The Big Ten had a very unique year in college football this season. It was clear after about week six that the conference was on a down year as Michigan and Michigan State turned out to be frauds and at that point Wisconsin was 4-2 but had escaped bad losses against Northern Iowa and Utah State.
Ohio State and Penn State, who finished 1-2 in the Leaders were ineligible for postseason play, but had they been, the Big Ten still would have sent nine of their 12 teams to bowl games, and Ohio State arguably could have played for the national title.
That all sounds well and good, but the Big Ten went 2-5 in bowl games this year and proved a paper tiger. We know what happened in each individual game, but I wanted to see what the box score would look like if you mashed up all seven games.
So I did. Every score, in game-time order as it happened mashed together. Enjoy!
Scoring Summary
At the end of the first quarter, the Anti-7 has taken a commanding 79-37 lead on the Big Ten. Although Northwestern got the B1G out to a quick start, the Anti-7 went on a 35-3 run in the middle of the quarter. After 15 minutes, the B1G is down by 42 already.
We are now at halftime of the mash-up and the Anti-7 has stretched its lead to 55 points. The Big Ten rattled off the first 10 points of the quarter, but again the Ants went on a 19-point streak and Mississippi State scored 10 points in the final five minutes to extend the lead.
The Big Ten made a huge push in the third quarter, getting touchdowns from Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue and Michigan to close the quarter on a 28-0 run. The Big Ten is now down by just 32 points going into the fourth quarter. Nebraska and Wisconsin have played well in the fourth and the Midwest Dozen is going to need them to step up. Strap in, the fourth is going to be electric.
I like to think that the B1G fought the good fight, but in the end they fell by a cumulative 57 points as the Ants pulled away in the fourth after going on 28 point streak of their own. Nebraska and Wisconsin were both shut out in the fourth.
Overall while the Big Ten went 2-5 in the bowl games, most of the games were close and hard fought, save Purdue’s thrashing. Ohio State should give the conference some post season cred next season. Time to put 2012 to bed.
Eight more months, Big Ten fan.
Game Highlights:
Meineke Car Care Bowl – Minnesota v. Texas Tech
Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl – Michigan State v. TCU
Gator Bowl – Northwestern v. Mississippi State
Heart of Texas Bowl – Purdue v. Oklahoma State
Capital One Bowl – Nebraska v. Georgia
Outback Bowl – Michigan v. South Carolina
Rose Bowl – Wisconsin v. Stanford
I didn’t get what you were going for at first but I think this would be interesting to do throughout the regular season. Maybe come up with an end of year tally. Way to think outside the box on this one.