Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor, August 1, 2012
Who's going to win the Big Ten this football season? Not two-time reigning champ Wisconsin, according to CBSSports.com's Jerry Palm. Palm predicts Michigan in the Rose Bowl, the bowl reserved for the Big Ten champ, in his latest 2012-13 bowl projections. Fear not, Wisconsin fans: Palm has your Badgers playing in the Fiesta Bowl.
[CBSSports.com: 2012-13 bowl prjoections]
Here's Palm's entire Big Ten bowl list:
Rose Bowl: Michigan vs. Oregon
Fiesta Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Oklahoma
Outback Bowl: Nebraska vs. Florida
Gator Bowl: Iowa vs. Mississippi State
Capital One Bowl: Michigan State vs. Georgia
TicketCity Bowl: Purdue vs. Toledo
Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl: Illinois vs. TCU
Meineke Car Car of Texas Bowl: Northwestern vs. Baylor
That's eight bowl teams. Remember, Ohio State and Penn State are not eligible to play in a bowl game this season due to NCAA sanctions.
Got to say I'm a bit surprised so many experts are on the Michigan-to-the-Rose-Bowl bandwagon. Don't get me wrong, the Wolverines have a good team, but they do play in the highly contested Legends Division. Seems like it would be a safer pick to take Wisconsin, the back-to-back champ, which has an easier road and is more likely to be at full strength for the Big Ten title game.
Brent Yarina is a web editor and blogger for BTN.com. Find all of his work here and follow him on twitter at @BTNBrentYarina.
