College Football
Big Ten East Bowl Games Review
With college football in its “off season” and moving towards what is spring football practice. Lets go back and review the Big Ten East bowl games review. By going through the Big Ten East section; out of the six teams in the Big Ten East, only Maryland didn’t qualify for a bowl only being victorious in five games. This order will go from bottom to top.
RedBox Bowl
Michigan State Spartans Against Oregon Ducks
It’s hard to actually find Michigan State in what most would consider a meaningless bowl game. However, Michigan State had a sub-par season to put it best. Overall, the Spartans finished the season 7-6 overall and 5-4 in the Big Ten. The Spartans’ best win during the season was at Penn State 21-17 and the worst defeat was at the hands of the Buckeyes 26-6. To put it in broader perspective, the Spartans only defeated Rutgers by four points 14-10. In the RedBox Bowl, it was even worse, they lost to Oregon 7-6. The Oregon Duck were 9-4 overall and 5-4 in PAC-12 play.
This was by far a let down.
Letter Grade: D
Citrus Bowl
Penn State Nittany Lions Against Kentucky Wildcats
Before this season, Penn State football appeared in two New Year Six Bowls (Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl). They also finished both those seasons with 10 wins. This season however, they fell a little short of both those goals for a third straight year. Penn State had a better season then what most anticipated. The Nittany Lions finished the season 9-4 overall and 6-3 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions’ best win during the season was against the Pitt panthers on the road 51-6 and their worst loss, well, there would be two of those: Ohio State at home 27-26 and on the road at Michigan 42-7.
In the Citrus Bowl, some how Penn State let the game slip away. Coming into this season, Kentucky was not predicted to be as good as they showed. The Wildcats defeating the Nittany Lions came as a surprise. On the other hand, the Wildcats were 10-3 overall and 5-3 in SEC play. However, conservative coaching late in the game by the Penn State coaching staff led to Kentucky coming back. Give granted Trace McSorley was playing with a partial broken foot. However, when you compare recruiting classes, Penn State had far the better talent than Kentucky did. Just to put the recruiting into perspective; Penn State had the No. 6 best while Kentucky had the No. 36 best recruiting class.
Letter Grade: B
Peach Bowl
Michigan Wolverines Against Florida Gators
Well, this is somewhat self explanatory. Michigan just can’t seem to win the big one under coach Jim Harbaugh. Michigan finished the season 10-3 and 8-1 in Big Ten play. However, they lost to Florida 41-15 in this bowl game which should of never happened. Michigan’s devoured every Big Ten team but Ohio State. Michigan on paper had the better talent. Michigan was ranked No. 7 and Florida No. 10. The Gators were 10-3 overall and 5-3 in SEC play. In most if not every situation, you got to give credit where credit is due.
Michigan got pounded in the last three quarters of the game (Michigan outscored Florida 7-3 in the first quarter).
Letter Grade: C-
Rose Bowl
Ohio State Buckeyes Against Washington Huskies
The Buckeyes’ football team sent Urban Meyer out in the best way possible, with a victory. Ohio State finished the season 13-1 overall and 8-1 in Big Ten play. The Washington Huskies were 10-4 overall and 7-2 in conference play. Without a doubt, Ohio State’s biggest loss came on the road at Purdue in a blow out. Their best victory was by far against Michigan (though you could throw the victory against Penn State in there as well).
Letter Grade: B
Conclusion
Big Ten East Bowl Games review comes to a conclusion; with the Big Ten East did not fair so well this year in bowl games. In fact, they did worse then last year. This year the Big Ten went 1-3. The Big Ten East is usually one of the premiere college football divisions, but in bowl season, it didn’t show that. These teams look to regroup and take on the challenge next year.
Photo Credit to eleven warriors via Flickr
