The Big Ten is having a renaissance, all things considered. Last year, the conference's champion doubled as the national champion. The league even went 4-2 in January's bowl games/playoff games.
Even the SEC's Jerry Springer—Paul Finebaum—anointed the Big Ten as the best conference in college football this season.
Can this stretch of good play continue into the bowl season? Last year's bowl season is arguably where the league salvaged its reputation. It will have to work a bit harder to keep that reputation sterling in this bowl season. Given the dearth of bowl-eligible teams, two of the conference's ten bowl teams have 5-7 records.