Big Ten Bowl Projections: Michigan State Smelling Roses, Knocking on the Door of the College Football Playoffs
Following their big win over Michigan, Michigan State has jumped into the top four of the initial College Football rankings, coming in at the three spot. Despite this, though, they are not projected to make the CFP when the final rankings are released at the end of the season.
Rather, the Spartans are unanimously picked to represent the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl against the Oregon Ducks, who also find themselves on the outside looking in at the CFP. The Spartans control their own destiny though as they have put themselves on a collision course with Ohio State, in which the winner will most likely win the Big Ten east and possibly earn a berth to the CFP.
Speaking of Ohio State, the Buckeyes are picked to represent the Big Ten in the CFP across the board, as all of the experts believe they will run the table and win the Big Ten championship. It is hard to fault them as well as the Buckeyes have been downright dominant since their week two loss to Oregon, led by Heisman contender quarterback CJ Stroud.
Elsewhere in the conference, following two consecutive losses the Iowa Hawkeyes have fallen from a probable Rose Bowl berth to either the Citrus or Outback Bowl according to the experts. Likewise for Michigan, their loss to Michigan State has knocked them out of the New Year's Six bowls in the eyes of a majority of the experts.
Following their win over Illinois that improved their record to 4-4, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights gained the confidence of some experts as they were projected to be bowl eligible by some.
However, not every Big Ten team is projected to become bowl eligible, as of the 14 teams in the conference, four of them did not receive a single projection across the board. Those four teams are Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska and Northwestern, all of whom have three losses or less.
Bowl season is one of the most exciting times of the year for sports, so read below to get a sense for what seven different experts are projecting the bowl matchups to be this season.
Action Network (Brett McMurphy)
Cotton Bowl- #4 Ohio State vs. #1 Alabama
Rose Bowl- Michigan State vs. Oregon
Fiesta Bowl- Iowa vs. Cincinnati
Citrus Bowl- Michigan vs. Kentucky
Outback Bowl- Wisconsin vs. Arkansas
Music City Bowl- Minnesota vs. Florida
Las Vegas Bowl- Penn State vs. Oregon State
Pinstripe Bowl- Rutgers vs. Virginia
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- Purdue vs. West Virginia
Quick Lane Bowl- Maryland vs. Northern Illinois
Athlon Sports (Steve Lassan)
Cotton Bowl- #3 Ohio State vs. #2 Alabama
Rose Bowl- Michigan State vs. Oregon
Peach Bowl- Michigan vs. Wake Forest
Citrus Bowl- Penn State vs. Texas A&M
Outback Bowl- Wisconsin vs. Kentucky
Las Vegas Bowl- Minnesota vs. Arizona State
Music City Bowl- Iowa vs. Arkansas
Pinstripe Bowl- Maryland vs. Virginia
Quick Lane Bowl- Purdue vs. Toledo
Bleacher Report (Kerry Miller)
Cotton Bowl- #2 Ohio State vs. #3 Oklahoma
Rose Bowl- Michigan State vs. Oregon
Peach Bowl- Michigan vs. Wake Forest
Citrus Bowl- Iowa vs. Kentucky
Outback Bowl- Wisconsin vs. Texas A&M
Las Vegas Bowl- Penn State vs. Arizona State
Music City Bowl- Minnesota vs. Mississippi State
Pinstripe Bowl- Purdue vs. Miami (FL)
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- Maryland vs. West Virginia
CBS Sports (Jerry Palm)
Cotton Bowl- #3 Ohio State vs. #2 Oklahoma
Rose Bowl- Michigan State vs. Oregon
Citrus Bowl- Iowa vs. Texas A&M
Outback Bowl- Michigan vs. Arkansas
Las Vegas Bowl- Wisconsin vs. Arizona State
Music City Bowl- Minnesota vs. Tennessee
Pinstripe Bowl- Penn State vs. Virginia Tech
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- Purdue vs. Washington
Quick Lane Bowl- Maryland vs. Northern Illinois
College Football News
Cotton Bowl- #3 Ohio State vs. #2 Oklahoma
Rose Bowl- Michigan State vs. Oregon
Peach Bowl- Michigan vs. Notre Dame
Citrus Bowl- Wisconsin vs. Auburn
Outback Bowl- Penn State vs. Ole Miss
Las Vegas Bowl- Minnesota vs. Arizona State
Music City Bowl- Iowa vs. Tennessee
Pinstripe Bowl- Purdue vs. Syracuse
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- Rutgers vs. West Virginia
247 Sports (Brad Crawford)
Cotton Bowl- #4 Ohio State vs. #1 Alabama
Rose Bowl- Michigan State vs. Oregon
Citrus Bowl- Iowa vs. Texas A&M
Outback Bowl- Michigan vs. Arkansas
Las Vegas Bowl- Penn State vs. Arizona State
Music City Bowl- Wisconsin vs. Tennessee
Pinstripe Bowl- Minnesota vs. Louisville
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- Maryland vs. Kansas State
First Responder Bowl- Purdue vs. Syracuse
Quick Lane Bowl- Rutgers vs. Northern Illinois
USA Today (Erick Smith)
Cotton Bowl- #4 Ohio State vs. #1 Alabama
Rose Bowl- Michigan State vs. Oregon
Citrus Bowl- Michigan vs. Texas A&M
Outback Bowl- Iowa vs. Auburn
Las Vegas Bowl- Penn State vs. Oregon State
Music City Bowl- Wisconsin vs. Tennessee
Pinstripe Bowl- Minnesota vs. Syracuse
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- Maryland vs. Washington
Quick Lane Bowl- Purdue vs. Western Michigan
Now that you have seen all the projections from the seven experts, it might be confusing to determine the pecking order of each bowl game and how they compare to each other. Not to worry, we will break down the order of prominence for each bowl game the Big Ten competes in, as well as their conference tie-ins.
College Football Playoffs
If a Big Ten Team is a top four team at the end of the season, they will participate in the College Football Playoffs. The CFP games rotate annually, this year the semi-final games will be the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl.
Watch: The Orange Bowl will take place in Miami Gardens, Fla. at Hard Rock Stadium, on Dec. 31 at either 2:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. Central time on ESPN
Watch: The Cotton Bowl will take place in Arlington, Texas at AT&T Stadium, on Dec. 31 at either 2:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. Central time on ESPN
The other bowl games:
1. Rose Bowl (vs. Pac 12)
Jan. 1 in Pasadena, Calif. at 4 p.m. Central time on ESPN
2. Citrus Bowl (vs. SEC):
Jan. 1 in Orlando, Fla. at 12 p.m. Central time on ABC
3. Outback Bowl (vs. SEC)
Jan. 1 in Tampa, Fla. at 11 a.m. Central time on ESPN2
4. Las Vegas Bowl (vs. Pac 12)
Dec. 30 at 9:30 p.m. Central time on ESPN
5. Music City Bowl (vs. SEC)
Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. Central time on ESPN
6. Pinstripe Bowl (vs. ACC)
Dec. 29 at 1:15 p.m Central time on ESPN
7. Guaranteed Rate Bowl (vs. Big 12)
Dec. 28 at 9:15 p.m. Central time on ESPN
8. Quick Lane Bowl (vs. MAC)
Dec. 27 at 10 a.m. Central time on ESPN
Note: The Redbox Bowl, located in San Francisco, Calif., would have been eighth in the order. However it has been cancelled for the second year in a row. It would have featured a Big Ten team taking on a team from the Pac-12.
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Connor Zimmerlee is a writer and reporter for Wildcats Daily. Zimmerlee received his Bachelor's of Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin as part of the class of 2021 and now attends the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern.