Ad Disclosure
A week with a couple of upsets has led to a shakeup in the Big Ten bowl projections.
High expectations have crumbled into 0-2 starts for Penn State and Minnesota. Purdue, Northwestern and Indiana are on the other end of the spectrum, feeling good after getting off to 2-0 starts.
And in this oddball season, where each B1G team has only eight games (plus a ninth on Championship Weekend), it’s more important than ever to get off to a good start.
The season is weird for other reasons, mostly related to COVID-19. The Quick Lane Bowl, scheduled for Detroit, has been canceled. That means the B1G has lost one of its contracted bowls. The Quick Lane is one of several postseason games to be called off this season, a list that also includes the Holiday, Fenway, Redbox, Bahamas and Hawaii bowls.
On the other hand, the NCAA has waived its normal wins requirement for this season because so many teams are playing shortened schedules, including the B1G. But will there still be some sort of standard? One would think (hope?) that, say, all teams at .500 or over would get priority over teams that go 2-7. But ESPN only set the schedule for its bowls a few days ago, and there’s still a lot in the air, including how many spectators will be allowed at each game.
Here are the latest B1G bowl projections:
[table “” not found /]
Longtime newspaper veteran Jim Tomlin is a writer and editor for saturdaytradition.com and saturdaydownsouth.com.