[NU Sports] Big Ten bowls ...

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

A nice year of matchups for our league overall, and some nice surprises (thank you, Outback!). Looking down the line ...

ROSE: Ohio State vs. Oregon
- Two strong teams playing much better in November than they did in September. OSU will probably be the underdog, but the stands will be packed as both schools will be excited to return after a decade or so. Love the Ducks' O, love the Bucks' D ... the difference may be Tressel, who's coached in the big games before.

ORANGE: Iowa vs. Georgia Tech
- Another O vs. D matchup that looks to give the Big Ten a fighting chance - also two top-notch coaches. Will be interesting to see how healthy Iowa will be coming in -- they can't get behind, but if it's a slugfest, the Hawks excel in those close games.

CITRUS: Penn State vs. LSU
- This one's all D, as both offenses have been sputtering at best this year. Not sure how pumped up either team will be, as both had bigger expectations midway through the season. However, PSU finally put together a complete game against MSU and if they don't mess up on special teams, have a good shot here.

OUTBACK: Northwestern vs. Auburn
- The surprise matchup of the season, as the Outback folk decided to nix the typical Badgers/Vols clash for two teams who have had ups and downs, but can light up the scoreboard. Two hot young coaches with inventive schemes, so it should be a back-and-forth tussle and depends on NU's health and which Tiger team shows up -- the Bama barnbusters, or the midseason slumpers.

CHAMPS: Wisconsin vs. Miami
- The old power vs. speed matchup. It didn't work out so well for Bucky last year against FSU, but the offense is a lot better this year. They'll get torched by the Canes' speed a few times if Miami shows up to play, but as long as Wisconsin sticks with pounding it and doesn't fall behind early, they have a pretty good shot as well.

ALAMO: Michigan State vs. Texas Tech
- This could have been a heck of a game last year and both teams come in with mild disappointment this year ... though Tech had some nice wins down the stretch (along with some puzzling defeats). Sparty is really hungry for a bowl win, but will have to play their best game of the year to keep up with the Red Raiders.

INSIGHT: Minnesota vs. Iowa State
- Hard to see much enthusiasm for this game out here ... I'd rather see my purple passion battle of NU/KSU, but I guess I'll take January 1. :) If the Gophers show up, they should be the favorites here, but if they lay an egg like they usually do after October, it could be an ugly battle much like the Minny-Iowa game.

So there we have it -- I think we'll be favorites probably only in the Insight, but we should be big underdogs only in San Antonio. The other games all are right there for the Big Ten to win. Hopefully the league has some hunger after last year and -- like our basketball brethren -- go out and earn some league respect this postseason with big wins.

GO BIG TEN!!!
GO CATS!!!
-SjT

PS - Interesting side note for the BCS - is this the first year ever that all 10 (or all 8 in the old days) slots have been filled by the top 10 (top 8) in the final standings? Nice job there ... if only they were being used as SEEDINGS!;)


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STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!