Big Ten Bowl Woes Continue

As an Ohio State fan it pains me to write that the Big Ten has been awful in bowl games recently. (Which is not news in itself.) As a matter of fact I just read a stat that the Big Ten has gone 1-9 in Rose Bowls over the last 10 trips, with their only victory coming in 2010 (A 26-17 Ohio State victory over Oregon).

But if that weren't enough, the Big Ten's struggles in New Year's Day Bowl are enough to drive even the most causal midwestern football fan nuts. In the past three years, the Big Ten is only 4-13 on New Year's Day. In addition, the conference is a mere 4-20 versus Top 10 nonconference opponents since 2006. (Stats courtesy of the Big Ten Network).

So there's absolutely no mystery to why the Big Ten has been looked at as a joke when it comes to cfb the past several years. And to this point the teams in the conference who already played haven't done the Big Ten any favors.

Minnesota looked like this year's Cinderella team, winning 8 games despite the uncertain health of their head coach, Jerry Kill, and a roster that was in constant flux. Yet in there game versus Syracuse they couldn't pull off a victory against a  6-6 team from the ACC.

Then there is Michigan. I will say that I half expected true freshman Shane Morris to struggle mightily when he got the call to replace the injured Devin Gardner at QB for the Wolverines. If only because he was making his first career start on a neutral field in front of a national audience Well, to my surprise (and probably the rest of the nation as well) he performed better than expected, completing  more than 63% of his passes. Yet someone forgot to tell the rest of the Michigan team, especially the defense, to show up as well, as they gave up a whopping 420 yards total offense to Kansas State in a 31-14 loss.

So the Big Ten is now 0-2 this Bowl Season. Based on recent historical trends, that doesn't come as a big shock. So how will the conference fare in the rest of their games? I pull out my crystal ball to offer a prediction (if not quite accurate, however) on all the games in the conference from here on out:

Gator Bowl Georgia vs. Nebraska: Huskers and Bulldogs are both without their starting qbs. Unfortunately of Husker fans, Bulldog backup does a fairly decent impression of Aaron Murray in this one. Georgia 35. Nebraska 17

Capital One Bowl, Wisconsin vs South Carolina: I don't really know why, but I feel the Big Ten gets their first win of the 2013-2014 Bowl season here. Badgers run all over Gamecocks, negating any advantage that Jadeveon Clowney gives them on defense. Wisconsin 24, South Carolina 17

Outback Bowl, LSU vs Iowa: When will the Bowl committees stop scheduling mismatches like this one? LSU is without starting QB Zach Mettenberger, but I just think Tigers have too much speed. LSU 31, Iowa 20

Rose Bowl, Stanford vs. Michigan State: This is going to be a throwback to the Rose Bowl of the 60's and 70s that features smashmouth football, with the team gaining the most yards on the ground winning the 100th version of the granddaddy of the all. I give a slight edge to David Shaw's Cardinal in this one. Stanford 21, Michigan State 17

January 3, Orange Bowl, Ohio State vs Clemson: Well I would like to make an objective prediction but, to be honest, I just don't know. Buckeyes defense (or what passes for their defense these days) is banged up, and without lineman Noah Spence. On the other hand Urban Meyer has yet to lose in a BCS Bowl game. But Tajh Boyd will be looking to send a statement to all NFL draft scouts on hand, and Buckeyes' secondary may be more than willing to oblige. Honestly, this could be a shootout, and one that could go to the team who has the ball last.

I guess the bottom line is unless I am horribly wrong, the Big Ten doesn't do much to help its nonconference reputation today.

BCS Mess: Wisconsin's Luck, Georgia's Heartbreak

In a few hours the BCS selection committee will announce its matchups for the 2012-2013 bowl season. It is expected that Notre Dame and Alabama will meet in the BCS National Championship game in Miami, while the other known game is the Rose Bowl, where Wisconsin will meet Stanford in Pasadena, California.

Unfortunately the loser of last night's SEC championship, Georgia, won't be playing in the BCS. That spot will more than likely go to Florida, who, like Alabama last year, didn't even make it to the conference championship game.

And never mind that Wisconsin, the Big Ten's participant in the Rose Bowl the last two years, didn't even finish first in their own division. Actually at 4-4 in the Big Ten, they barely finished third in the Leaders division, a game a head of Purdue (3-5), two games behind Penn State (6-2), and three games behind Leaders division champs Ohio State (8-0).

But wait a minute, how is this possible? A team that struggled to finish with a .500 record in its own conference, has an 8-5 overall record, and has had three different starting quarterbacks during the season is going to the Rose Bowl? While undefeated Ohio State (12-0) will be watching at home?

The short answer is simple: Ohio State and Penn State were ineligible for postseason play, thus making Wisconsin the Leaders Division's representative in last night's Big Ten title game in Indianapolis. And Wisconsin went on to win the championship game by defeating a Nebraska team that believes the word defense is not in their vocabulary.

The longer answer, however, is a bit more complex. You see, Ohio State was banned from postseason play this year because its former head coach, Jim Tressel, lied to the NCAA. And the NCAA, not wanting to be embarrassed itself, decided to make an example out of Ohio State. Never mind the fact that the suit-wearing individual who levied the bowl ban more than likely doesn't watch football. Nor does he realize that the revenue of a potential OSU-ND national championship game would dwarf that of a Stanford-Wisconsin Rose Bowl. Ohio State broke the rules, so they must pay the consequences.

But it makes me absolutely sick that Wisconsin is going back to the Rose Bowl for a third straight season. And it doesn't even matter that Ohio State will be watching from home this January. Look I get it, the last two seasons, like it or not, the Badgers deserved to be there. In 2010, they tied Ohio State for the Big Ten Title, but, because they had already beaten them head to head, they went to the Rose Bowl. Then, last season, not only were they clearly Big Ten Champions at 11-1 but they were one Kirk Cousins hail mary away from playing LSU in the BCS National Championship.

Watching last night's conference championship between the Badgers and Huskers, however, made my stomach turn. Not only did Bret Bielema's team finish third in their division, but they backed their way into the title game, losing two of their last three games. Not to mention if you asked over 70% of college football fans in the nation to name Wisconsin's starting quarterback they probably wouldn't get it right. That's because during the course of the season they had started three different guys at the position, and the guy who played last night, Curt Phillips (a fifth-year senior), was starting in only the fourth game of his college career.

All of this happened only a few hours after Georgia, who would probably knock the tar out of both Nebraska and Wisconsin (and will more than likely face Nebraska on New Year's Day), lost their only chance to play in the BCS when they fell 32-28 to Alabama in the SEC championship. And though it should be known I don't particularly care for teams from the SEC, I do have respect for teams that play well.

So while fans argue if Alabama and Notre Dame should be in the BCS Championship, if an undefeated Ohio State squad deserves consideration for the AP National Title, or if Ohio State could beat either Alabama or Notre Dame, I have another question for my readers. Does a Wisconsin squad that didn't even finish above .500 in its conference deserve a BCS bid over an 11 win Georgia team that quite possibly gave No. 2 ranked Alabama its toughest game all season?

It's going to be very hard for me to watch any of the Big Ten bowl games this season, but not because Ohio State won't be there. There is a definite possibility that the Big Ten only wins one or two bowl games this season and even that is in doubt. And there might be a few things worse than sending the conference's fifth best squad to the Rose Bowl, but you won't hear me mention them here.