Big Ten Bowl Projections: Ohio State on Track for Another College Football Playoff Appearance, Iowa to the Rose Bowl
After an upset loss to Oregon in the second week of the season, the margin of error for Ohio State to make another appearance in the College Football Playoffs became a lot slimmer. Since then, however, they have gone on a tear, winning four straight in dominant fashion to rise back up to the number five spot in the AP Poll.
Several experts anticipate Ohio State winning out, claiming another Big Ten championship and appearing in the CFP again.
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, it was nearly a clean sweep of Iowa being projected to the Rose Bowl. However, both Erick Smith of USA Today and Brett McMurphy from Action Network believe that Penn State will represent the conference in the Rose Bowl, along with Kerry Miller from Bleacher Report, who placed Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
While most experts are low on the trio of Indiana, Maryland and Nebraska, they did all make their way into some of the experts bowl projections, with Nebraska receiving a single projection from Brad Crawford of 247Sports.
It is highly unusual for a conference to send every single team bowling in any given season and 2021 will be no exception, as Illinois, Northwestern and Rutgers were the only three teams to not be projected to a bowl game across any of the expert projections below.
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.
Note: These are projections from before week eight of games took place, with the exception of 247Sports and CBS Sports, who released an updated projection list today. Keep up to date with the newest projections here as we will update as they come in below.
Action Network (Brett McMurphy)
Cotton Bowl- #4 Ohio State vs. #1 Alabama
Rose Bowl- Penn State vs. Oregon
Fiesta Bowl- Michigan vs. Cincinnati
Citrus Bowl- Iowa vs. Ole Miss
Outback Bowl- Michigan State vs. Texas A&M
Music City Bowl- Minnesota vs. Arkansas
Las Vegas Bowl- Wisconsin vs. Arizona State
Pinstripe Bowl- Purdue vs. Virginia
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- Maryland vs. TCU
Cotton Bowl- Ohio State vs. Alabama
Rose Bowl- Iowa vs. Oregon
Fiesta Bowl- Penn State vs. Kentucky
Peach Bowl- Michigan vs. Wake Forest
Citrus Bowl- Michigan State vs. Texas A&M
Outback Bowl- Wisconsin vs. Florida
Las Vegas Bowl- Minnesota vs. Utah
Music City Bowl- Indiana vs. Arkansas
Pinstripe Bowl- Maryland vs. Virginia
Quick Lane Bowl- Purdue vs. Northern Illinois
Bleacher Report (Kerry Miller)
Cotton Bowl- #3 Ohio State vs. #2 Oklahoma
Rose Bowl- Michigan vs. Oregon
Peach Bowl- Penn State vs. Wake Forest
Citrus Bowl- Michigan State vs. Kentucky
Outback Bowl- Iowa vs. Texas A&M
Las Vegas Bowl- Minnesota vs. Arizona State
Music City Bowl- Wisconsin vs. LSU
Pinstripe Bowl- Purdue vs. Boston College
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- Maryland vs. TCU
Cotton Bowl- #3 Ohio State vs. #2 Oklahoma
Rose Bowl- Iowa vs. Oregon
Peach Bowl- Michigan vs. Kentucky
Citrus Bowl- Michigan State vs. Ole Miss
Outback Bowl- Penn State vs. Texas A&M
Las Vegas Bowl- Wisconsin vs. Utah
Music City Bowl- Minnesota vs. Arkansas
Pinstripe Bowl- Purdue vs. Virginia Tech
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- Indiana vs. West Virginia
Cotton Bowl- #3 Ohio State vs. #2 Oklahoma
Rose Bowl- Iowa vs. Oregon
Fiesta Bowl- Michigan vs. Notre Dame
Citrus Bowl- Penn State vs. Ole Miss
Outback Bowl- Michigan State vs. Texas A&M
Las Vegas Bowl- Wisconsin vs. USC
Music City Bowl- Minnesota vs. Tennessee
Pinstripe Bowl- Purdue vs. Miami
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- Maryland vs. TCU
Cotton Bowl- #2 Ohio State vs. #3 Oklahoma
Rose Bowl- Michigan State vs. Oregon
Citrus Bowl- Michigan vs. Texas A&M
Outback Bowl- Penn State vs. Kentucky
Las Vegas Bowl- Minnesota vs. Oregon State
Duke's Mayo Bowl- Purdue vs. North Carolina
Music City Bowl- Wisconsin vs. Arkansas
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- Maryland vs. ULM
Pinstripe Bowl- Rutgers vs. Virginia Tech
Orange Bowl- #3 Ohio State vs. #2 Alabama
Rose Bowl- Penn State vs. Utah
Peach Bowl- Michigan vs. Notre Dame
Citrus Bowl- Iowa vs. Ole Miss
Outback Bowl- Michigan State vs. Texas A&M
Las Vegas Bowl- Maryland vs. Oregon State
Music City Bowl- Wisconsin vs. Florida
Pinstripe Bowl- Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech
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.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
Big News From the Big Ten: Week 8 of College Football
Big Ten Breakdown: Your Complete to Every Big Ten Game in Week 8
Week 8 Program Comparison: Northwestern vs. Michigan
WATCH: Northwestern Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald Previews No. 6 Michigan
Big Ten Depth Chart: Northwestern at Michigan
You can follow us for future coverage by liking us on Facebook & following us on Twitter and Instagram
Facebook - @SIWildcatsDaily
Twitter - @SIWildcatsDaily and @ConnorJZ98
Instagram - @SIWildcatsDaily
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.