Despite Ohio State sneaking into the playoff, this really hasn't been the Big Ten's year.
Traditional powers like Michigan and Penn State are still down, Wisconsin and Nebraska failed to meet expectations, and only Ohio State, Maryland and Minnesota can really be happy about how this season went.
10 teams from the conference are going bowling this year, and on the surface, that's a pretty good number...especially given how much flak the Big Ten took this season. What isn't good, though, are the Vegas odds: for the first time ever, every single Big Ten team is an underdog in their respective bowl matchup. That's never happened before, and having it happen in a year when 10 teams were bowl eligible...not a good look.
The Big Ten is 10-21 in bowl games over the past four seasons. Here are the current spreads, courtesy of VegasInsider.com:
HEART OF DALLAS BOWL
Louisiana Tech by 5.5 over Illinois
QUICK LANE BOWL
North Carolina by 3.5 over Rutgers
PINSTRIPE BOWL
Boston College by 3 over Penn State
HOLIDAY BOWL
USC by 6 over Nebraska
FOSTER FARMS BOWL
Stanford by 13.5 over Maryland
OUTBACK BOWL
Auburn by 5.5 over Wisconsin
COTTON BOWL
Baylor by 3 over Michigan State
CITRUS BOWL
Missouri by 6 over Minnesota
SUGAR BOWL
Alabama by 9.5 over Ohio State
TAXSLAYER BOWL
Tennessee by 3.5 over Iowa
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MORE:
The 5 Most Exciting Bowl Matchups
4 Bowl Games To Avoid At All Costs
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