Big Ten 2010 – 2011 Bowl Schedule: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly

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Somewhat lost in all the conference re-alignment news (and rumors) this off-season is some other changes in the college football landscape important to fans, including Penn State fans.

The bowls games and teams which the Big Ten will be playing this coming bowl season are going to be pretty different than what we have seen in the past.  Here is a detailed breakdown of where Big Ten teams will be heading late in 2010 and early in 2011.

• Big Ten Champion will continue to play in the Rose Bowl, although it will not be sponsored by Citi, matching up against the Pac-10 Champion (assuming neither are pulled into the BCS Championship game).  This bowl will of course be in Pasadena, CA and will be played on January 1^st at 4:30 pm EST.
• Second place in the conference will head to the Capital One bowl (formerly the Fiesta Bowl) and will continue to be matched up against a strong SEC opponent (usually a team that finishes #2 in their sub-conference).  This bowl will be played in Orlando, FL and will be played on January 1^st at 1 pm EST.
• Third place is a bit fuzzy, but will likely be heading to Orlando for the Outback Bowl, but the fourth bowl might be a preferably destination.  Remember, the Outback Bowl will be housed at the same stadium as years past, but this year with new turf.  We all remember the mud bowl which Penn State and LSU played in early in 2010.  The match-up in the Capital One bowl will continue to be an SEC team, usually a team who finishes #2 or #3 in their sub-conference.  This bowl will be played in Tampa, FL and will be played on January 1^st at 1 pm EST.
• Fourth place will be a new bowl for the Big Ten, the Gator Bowl; and matching up with the Big Ten team will be another SEC team.    The Gator bowl in years past was an ACC v SEC match-up, and other than the obligatory ACC Champion playing in the BCS, the ACC does not have another January 1^st match-up (and this assumes the BCS game they play in is on January 1^st; they would likely be pulled into the Orange Bowl which is not till January 3^rd.)  The Gator Bowl is in Jacksonville, FL and will be played on January 1^st at 1:30 pm EST.
• Fifth place in the conference would likely go to another new Big Ten bowl, the Dallas Football Classic, playing a team from the Big 12.  This bowl is the replacement for the Alamo Bowl, which the Big Ten play in San Antonio, usually during the last week of year.   This bowl will be played in Dallas, TX at the Cotton Bowl stadium and will be at noon EST.

So, per the above the Big Ten will have five New Year’s Day games, but unfortunately 4 of the 5 will be practically at the same time (either starting at noon, 1 pm or 1:30 pm).    No other conference comes close to having this many games on New Year’s Day, the closest would be the SEC who has three on January 1^st.

• Sixth place in the conference would likely play in another new bowl, the Texas Bowl.  The opponent will be another Big 12 team.   While the team heading to this bowl will likely be disappointed by the results of their season, finishing towards the middle of the conference, they will play a game in one of the nicer stadiums in the country.  Reliant Stadium is where the Houston Texans play their home games and is very nice.  This game is on December 29, and will be played at 6 pm EST.
• Seventh place in the conference sets up for the Big Ten’s third Big 12 match-up, playing in the Insight Bowl (another new bowl).  Another great destination for the winter time, this game is played in Tempe, AZ at Sun Devil Stadium.  This is more or less replaces the Sun Bowl, which had a similar match-up and was in a worse location (El Paso, TX).
• Eighth place in the conference will get the last spot and the worst destination.  This sad team will play in the Little Cesar’s Bowl, in lovely Detroit, MI.   The game will be a match-up against likely the MAC conference champion and will be on December 26^th, at 8:30 pm EST.

Summary Stats (get full schedule from ESPN here):

• Total Bowl Games: 8
• Total New Year’s Day Games: 5
• Games vs. SEC:  3
• Games vs. Big 12: 3
• Games vs. Pac-10: 1
• Games vs. MAC: 1

Other than 4 games on New Year’s Day being at the same time, I like the Big Ten’s bowl alliances, locations, and overall competition.  Let’s hope Penn State is playing on New Year’s Day once again in 2011.

We are Penn State.

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