Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, September 17, 2012
Three weeks are in the books, but the bowl picture remains a work-in-progress. To review: The Big Ten has tie-ins with eight bowls-but it has only 10 bowl-eligible schools, as Penn State and Ohio State are on NCAA and banned from the postseason in 2012.
The Big Ten did little to improve its stock on Saturday, despite posting a 10-2 mark. The conference lost its biggest game, as Michigan State fell at home to Notre Dame. The other loss? Indiana lost in Bloomington on a last-second field goal to Ball State.
[Related: Week 4 Big Ten Power Rankings | Week 4 Big Ten Player Rankings]
The most impressive win of the day came with Ohio State downing Cal. And even that victory wasn?t overly impressive, as the Golden Bears aren?t a top Pac-12 team.
Despite all of that, I think the Big Ten still will be able to fill all of its bowl spots-but that could change. And, it still could get two teams in the BCS. History says it?s likely to happen, as the Big Ten has had two teams in the BCS 11 times in the 14-year history of the system.
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Here is my fourth look at where your school may be bowling over the holidays:
BOWL GAME | DATE | OTHER CONFERENCE | DIENHART'S PROJECTIONS |
Little Caesars Pizza | Dec. 26 | MAC | Ohio vs. Minnesota |
Buffalo Wild Wings | Dec. 29 | Big 12 | Kansas State vs. Northwestern |
Meineke Car Care | Dec. 28 | Big 12 | Oklahoma State vs. Iowa |
TicketCity | Jan. 1 | C-USA | Central Florida vs. Illinois |
Capital One | Jan. 1 | SEC | Georgia vs. Wisconsin |
Outback | Jan. 1 | SEC | Florida vs. Nebraska |
Gator | Jan. 1 | SEC | South Carolina vs. Purdue |
Fiesta | Jan. 3 | BCS | Oklahoma vs. Michigan |
Rose | Jan. 1 | BCS | Oregon vs. Michigan State |
BTN.com senior writer Tom Dienhart is a veteran sports journalist who covers Big Ten football and men's basketball for BTN.com and BTN TV. Find him on Twitter and Facebook, read all of his work at btn.com/tomdienhart, and subscribe to his posts via RSS. Also, send questions to his weekly mailbag using the form below and read all of his previous answers in his reader mailbag section. |
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