Big Ten Bowl Projections

Where is your team going, and why can’t they sell tickets? A Roundup:

Back when I was a fresh-faced, 20-something graduate student desperately seeking to avoid writing my dissertation, I would do full bowl projections each week. I remember sitting at my RAship in the Digital Scholarship Lab, pounding these out instead of doing an environmental scan of digital humanities capacity within our university despite (1) having no institutional buy-in for my findings and (2) not knowing what an environmental scan OR digital humanities was.

Today, as I am an old man with two children and a mountain of grading, you get this: a roundup of where the Great Minds of Bowl Projections think your favorite team—yes, your favorite team*—is going during bowl season.* Offer does not apply to half the conference, give or take.

• The Vibe: #1 awaits a slate of flawed contenders

• The Consensus: #1 seed. Across the board. Rose Bowl. Enjoy, you pricks.

• Best Proposed Matchup: anything that doesn’t involve Ohio State playing Notre Dame.

• The Vibe: #2, but it feels like they’re waiting for an excuse to make IU #3

• The Consensus: Cotton Bowl, but as a #2 or #3?

• Best Proposed Matchup: Indiana vs. #6 seed Oregon, a nice little rematch, as a treat. (That, or Bama.)

• The Vibe: blow Washington out and you’ll get a flawed ACC champion

• The Consensus: #6 seed, hosting #11 seed SMU

• Best Proposed Matchup: #7 seed, hosting Alabama

• The Vibe: would a win over Ohio State be enough?

• The Consensus: Citrus Bowl

• Best Proposed Matchup: Citrus Bowl vs. Vanderbilt (because Citrus vs. Texas would suuuuuck for the rest of us)

• The Vibe: here, enjoy the runner-up-to-the-runner-up prize

• The Consensus: Alamo Bowl

• Best Proposed Matchup: Alamo Bowl vs. BYU (gross)

• The Vibe: “…oh, right. You people. Well, I guess you buy tickets. Probably CDs, too.”

• The Consensus: Second-tier, call it ReliaQuest but we don’t feel good about it.

• Best Proposed Matchup: Las Vegas Bowl vs. Utah

• Funniest Proposed Matchup: ReliaQuest Bowl vs. Tennessee (I would like to see that movie again)

• The Vibe: red-headed stepchild

• The Consensus: Either the first or the last bowl game—LA Bowl or Holiday

• Best Proposed Matchup: Holiday Bowl vs. Georgia Tech

• The Vibe: assumption they’ll be grateful lovers

• The Consensus: matchup-dependent mid-tier bowl

• Best Proposed Matchup: Music City Bowl vs. Missouri

• The Vibe: assumption they’ll be enthusiastic lovers

• The Consensus: Las Vegas Bowl (1 dissenter)

• Best Proposed Matchup: Las Vegas Bowl vs. Arizona State

• Most Commonly Proposed Matchup: Las Vegas Bowl vs. Utah

• Matchup You Do Not Want to See If You’re A Nebraska Fan, Seeing as Kyle Whittingham’s Defenses Have A Fetish For Beating the Hell Outta Backup QBs: see above

• The Vibe: just happy to be here

• The Consensus: Rate Bowl

• Best Proposed Matchup: Rate Bowl vs. TCU

• The Vibe: “Jesus, they could get passed up by Northwestern.”

• The Consensus: matchup-dependent low-tier bowl

• Best Proposed Matchup: look at any of them below and tell me you’re enthusiastic about it

• The Vibe: eh, what the hell

• The Consensus: Detroit or New York

• Best Proposed Matchup: Pinstripe Bowl vs. Pittsburgh

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