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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