Dienhart: Weekly Bowl Projections

Penn State is the lone Big Ten squad that is unbeaten in league play. But it has a tough stretch run-Nebraska, at Ohio State, at Wisconsin–giving the Badgers a shot to still win the Leaders Division and advance to the conference title game.

The Legends Division is a three-team race between Nebraska, Michigan and Michigan State. All figure to land good bowls regardless of who prevails. Eight teams-four from each division–look to be postseason bound, while Purdue, Northwestern and Minnesota continue to cling to their bowl hopes.

ROSE (vs. BCS)
Jan. 2, 2012
4:30 p.m., ET
Pasadena, Calif.
Wisconsin vs. Stanford

CAPITAL ONE (vs. SEC)
Jan. 2, 2012
1 p.m., ET
Orlando
Michigan vs. Arkansas

OUTBACK (vs. SEC)
Jan. 2, 2012
1 p.m., ET
Tampa
Nebraska vs. South Carolina

INSIGHT (vs. Big 12)
Dec. 30, 2011
10 p.m. ET
Tempe, Ariz.
Michigan State vs. Kansas State

TAXSLAYER GATOR BOWL (vs. SEC)
Jan. 2, 2012
1 p.m., ET
Jacksonville
Ohio State vs. Florida

MEINEKE CAR CARE of TEXAS (vs. Big 12)
Dec. 31, 2011
12 p.m. ET
Houston
Penn State vs. Baylor

TICKETCITY BOWL (vs. C-USA)
Jan 2., 2012
12 p.m., ET
Dallas
Iowa vs. SMU

LITTLE CAESARS (vs. MAC)
Dec. 27, 2011
4:30 p.m. ET
Detroit
Illinois vs. Temple

Note: Here is the Big Ten Bowl Selection Order:

First Selection: Rose Bowl Game/BCS
Second Selection: Capital One Bowl
Third Selection: Outback Bowl
Fourth Selection: Insight Bowl
Fifth Selection: Gator Bowl
Sixth Selection: Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas
Seventh Selection: TicketCity Bowl
Eighth Selection: Little Caesars Pizza Bowl

Tom Dienhart is a senior writer for BTN.com. Find all of his work at www.btn.com/tomdienhart, follow Dienhart on twitter at @BTNTomDienhart, and click here to subscribe to his RSS feed.