The Big Ten is likely to have 10 bowl-eligible teams
We've heard all year that the Big Ten is "down." If you measure conferences based on the number of teams they have in the top 10, that might be true, but if you instead evaluate them based on how balanced they are, the league is actually doing quite well. There are nine bowl-eligible teams in the league right now, which is already unprecedented in league history and Purdue needs only to beat hapless Indiana next week to make it ten.
A big part of the reason why there are no Big Ten teams in the top 10 is that the league is cannibalizing itself. Michigan, MSU, Wisconsin, Nebraska, PSU and Illinois went a combined 22-2 out of conference, but now all of them have at least two losses overall. But I digress. Here are the league's tie-ins:
#1 - Rose
#2 - Capital One
#3 - Outback
#4 - Gator
#5 - Insight
#6 - Meineke
#7 - Ticket City
#8 - Pizza
Now here are the bowl-eligible teams:
PSU - 9-2 (6-1)
MSU - 9-2 (6-1)
Wisconsin - 9-2 (5-2)
Michigan - 9-2 (5-2)
Nebraska - 8-3 (4-3)
Iowa - 7-4 (4-3)
OSU - 6-5 (3-4)
Northwestern - 6-5 (3-4)
Illinois - 6-5 (2-5)
Purdue* 5-6 (3-4) (*needs one more win)
If we assume Purdue beats IU to finish 6-6, who will go where? Will one Big Ten team get shut out of the postseason, even if we put two teams in the BCS? And how will teams be ranked when there are two divisions?
November 20th, 2011 at 12:50 PM ^
Big 10 to have 10 bowl eligible teams. And if this year is like every other year we'll be underdogs and playing higher ranked teams in each and every one of them. And when an unranked Northwestern (for example) loses to a team like South Carolina 21-17 all the talking heads will talk about how "down" the Big 10 is again this year.
Once...just ONCE i'd like our teams to play teams ranked lower and see just how down we are.
November 20th, 2011 at 12:51 PM ^
I've been seeing people projecting us to get an At-Large with a win over Ohio of course. I think this would be awesome and the way this team is playing right now there is that many teams in the country that could beat us. Here are some projections I found.
http://cfn.scout.com/2/557866.html - Allstate Sugar Bowl: MIchigan vs. Houston
http://collegebowlprojections.com/ncaa-college-football-bowl-predictions/ - Allstate Sugar Bowl: Michigan vs. Stanford
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/bowls/predictions - Allstate Sugar Bowl: Michigan vs. Houston
November 20th, 2011 at 1:03 PM ^
Houston please, and step on it!
November 20th, 2011 at 1:12 PM ^
November 20th, 2011 at 1:41 PM ^
In terms of B10 teams whose fans travel well, I'm not sure M is always so reliable. Seems to me that M fans travel for the biggest bowl games but not so much for the secondary ones. (Commence arrogance meme.) You don't see stands filled with maize-and-blue at Gator Bowls or Alamo Bowls. But certain B10 fanbases -- Nebraska, Wisky, PSU, maybe Iowa -- would travel to Antarctica. I think most bowl committees operate under this premise.
November 20th, 2011 at 2:02 PM ^
This is true, but since we're talking about BCS games, they don't care whether or not we'll turn out for Gator/Alamo-type games. Michigan is a great TV draw, which is probably the biggest factor.
November 20th, 2011 at 2:18 PM ^
The bowl system is absolutely retarded. Those 6 win teams should not be going to bowls. The fact that so many B10 teams are bowl eligible speaks to an over-inflated bowl system, not the strength of the B10.
IMO 8 wins should be the minimum to be bowl eligible. Bowls should be a reward for a good season. At 6-6 you're .500. And let's be honest, at 7-5, yeah, winning record, but, it's still mediocre, just 1 game over .500. At 6-6 or 7-5, a team doesn't deserve a post-season.
Get rid of half the bowls, make the minimum 8-4. It will never happen because of money, but that's the way things should be.
November 20th, 2011 at 2:26 PM ^
If I understand your question about how the teams are ranked with two divisions, you are asking how the #2 team that goes to the Capital One Bowl is decided for example. The answer is that they aren't 'ranked'. The tie in to each bowl is just the order they select in. In other words, the Capital One Bowl has the #2 pick from the Big Ten after the Rose Bowl. They could pick Illinois if they wanted to. It's not bound to the team that finished second in the conference.
November 20th, 2011 at 2:36 PM ^
They couldn't pick Illinois. According to Big Ten rules, a team can't be picked ahead of another team that is two games better than them in the overall standings. If Illinois finishes 7-5, they can be picked over an 8-4 team but not a 9-3 (or better team).
November 20th, 2011 at 2:39 PM ^
Ok good catch, but that wasn't really the point.
November 20th, 2011 at 4:04 PM ^
it is evidence of there being way too many bowls.