a bad opener, unfortunately.
I don't think anyone is giving Northwestern that much credit, but they beat a then-undefeated team on the road and upset a 10-win team at home. Plus, they played toe-to-toe with an apparently far superior team. I think Fitzgerald is Barry Alvarez Wildcat version, and with Stanford's success, I think that they can maintain a level of relative excellence even with the admission standards. This year, like the Big Ten overall, they were supposed to be down, and this year, like the Big Ten, overachieved and was very successful.
January 2nd, 2010 at 4:22 PM ^
You know, I agree with you on the analysis of that game. I watched the post game show and Desmond Howard seemed almost pissed off that OSU won (I might be able to attribute that to him being a UM grad if he wasn't such a dumbass).
It's as if the revisionism began immediately on some accounts. All these guys had Oregon rolling OSU--but then when OSU beats them it's because Oregon forgot to show up.
I watched OSU take that game away from them. I also saw Oregon constantly set up with great field position due to kick returns--only to have OSU's defense stop them. And then Oregon even took the lead--but still OSU scored 10 unanswered points to put them away.
I would like to apologize to the media for the Big Ten deciding to show up this bowl season. Go ahead, blame me.
On a side note: Upon further review--am I the only one who noticed how eerily similar the PSU-LSU game and th Rose Bowl were? The scores were even identical at two points in the fourth quarter at 17-16 SEC team (coming back after being dominated), and then again at 19-17.
Something to think about. Or not.
January 2nd, 2010 at 5:24 PM ^
Sooo...Michigan had like 100 yards more of total offense than the ducks against osu which makes Michigan a top 10 team right...right? (Waking up from fantasyland) I cant wait until September! In a non-homoerotic way I miss Tate.
January 2nd, 2010 at 3:52 PM ^
thanks for compiling the records. Hope Texas can beat Saban
January 2nd, 2010 at 4:00 PM ^
in addition to the NW missed FG, also not accounting for the minn fumble with 3 minutes left trailing by one point on iowa state 20 yard line... two plays from being 5-0 right now...
January 2nd, 2010 at 5:04 PM ^
B10 has exceeded expectations in the bowls but now I am even more concerned than before about the need and importance of M defense. Wisc and osu essentially stifled Mia and Ore offenses. The run games and short yardage game monopolized the clock. The formula is there and pretty simple to beat a speed/"explosive" team, just clock management. osu had the ball 22 min to Ore 8 min in the 1st half. Now, watching Uconn, their defense is shutting out So Carolina at this pt, which is v. impressive considering this is a bowl game. I hope M's defense steps up and improves dramatically in 2010.
January 2nd, 2010 at 6:29 PM ^
We've all been brain washed to associate time of possession as an offensive stat when its an overall team stat. Of course the B10's m.o. for the preceding few decades has a little something to do with that. Defense is typically an after thought at best when it comes to T.O.P. If you have a reliable defense, any offensive scheme is viable.
January 2nd, 2010 at 7:10 PM ^
OSU and Wisky kicked the shit out of two pretty good teams. That's why they had better TOP numbers. Kick the shit out of a team and you get better TOP.
I'm a big believer in indirect correlation with certain football stats. For example, a graphic may pop up displaying how the run/pass differential is very small for a team when it wins and large when it loses. This is likely because the team had to abandon the run to save time, not because the coaches aren't calling the right mix of run/pass.
January 2nd, 2010 at 9:48 PM ^
Everybody has power and everybody has speed, so really the only difference is the offensive schemes. Sure, Wisconsin may not have as much speed as Miami, but they have some nevertheless. Some teams aren't suited to face NFL-style ground running schemes, and some aren't suited to face sprea one-on-one matchup offenses. Unfortunately we can't stop either.
January 2nd, 2010 at 5:47 PM ^
Talk about being defeatist and buying into the meme that the conference blows. A win is a win and a loss is a loss.
The conference is 3-2. Period. Let's talk about trying to go 5-2 (which would be an impressive bowl record and take away from the stench the Big Ten has thrown out there the last few postseasons).
January 2nd, 2010 at 7:06 PM ^
What moral victory?
Right now, the Big 10 is in 2nd behind the Big East in overall bowl record with a very high profile win and three upset victories. The SEC is at .500 right now, and on pace to go below .500 if Mallett and Co. keep coughing it up to ECU.
The Big 10 is playing quite well next to its peers and is on pace for its best bowl season in several years.
January 2nd, 2010 at 7:29 PM ^
on this post is about how "well" Minnesota and Northwestern played. They both played well enough to lose. How they lost or how many yards they gained is irrelevant. They lost.
I don't think the Big Ten should be about "beating expectations." It should be about winning. When you talk about beating expectations, you're basically admitting you aren't very good.
If the Big Ten continues to win bowl games and out of conference games the respect will return. If it doesn't, it won't. It's that simple.
January 2nd, 2010 at 7:31 PM ^
Northwestern didn't play well. Neither did Auburn. The finish was exciting, but good God both teams were horrid.
January 2nd, 2010 at 8:13 PM ^
The SEC is looking awfully mediocre and falling far short of the alleged claims of superiority by their fans. Even their wins have been suspect. Ole Miss won an incredibly ugly game against OK State featuring eleven (11) turnovers. Auburn is vastly superior athletically yet needed OT against Northwestern. Their losses have been more revealing. South Carolina was whipped by middling UConn. Tennessee was whipped by VA Tech. Arkansas is in a dogfight with mid major East Carolina. Even with an Alabama win, the SEC will look mediocre at best.