Big Ten Bowl Projections, Post-Week 6

It’s the return of making things up solely to argue about why Minnesota totally will or will not leapfrog Iowa in the bowl pecking order. DADDY NEEDS A TRIP TO JACKSONVILLE, Y’ALL.

College Football Playoff

Fiesta Bowl: Glendale, AZ

December 28 | 3pm | ESPN

Clemson Tigers (CFP #2) vs. Georgia Bulldogs (CFP #3)

Peach Bowl: Atlanta, GA

December 28 | 7pm | ESPN

Alabama Crimson Tide (CFP #1) vs. Ohio State Buckeyes (CFP #4)

New Year’s Six

Cotton Bowl: Arlington, TX

December 28 | 11am | ESPN

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (At-Large) vs. Boise State Broncos (Group of 5)

Orange Bowl: Miami Gardens, FL

December 30 | 7pm | ESPN

Wake Forest Demon Deacons (ACC) vs. LSU Tigers (B1G/SEC)

Rose Bowl: Pasadena, CA

January 1 | 4pm | FOX

wisconsin badgers (B1G) vs. Oregon Ducks (Pac-12)

Sugar Bowl: New Orleans, LA

January 1 | 7:45pm | ESPN

Oklahoma Sooners (Big XII) vs. Florida Gators (SEC)

Big Ten Bowl Games

Quick Lane Bowl: Detroit, MI

December 26 | 7pm | ESPN

Temple Owls* vs. Syracuse Orange

Pinstripe Bowl: New York, NY

December 27 | 2:20pm | ESPN

Michigan State Spartans vs. North Carolina Tar Heels

Redbox Bowl: Santa Clara, CA

December 30 | 3pm | FOX

Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. California Golden Bears

Citrus Bowl: Orlando, FL

January 1 | 12pm | ABC

Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Auburn Tigers

Outback Bowl: Tampa, FL

January 1 | 12pm | ABC

Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Mississippi St. Bulldogs

Gator Bowl: Jacksonville, FL

January 2 | 6pm | ESPN

Michigan Wolverines vs. Texas A&M Aggies

Armed Forces Bowl: Fort Worth, TX

January 4 | 10:30am | ESPN

Indiana Hoosiers vs. Air Force Falcons

Full Bowl Projections

B1G Thoughts

• Ohio State wins the Big Ten. We can accept that, right?
• Is wisconsin fraudulent? Sure. Probably. But if they survive the crossover with just a pair of losses to Ohio State, maybe they can do enough to stay above the Nittany Lions in the rankings.
• OK, the calculus on this is tough-ish, but follow me: I don’t think Penn State can do enough to leapfrog Notre Dame in the CFP rankings—the Irish make it through vs. USC and at Michigan, and the latter gives them enough to get over the hump in the New Year’s Six.
• Neither Iowa nor Michigan are going back to the Outback...right? RIGHT? You could flip-flip them if you wanted for Holiday and Gator, but the Gator won’t choose Iowa again, so that’s how the cookie crumbles.
• Minnesota gets a well-deserved bowl to...
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  ring in the New Year.
• I will stop, but I will not apologize.
• Feels like more Nebraska fans would go west than east, and vice versa for Michigan State fans. Is Cal a good opponent? Can Cal get to bowl eligibility? I’m not actually concerned with the answer.
• At some point, the Big Ten actually has to send a team to the Armed Forces Bowl. So why not Indiana, bowling for the first time in God knows how long? That sure beats Detroit for the Hoosiers, and Syracuse Orange-Temple Owls feels like a very Ford Field-worthy game.

Random Observations

• I went off-script for a number of these, because if there’s something the 2018 bowl season taught me, it’s that bowls and TV providers are looking for some odd hot-watch games in the early slate. Hence Boise State-Boston College, though the First Responders Bowl met a cruel fate. That’s why Army in the Gasparilla Bowl, that’s why SMU makes the drive to Houston for a high-octane shootout with Oklahoma State.
• Speaking of! The Appalachian State Mountaineers just keep doing the damn thing. They’re 4-0 (1-0), making noise in the Sun Belt, and should get a serious look for one of the many bowls the abysmal non-Top 25 SEC cannot fill.
• Seriously—look at the SEC. The Missouri Tigers are bowl-ineligible this year, meaning it’s pretty bleak after #25 Texas A&M Aggies. I felt like I was reaching throwing CLANGA in there, and after that Kentucky and Ole Miss have to be inch-perfect themselves. EvErYbOdY bEaTs EvErYbOdY, though.
• In that vein, while the Pac-12 eliminated itself by, like, Week 3 from the College Football Playoff, I will remain skeptical on Oklahoma Sooners until further notice (probably next week, because I’m not legally obligated to be consistent about this, and you can’t make me). Everything is terrible, and the SEC will get two teams in.
• No one else in the world cares, but the San Jose State Spartans travel to Reno in what might be an early play-in game with the Nevada Wolf Pack. SJSU should peel off at least one more win at UNLV, but over a brutal final six games they’re home only twice (vs. San Diego State and Boise State) and have to travel to both Army and Hawaii. Yeesh.
• Games I will watch:
  —Utah vs. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in Vegas? THAT’S DWT;WT PORN.
  —Army vs. UCF. The paucity of second-tier SEC teams could give us some really intriguing matchups in bad pre-Christmas slots.
  —Take the over on Toledo-Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
  —Appalachian State vs. Virginia. BELK IT UP, ‘NEERS. JUMP INTO ALL THOSE TREES.

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Feel free to use the comments to tell me why I’m an idiot.