B1G Bowls Thread

#1      

IlliniFaninHoosierLand

IlliniFaninHoosierLand
IlliniFaninHoosierLand
Here is the list of bowls that B1G teams will be involved in this bowl season:

-Quick Lane Bowl (Dec. 26th, 1:30 PM CT, ESPN): Maryland vs. Boston College
-National Funding Holiday Bowl (Dec. 27th, 6:00 PM CT, ESPN): Minnesota vs. Washington State
-New Era Pinstripe Bowl (Dec. 28th, 1:00 PM CT, ESPN): Northwestern vs. Pittsburgh
-Foster Farms Bowl (Dec. 28th, 7:30 PM CT, FOX): Indiana vs. Utah
-Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl (Dec. 30th, 2:30 PM CT, ESPN): Nebraska vs. Tennessee
-Capital One Orange Bowl (Dec. 30th, 7:00 PM CT, ESPN): Michigan vs. Florida State
-PlayStation Fiesta Bowl (Dec. 31st, 6:00 PM CT, ESPN): Ohio State vs. Clemson
-Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (Jan. 2nd, Noon CT, ESPN): Wisconsin vs. Western Michigan
-Outback Bowl (Jan. 2nd, Noon CT, ABC): Iowa vs. Florida
-Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual (Jan. 2nd, 4:00 PM CT, ESPN): Penn State vs. USC


Thoughts? Predictions?
 
#3      

uofi09

U
uofi09
The 3 best games will be

Ohio State-Clemson
Michigan-Florida State
Wisconsin-Western Michigan

Does anyone think that Western Michigan will beat Wisconsin?
 
#5      

Second and Chalmers

S
Second and Chalmers
Lake Camelot said:
Are you talking about Indiana? I don't really see mismatches.
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All three of those teams will get crushed, I predict.

And the trouble with Jim Delany's brilliance in bowl negotiations generally is that moving every team up in bowl prestige is great for the bottom line and sounds great in theory until your little 7-5 economy car sees the monster truck it's up against.
 
#6      

Second and Chalmers

S
Second and Chalmers
uofi09 said:
Does anyone think that Western Michigan will beat Wisconsin?
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In a fair fight with equal motivation I think that's a really interesting matchup. But worth considering that this has a huge "one team doesn't want to be here" red flag.

When it's Florida State vs. Northern Illinois, the motivation difference doesn't matter. When it's Utah vs. Bama, different story.
 
#7      

IllinoisFanAtFSU

I
IllinoisFanAtFSU
Really intrigued to see how much my Noles have grown, Michigan will be one heck of a measuring stick. I said all year that Michigan is the only team with the playing style to compete with Alabama. Unsure if FSU's lines can hold up against Michigan.

That said, I think FSU's defense will keep Michigan's lackluster offense in check.
 
#10      

UofIChE06

U
Pittsburgh
UofIChE06
Second and Chalmers said:
Indiana, Minnesota, and Northwestern. The ones I quoted.

I think the conference will do quite well elsewhere. I like Ohio State to beat Clemson for sure.
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Minnesota is a much better team than they get credit for. I would take them in that game. Wassu has not exactly been impressive. IU should keep it close. NU probably won't. Doubt they can keep up with Pitt's offense.
 
#12      

jrichisamazing

J
jrichisamazing
Penn St vs USC should be a fun game.

Interested to see how good Western Michigan really is.

I think Ohio St and Michigan win pretty comfortably. And I think Ohio St will show how average the SEC was this year when they make Bama look human. Not sure who will win, but Bama hasn't really been tested this year and I think that could hurt them. Especially with a freshman QB.
 
#18      

FiveStar

F
FiveStar
Lord Snow said:
Clemson= most overrated team right now.
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I know they couldn't do it the way conference championship games and the UM/OSU game went, but I thought the order of the top 4 all year was Bama, Mich, Wash OSU. OSU/Clemson too inconsistent, but OSU doing what it was supposed to do (blow out bad teams) more than Clemson.

However, my counter point to that is the playoff should be 8 teams. Michigan deserves to be there, and I think penn st, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Florida st, and Louisville, even though they faded late, could all win a game and make things interesting. More games/fans would also mean more money for the NCAA. Games are played over break so it's not like the players are missing school. Yeah, so why isn't it done this way?
 
