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This has to be one of the best Big Ten races we’ve ever seen, at least in the East Division.
Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State are all 3-0 in the conference and the two Michigan teams are unbeaten overall, a perfect 6-0. Penn State took its first loss on Saturday at Iowa, but the Nittany Lions still control their destiny in the division race because all three of those aforementioned teams are still looming on the schedule.
The West race is a good bit clearer, with Iowa (6-0, 3-0) in command. The Hawkeyes have completed a sweep of their 3 East opponents for the season (Indiana, Maryland and Penn State) and have all 6 West rivals in front of them.
Speaking of Iowa, the Hawkeyes proved to be even more resilient than we thought in rallying from 17-3 down to knock PSU from the ranks of the unbeaten. It’s still anybody’s guess who will come out of the East to go to Indianapolis for the B1G Championship game, which is why for now we’re putting Iowa at the top of the pile – and into the College Football Playoff.
Alabama’s stunning loss to Texas A&M on Saturday cleared out a spot in the 4-team CFP field and the Hawkeyes are moving into that place in our B1G bowl projections this week.
As always, these projections reflect where we think these teams will wind up in December, now where they stand right now.
On to the Week 6 B1G bowl projections:
Orange Bowl (CFP semifinal): Iowa vs. Oklahoma
Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs. Oregon
Fiesta Bowl: Michigan vs. Mississippi
Citrus Bowl: Penn State vs. Arkansas
Outback Bowl: Michigan State vs. Florida
Las Vegas Bowl: Minnesota vs. Utah
Music City Bowl: Maryland vs. LSU
Pinstripe Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Louisville
Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Indiana vs. Texas Tech
Quick Lane Bowl: Rutgers vs. Western Michigan
Longtime newspaper veteran Jim Tomlin is a writer and editor for saturdaytradition.com and saturdaydownsouth.com.