Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor, July 5, 2012
Wisconsin is going to its third consecutive Rose Bowl — at least, that's what Phil Steele foresees. Steele has the Badgers, losers of the past two Rose Bowls, headed to Pasadena, Calif., to play Southern Cal in his updated 2012-13 bowl predictions. In all, Steele predicts nine Big Ten bowl teams. See all of his matchups in this post.
[PhilSteele.com: 2012-2013 Bowl Projections]
STEELE'S BIG TEN BOWL PROJECTIONS
Little Caesar's Bowl: Northwestern vs. Ohio
Meineke Car Care Bowl: Illinois vs. Texas Tech
Insight Bowl: Penn State vs. TCU
TicketCity Bowl: Purdue vs. Tulsa
Outback Bowl: Nebraska vs. Florida
Capital One Bowl: Michigan vs. Georgia
Gator Bowl: Iowa vs. South Carolina
Rose Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Southern Cal
Sugar Bowl: Michigan State vs. LSU
Can't say there are any surprises here. Nine Big Ten teams is a very safe prediction, seeing as how Indiana and Minnesota could struggle to reach the six-win barrier and Ohio State is ineligible for postseason play this season.
Matchup I'd most like to see: Michigan State vs. LSU – The Rose Bowl would be terrific, with two likely Heisman Trophy finalists (Montee Ball & Matt Barkley) facing off, but the level of defense in this matchup is too great to pass up.
Under-the-radar game that would be worth watching: Penn State vs. TCU – Like matchups that pit offensive wits vs. defensive wits? Bill O'Brien vs. Gary Patterson would be pretty entertaining.
Brent Yarina is a web editor and blogger for BTN.com. Find all of his work here and follow him on twitter at @BTNBrentYarina.
