The Big Ten Conference is one of the deepest conferences in football this season, unlike in previous years. With potentially ten teams becoming bowl eligible, only the SEC can rival that total.
The conference also has four teams, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State, either in contention for a College Football Playoff spot or a New Year’s Six bowl game. Let’s take a look at where these bowl eligible teams may be headed entering rivalry week.
Illinois Fighting Illini (5-6)
*Illinois is playing for bowl eligibility this weekend against Northwestern.
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Not projected
CBS (Jerry Palm): Not projected
Fox Sports (Stewart Mandel): Not projected
Indiana Hoosiers (5-6)
*Indiana is playing for bowl eligibility this weekend against Purdue.
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Foster Farms Bowl vs. Washington State
CBS (Jerry Palm): Foster Farms Bowl vs. Washington State
Fox Sports (Stewart Mandel): Foster Farms Bowl vs. USC
Iowa Hawkeyes (11-0)
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Rose Bowl vs. Stanford
CBS (Jerry Palm): Rose Bowl vs. Stanford
Fox Sports (Stewart Mandel): Rose Bowl vs. Stanford
Michigan Wolverines (9-2)
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Fiesta Bowl vs. Notre Dame
CBS (Jerry Palm): Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl vs. Georgia
Fox Sports (Stewart Mandel): Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl vs. Temple
Michigan State Spartans (10-1)
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): College Football Playoff at Cotton Bowl vs. Alabama
CBS (Jerry Palm): College Football Playoff at Cotton Bowl vs. Alabama
Fox Sports (Stewart Mandel): College Football Playoff at Cotton Bowl vs. Alabama
Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-6)
*Minnesota is playing for bowl eligibility this weekend against Wisconsin.
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): New Era Pinstripe Bowl vs. Pittsburgh
CBS (Jerry Palm): not projected
Fox Sports (Stewart Mandel): not projected
Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-6)
*Nebraska is playing for bowl eligibility this Friday against Iowa.
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): not projected
CBS (Jerry Palm): Armed Forces Bowl vs. Air Force
Fox Sports (Stewart Mandel): Quick Lane Bowl vs. Central Michigan
Northwestern Wildcats (9-2)
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): TaxSlayer.com Bowl vs. Georgia
CBS (Jerry Palm): Music City Bowl vs. Ole Miss
Fox Sports (Stewart Mandel): Music City Bowl vs. Georgia
Ohio State Buckeyes (10-1)
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Citrus Bowl vs. Ole Miss
CBS (Jerry Palm): Fiesta Bowl vs. Houston
Fox Sports (Stewart Mandel): Citrus Bowl vs. Mississippi State
Penn State Nittany Lions (7-4)
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): TaxSlayer.com Bowl vs. Georgia
CBS (Jerry Palm): Music City Bowl vs. Ole Miss
Fox Sports (Stewart Mandel): Music City Bowl vs. Georgia
Wisconsin Badgers (8-3)
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Holiday Bowl vs. UCLA
CBS (Jerry Palm): Holiday Bowl vs. Utah
Fox Sports (Stewart Mandel): Holiday Bowl vs. Utah
As we can see, many Big Ten teams are projected to go to fairly significant bowl games. These are subject to drastic change as rivalry week approaches and the playoff contenders could either rise or be knocked down. It could also be possible that we see more than one Big Ten team in the College Football Playoff, although unlikely. We will have to see how things shake out, as which teams punch their ticket to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship will be very important.
The conference could possibly send a couple of teams to bowl games from the following group: Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Nebraska, even if those teams were to lose. Rutgers, currently as 4-7, would need to win in order to be considered. This is due to the NCAA’s issue with not having enough six-win teams to fill the slots. Therefore, there could be a situation where seven-loss teams are included.