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Another week, another bunch of games that saw the established order in the Big Ten shaken up.
Sure, Ohio State is still the best team in the league until proven otherwise. But Indiana and Northwestern continued their ascents while traditional powers Michigan and Penn State lost again. The Wolverines and Nittany Lions are a combined 1-5; the Hoosiers and Wildcats are a combined 6-0.
Everyone saw that coming, right?
Factor in Notre Dame’s huge win over No. 1 Clemson on Saturday and the bowl projections were shaken up from the very top — the College Football Playoff — all the way down. That’s why Ohio State’s projected opponent in the Rose Bowl (a CFP semifinal) changed to Clemson, which of course would be a rematch of last year’s semifinal.
A couple of reminders: These projections reflect where we think teams will be after the conference championship games around the country, not where they are now. Also, the B1G lost one of its contracted bowls when the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit was canceled.
Here are the latest B1G bowl projections:
Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs. Clemson
Fiesta Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Oregon
Citrus Bowl: Indiana vs. Auburn
Outback Bowl: Northwestern vs. Missouri
Duke’s Mayo Bowl: Purdue vs. Wake Forest
Music City Bowl: Maryland vs. South Carolina
Pinstripe Bowl: Minnesota vs. Pitt
Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Michigan vs. West Virginia
Longtime newspaper veteran Jim Tomlin is a writer and editor for saturdaytradition.com and saturdaydownsouth.com.