Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, December 17, 2014

Not all schedules are created equal. To that end, I wanted to take a look at how many bowl teams each Big Ten squad played this season.

[btn-post-package]

Yes, not all bowl teams are created the same, what with 38 bowls and 76 teams playing in the postseason. Still, this gives an interesting snapshot at each Big Ten team?s schedule resume.

10 – Ohio State: Navy, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati, Maryland, Rutgers, Penn State, Illinois, Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin.

9 – Purdue: Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Notre Dame, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin; Wisconsin: LSU, Bowling Green, Illinois, Maryland, Rutgers, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio State

8 – Illinois: Western Kentucky, Washington, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State, Iowa, Penn State; Indiana: Bowling Green, Missouri, Maryland, Iowa, Michigan State, Penn State, Rutgers, Ohio State; Michigan: Notre Dame, Utah, Minnesota, Rutgers, Penn State, Michigan State, Maryland, Ohio State;  Nebraska: Fresno State, Miami (Fla.), Illinois, Michigan State, Rutgers, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa; Northwestern: Northern Illinois, Penn State, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Notre Dame, Illinois

7 – Maryland: West Virginia, Ohio State, Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State, Michigan State, Rutgers; Rutgers: Penn State, Navy, Ohio State, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Maryland

6 – Iowa: Pitt, Maryland, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska; Michigan State: Oregon, Nebraska, Ohio State, Maryland, Rutgers, Penn State; Minnesota: TCU, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio State, Nebraska, Wisconsin; Penn State: UCF, Rutgers, Ohio State, Maryland, Illinois, Michigan State

Some thoughts …

  • Ohio State leads the way with 10 bowl teams played, getting a boost from playing a 13th game vs. Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game.
  • Purdue, along with Ohio State, played the most bowl teams within the confines of the normal regular-season schedule, taking on nine postseason clubs.
  • The Buckeyes and Boilermakers were the lone conference clubs to play three bowl teams in the non-conference.
About Tom Dienhart 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.

And if you want to leave a comment on this post, use the box below. All comments need to be approved by a moderator.