It’s that time of the year when the discussion pivots from what teams are going bowling to which bowl game each team will be assigned. With nine teams bowl eligible for the conference, here are the potential bowl games for the Big Ten conference this season.
Big Ten Bowl Selection Procedures
How are the bowls ultimately decided? Well, quite frankly it’s a bit of a complex process that has a spaghetti monster’s worth of dependencies. The short answer is that the Big Ten will send teams to various bowls that they have partnered with (see below) based on a number of criteria:
- Where the team finished in the final Big Ten standings
- Whether or not the team has recently played in that bowl game – in fact, Big Ten schools will not be able to go to the same bowl game in consecutive years, except for the Rose Bowl and College Football Playoff bowls
- Whether or not the team has played multiple and/or consecutive bowls within a specific state or region
- Occasionally they may chase a story line – for example if Indiana could potentially match up with Kentucky.
The goals for the above criteria ultimately boil down to the ability to have competitive set of bowls to produce the most appealing games and diversifying bowl match ups and teams traveling to new locations for both the teams and their fans.
2019 Big Ten Bowl Partners
The following bowl games are ranked in an approximate pecking order. The higher the regular season finish for each respective team, the higher we would anticipate to land on the following list of bowl games. Keep in mind that there are specific bowl determination criteria associated with selections (see below), so the process is far from a precise science.
College Football Playoffs
The College Football Playoffs is determined based on evaluation from the selection committee for the CFP. They rank teams based on conference championships, strength of schedule, head-to-head results and comparing wins against common opponents.
Playstation Fiesta Bowl
Glendale Ariz., University of Phoenix Stadium
December 28, 4:00 or 8:00 pm EST, ESPN
CFP semifinalist vs CFP semifinalist
Projection: LSU vs. Oklahoma
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl
Atlanta Ga., Mercedes-Benz Stadium
December 28, 4:00 or 8:00 pm EST, ESPN
CFP semifinalist vs CFP semifinalist
Projection: Clemson vs. Ohio State
Other Big Ten teams in consideration:
None
Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual
The Rose Bowl Game between the Big Ten and Pac-12. The Big Ten conference champion will play in the Rose Bowl Game, unless it is among the top four teams that are selected for the CFP. If so, then the Rose Bowl will select a replacement Big Ten team.
One problem….one of the B10s selection criteria is that a team cannot be selected ahead of another team that has two or more wins than they do. If this holds true, MSU Orr UI cannot be picked ahead of Indiana.
First off, MSU is guaranteed a real crappy bowl. And Iowa is projected in a New Years bowl (one of the best) it’s based of the wins and Indiana had a average season. Iowa did better, MSU did worse. Indiana will probably hit the music city bowl or pinstripe bowl
How could you put Iowa in consideration Of the orange bowl and not the citrus bowl 😂