Which Big Ten Teams Are Playing Bowl Games?
As sure as dry turkey and your trousers no longer fitting, another thing you can guarantee post Christmas is the College Football Bowl season. I wrote about what bowl games are last year and you can read that article here. For this post I will focus on which Big Ten teams are playing bowl games and who they are playing.
Embed from Getty ImagesHow did we get here? A recap
As a reminder, to be “bowl eligible” you normally need to achieve a regular season record of at least 0.500 (meaning you have won 50% of your games).
The picture is slightly complicated given 3 Big Ten teams have been selected as part of the 12 team field for the College Football playoffs. Of the 3, Indiana and Ohio State will advance straight to the quarter finals given they are ranked in the top 4. Their opponents will be known after the 1st round next weekend. Oregon will play in the 1st round at home before hopefully advancing to the next round. If they did overcome James Madison in the 1st round they would play Texas Tech in the Capital One Orange Bowl.
In total, 12 Big Ten teams out of 18 will be playing post season football in December and January which is a great show of strength for the conference.
Big Ten Bowl Particpants
The full list of bowl participants and games are shown below.
| Teams (National Ranking) | Overall Record | Bowl – Date | Opponent |
| Indiana Hoosiers (1) | 13-0 | CFP QF at Rose Bowl – 1 Jan | TBC |
| Ohio State (2) | 12-1 | CFP QF at Cotton Bowl – 1 Jan | TBC |
| Oregon Ducks (5) | 11-1 | 1st round of the CFP – 21 Dec | James Madison |
| USC Trojans (16) | 9-3 | Valero Alamo Bowl – 31 Dec | TCU |
| Michigan Wolverines (18) | 9-3 | Cheez-it Citrus Bowl – 31 Dec | Texas |
| Iowa Hawkeyes (23) | 8-4 | ReliaQuest Bowl – 31 Dec | Vanderbilt |
| Washington Huskies | 8-4 | Bucked up LA Bowl – 14 Dec | Boise State |
| Illinois Fighting Illini | 8-4 | Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl – 30 Dec | Tennessee |
| Minnesota Golden Gophers | 7-5 | Rate Bowl – 26 Dec | New Mexico |
| Nebraska Cornhuskers | 7-5 | SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl – 31 Dec | Utah |
| Northwestern Wildcats | 6-6 | GameAbove Sports Bowl 26 Dec | Central Michigan |
| Penn State Nittany Lions | 6-6 | Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl – 27 Dec | Clemson |
There are some fantastic match ups to look forward to here and it will make for great post Christmas viewing.