#19      

Ramrod2010

R
Ramrod2010
FiveStar said:
I know they couldn't do it the way conference championship games and the UM/OSU game went, but I thought the order of the top 4 all year was Bama, Mich, Wash OSU. OSU/Clemson too inconsistent, but OSU doing what it was supposed to do (blow out bad teams) more than Clemson.

However, my counter point to that is the playoff should be 8 teams. Michigan deserves to be there, and I think penn st, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Florida st, and Louisville, even though they faded late, could all win a game and make things interesting. More games/fans would also mean more money for the NCAA. Games are played over break so it's not like the players are missing school. Yeah, so why isn't it done this way?
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I've thought that they should have the 5 conference champs and then the 3 highest ranked teams not to win their conference championship. I don't see a way that they don't make it work like that, and probably sooner rather than later.
 
#21      

wma500

wma500
wma500
Ramrod2010 said:
I've thought that they should have the 5 conference champs and then the 3 highest ranked teams not to win their conference championship. I don't see a way that they don't make it work like that, and probably sooner rather than later.
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In theory that sounds good, but that makes it a 3 game run for the winner, on top of a 12 game regular season and conference championship. 16 games total, from early September to almost mid-January. NFL-like. No money to players?

The TV money would be huge and for the fans the games would be great, but should college football really have that type of season? Is it fair to the players to put their bodies at risk for that long a season?

The 4 team playoff will always be most scrutinized at this exact point in the season. Wait a month til it's over though and more often than not they get it exactly right.
 
#22      

UofI08

U
Chicago
UofI08
Every other division of NCAA football makes a playoff (with more than 8 teams) work. Impossible to use the school, finals, or # of games argument there. Also, if the playoffs expanded, you'd have to assume the first round would start 1-2 weeks after the conference championship weekend.

I doubt the conferences would want to eliminate the conference championship games, but maybe returning to an 11 game regular season would make sense?

I'd love an 8 team playoff. Big 5 champions guaranteed with 3 at-large. Or 2 at-large and a non-power 5 highest ranked team guaranteed bid. First round at the higher seed home field 2 weeks after conference championship week. Then the final 4 around the same time as the current playoff.
 
#23      

mhuml32

mhuml32
Cincinnati, OH
mhuml32
Second and Chalmers said:
Holy mismatches Batman.
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I think Minny will do better against Washington State than expected. WSU doesn't have many impressive wins (Stanford the only one, and was when they fell off the cliff in the middle of the season).

Pittsburgh has been very up-and-down this season, Northwestern could surprise.

Not much optimism for Indiana; coach was fired and playing a team much better than them.
 
#24      

2ndGenIllini

2
Chambana
2ndGenIllini
An 8 team playoff would be the most fair IMO. More clear criteria for making the playoff - win your conference. Then the 3 at large spots would be available for the Ohio States, Michigans of this year, or Baylor/TCUs of 2014. Plus 1 spot for the highest ranked G5 champion.

The only discrepancies could come at the at large spots, but i think you could settle those debates fairly easily with strength of schedule comparisons.

Thus there is an importance on both winning your conference to guarantee yourself a spot, and having a strong nonconference schedule, so that you can make your case as an at large if you don't win your conference.

The way I see it being played out this year:
1 Alabama vs 8 WMU
4 Penn State vs 5 Oklahoma
3 Washington vs 6 Ohio State
2 Clemson vs 7 Michigan

Who wouldn't want to watch 3 weeks of great games, rather than the Dollar General Bowl?
 
#25      

Second and Chalmers

S
Second and Chalmers
2ndGenIllini said:
Who wouldn't want to watch 3 weeks of great games, rather than the Dollar General Bowl?
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Me. I will take the 13 weeks of games with campus atmospheres and life-or-death stakes, something totally unique in the sports world, thank you very much.

The week Clemson, Washington and Michigan all lost and none of it mattered was a very dark moment for college football in my book. The erosion of the regular season is already happening.

If it were up to me we'd turn the clock back to the early 90's.