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Bowl Analysis
A look at the Big Ten tie-ins and the national landscape.
 

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - By virtue of its 33-25 Old Oaken Bucket victory at Indiana on Saturday, the Purdue football team became bowl eligible for the first time since 2007.

The Boilermakers are 6-6 overall, having won two of their final three games. They finished 4-4 in Big Ten Conference play, good for third place in the Leaders Division.

As for bowl invitations, which will be extended Sunday, Dec. 4, here is what is known at this point:

There are 10 Big Ten teams that are bowl eligible, including four with 6-6 records: Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio State and Purdue. Of those four, the Boilermakers have the best conference record. Northwestern and Ohio State are 3-5 and Illinois is 2-6.

The Big Ten has eight bowl tie-ins. The conference champion - the winner of next Saturday's inaugural conference championship game between Michigan State (10-2) and Wisconsin (10-2) - will go to the Rose Bowl. The loser must be picked no later than the fourth selection, meaning either the Capital One, Outback or Insight.

The first big question is whether the Big Ten gets an at-large team in a BCS bowl, and Michigan, with a 10-2 record, figures to have a good chance. The Wolverines have met the nine-win requirement and need to be in the top 14 in the final BCS standings. They were No. 14 last week and should not drop.

The Capital One and Outback both may select any eligible team except a team that has two fewer wins or two more losses (in all games) than another eligible team. If a second team goes to a BSC bowl, that requirement is waived for the Outback Bowl.

The remaining five bowls - Insight, Taxslayer.com Gator, Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, TicketCity and Little Caesars Pizza - may pick any remaining eligible team in that order.

A few points to ponder among the four 6-6 Big Ten teams:

* Purdue and Northwestern both won two of their final three games, while Illinois and Ohio State both lost their last three games. Illinois dropped its final six games after a 6-0 start.

* In terms of attendance, Illinois averaged 49,548 fans per home game, followed by Purdue at 45,225 and Northwestern at 33,442. Ohio State averaged 105,231.

* Last season, Illinois played in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, while Northwestern played in the TicketCity Bowl.

Nationally Speaking

All told, there are 35 bowl games, meaning 70 teams get to play in them. As of today, there are 72 eligible teams, with one more guaranteed (the winner of Pittsburgh-Syracuse next week) and three more possible (Connecticut, Hawaii and South Florida each need to win next week).

Two conferences are not expected to fill their bowl commitments - the Atlantic Coast (Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco) and Conference USA (likely R+L Carriers Bowl in New Orleans), and Navy is not eligible for the Military Bowl in Washington, D.C. So those destinations could be possible at-large berths for Big Ten teams not selected by Big Ten bowls.


 

 

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