The B1G has had somewhat of a split-personality in the postseason recently. Until last bowl season, it was somewhat of a running joke that the conference couldn’t get the job done in the postseason.

While the B1G hasn’t been overly dominant in its bowl appearances since the start of the College Football Playoff, it hasn’t been nearly as bad as some make it out to be.

First off, every team in the conference has appeared in at least one bowl game since 2014, with 11 teams winning at least one postseason contest.  But only six teams have posted a .500 record or better over the last four years, a figure that could use some improvement.

It’s not too surprising that Ohio State and Wisconsin have been the most dominant over the last four years, as the two B1G powers have gone a combine 8-1 in bowl games. Here’s the total team-by-team breakdown since 2014:

Teams Bowl Record
Illinois 0-1
Indiana 0-2
Iowa 1-3
Maryland 0-2
Michigan 1-2
Michigan State 2-1
Minnesota 2-1
Nebraska 1-2
Northwestern 2-1
Ohio State 4-1
Penn State 2-2
Purdue 1-0
Rutgers 1-0
Wisconsin 4-0

From a team-by-team breakdown, you might be expecting the B1G’s  overall record to be subpar in the postseason during the College Football Playoff era. But the conference hovered around .500 each of the first two years, with Ohio State going 2-0 in postseason play in 2014 to win the national title.

The conference struggled in 2016, winning just three of its nine bowl games. A huge bounce-back year came last postseason, when the B1G won all but one bowl game.

Here’s the year-by-year breakdown for the conference.

B1G (Year) Bowl Record
2014 6-5
2015 5-5
2016 3-6
2017 7-1
Total 21-17

Calculated, the B1G has a 55.3 winning percentage in bowl games since 2014.

Is that an overly impressive mark? Not at all. Is it as terrible as we expected? Probably not. 

The B1G hasn’t been dominant year-after-year, but it hasn’t been awful year-after-year, either. It’s held its own in the postseason, claiming a national title, some important New Years Six bowl victories and walking away with two winning records after bowl season.

We’ll see if the B1G can continue its success after that 7-1 postseason and continue to improve its record during the Playoff era.