More than halfway home…who’s going to make bowl games?

What a strange Big Ten season it’s been so far. Let’s take a step back and see what to expect from this conference after November…..

Already Bowl-eligible

Ohio State (6-1) – Everybody expected us to make a bowl game, so this is no surprise. The Buckeyes are still the team to beat in the conference, but that game against Penn State looms large.

Penn State (7-0) – Dominating everybody in their path, Penn State actually became eligible last weekend. At this point, Penn State and Ohio State are looking to both make BCS Bowls.

Michigan State (6-1) – Expected to make a bowl, but not many people predicted they’d get there after just 7 weeks. The next two weeks will tell us if they earn a January bowl, or merely a late-December one, with contests against Ohio State and at Michigan. Can they upset the 3-time champion and follow it with a shedding of the “Little Brother” tag?

Minnesota (6-1) – Yeah, you heard me. The Gophers went from 1-11 to 6-1 that fast. they earned their bowl game today by slapping around Illinois in Champaign. And don’t look now, but do they have a shot at winning the Big Ten? They have a semi-favorable schedule (no Penn State, no Michigan State), and a LOT of confidence. They play Purdue, Northwestern and Michigan next, and look capable of beating all three. Can you imagine what this team will be dreaming of if they head into the last two games at 9-1? Oh, and they’d BETTER be ranked on Monday afternoon.

Bowl-eligibility just around the corner

Northwestern (5-1) – They have 6 games left to win just one, but their sights are set even higher than that. Four of the games are winnable, and they have a decent shot at finishing in the top half of the conference.

Remaining schedule;

• Purdue
• at Indiana
• at Minnesota
• Ohio state
• at Michigan
• Illinois

Iowa (4-3) – I wrote them off as dead after several poor outings. But they arose today with a severe beating of Indiana. They need two wins to pull off a surprise, but that might not be as easy as today was.

Remaining schedule;

• Wisconsin
• at Illinois
• Penn State
• Purdue
• at Minnesota

Better pick up the pace now

Illinois (3-3) – Last year’s Big Ten choice for a BCS Bowl is on the ropes after playing another week of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The Illini handed the game away to Minnesota today, then snatched it back, then gave it away again. At home, no less. They’re in trouble right now, and winning at least three of their final six games is mandatory for a bowl game. There are wins possible in all six games if they play like last week, but all 6 could be losses if they play like they did today.

Remaining schedule;

• Indiana
• at Wisconsin
• Iowa
• at Western Michigan (who schedules an OOC game AT WMU???)
• Ohio State
• at Northwestern

Wisconsin (3-3) – Three weeks ago, they were in the Top 10 and eyeing a BCS Bowl. Then game the second half of the Michigan game. They’ve been outscored 95-32 in the last 10 quarters of football. Desperation will now set in, and Wisconsin MUST win next week to salvage any hope of playing in December. Their schedule is favorable enough to get three wins, but will 6-6 be even remotely close to satisfactory? No. But neither will 9-3, and that’s the best they can possibly do now. The Badgers may actually need to beat Cal Poly at the end of the year just to get to .500. Yikes.

Remaining schedule

• at Iowa
• Illinois
• at Michigan State
• at Indiana
• Minnesota
• Cal Poly

Mmmmmmmmmaybe…….

Purdue (2-4) – The Boilers are not as bad as they appear to be. They held the two best teams in the Big Ten to 18 points per game, and actually SHOULD have beat Oregon. But they didn’t, and they are now 0-3 against ranked teams. The good news….only one ranked team left on the schedule. They’ve gotta win 4 of 6, but they have a shot. The schedule falls in their favor with a lot of the low-to-mid squads left to come.

Remaining schedule;

• at Northwestern
• Minnesota
• Michigan
• at Michigan State
• at Iowa
• Indiana

The party’s over

Michigan (2-4) – A LOT of misery and doubt could have been avoided with a .500 record after today. Michigan fans could have claimed it as a rebuilding year and been right to say so. The lousy play if Michigan could have been overlooked with the words “3-3″ and “rebuilding year”. But a home loss to Toledo ripped open all the scabs and blood is on the ground in Ann Arbor now. Now the worst part….Michigan just finished the easy part of their schedule. They have only 2 more home games, and they have to play in the two toughest stadiums known to man.

Remaining schedule;

• at Penn State
• Michigan State
• at Purdue
• at Minnesota
• Northwestern
• at Ohio State

Indiana (2-4) – All the spirit and confidence that was built last year has come crashing down in horrific fashion. The Hoosiers don’t even get to play Michigan for the right to chant “we’re number 10″. A promising start has turned into a nightmare, and the supposedly dangerous Hoosier QB has only shown his team the end zone twice in the last 9 quarters. It might get worse, but the Indiana outlook is better than Michigan’s at least. They might finish with a better record than UM, but winning 4 of the last 6 isn’t going to happen.

Remaining schedule;

• at Illinois
• Northwestern
• Central Michigan
• Wisconsin
• at Penn State
• at Purdue

The BBC sees 8 or 9 bowl-eligible teams in The Big Ten.

Agree or disagree?

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