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B1G bowl projections following Week 10: League might have 10 bowl teams but only 1 in the CFP
By Ethan Stone
Published:
The Big Ten West is an unmitigated disaster.
The division went 2-5 this weekend, with the only wins coming from Iowa (over Northwestern) and Illinois (over Minnesota) in intra-divisional matchups. In B1G crossover games, Wisconsin fell to Indiana, Purdue fell to Michigan and Nebraska stumbled over itself to lose 20-17 to Michigan State.
While it may be awful for the outlook of the B1G Championship in Indianapolis, this logjam in the West has given Illinois a chance to sneak back into the running for a bowl bid.
The Illini now sit at 4-5 on the year with Indiana, Iowa and Northwestern on the remaining schedule. It’s far from a guarantee, but it seems more likely than not Illinois cracks 6 wins. And so, we’re now up to 10 B1G teams projected to make the postseason. Maybe the Cure Bowl will be good for what ails Bret Bielema’s club this season.
Switching gears, let’s talk about Maryland. With its blowout loss to Penn State, Mike Locksley’s squad has now lost 4 in a row after starting the season 5-0. As I said last week, if they lose at Nebraska this coming Saturday, the Terps might miss out on 6 wins altogether.
Discussing the bottom of the B1G for too long is detrimental to one’s health. Let’s move on.
The top of the conference once again dominated in Week 10, with Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan picking up lopsided wins over Rutgers, Maryland and Purdue, respectively. With how the other conferences are performing this season, plus the weakness of “The Other 11” in the B1G, I’m just not sure 2 B1G teams will crack the Playoff.
For that reason, I’ll still roll with Michigan to win The Game and the B1G Championship for a spot in the Rose Bowl against Florida State in 1 CFP semifinal. The stakes for The Game get higher and higher each week, folks.
Rutgers lost, but they danced with Ohio State until the late stages of the 2nd half. And if you’ve watched the Scarlet Knights this year, you’d know that shouldn’t be too much of a shock. They could beat Iowa and Maryland. Whether they take advantage of those opportunities, we’ll see.
Outside of the B1G, losses by Oklahoma and Air Force shook some things up this week. In our projections, Tulane replaces Air Force in the Fiesta Bowl against Penn State, while Ohio State now draws Texas in the Peach Bowl instead of Alabama, which moved around in the SEC bowl projections.
Until next week, college football.
Big Ten bowl projections following Week 10
Rose Bowl (CFP semifinal): Michigan vs. Florida State
Peach Bowl: Ohio State vs. Texas
Fiesta Bowl: Penn State vs. Tulane
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl: Iowa vs. LSU
Music City Bowl: Rutgers vs. Auburn
Las Vegas Bowl: Minnesota vs. USC
Pinstripe Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Georgia Tech
Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Maryland vs. Iowa State
Quick Lane Bowl: Nebraska vs. Eastern Michigan
Cure Bowl: Illinois vs. Ohio
Ethan Stone was an editor for his student newspaper at the University of Tennessee and is now a News Manager for Saturday Tradition.