Surprising Big Ten bowl twist

Hey gang:

Before we get to Sagarin's predictions for this week (maybe today/maybe Tuesday), I exchanged e-mails with Big Ten kingpin Scott Chipman about the league's affiliated bowls.

I was under the impression that the Big Ten bowls, when it comes time to pick their teams, could only go for the team with the best record -- or the ones within 1 win of the best remaining record.

That is, the Insight Bowl could select an 8-4 team or a 7-5 team, but not a 6-6 team. Turns out there's no restrictions on the Insight and Motor City bowl committees (edit here: I initially included Champs Sports on this list).

Both of those bowls can take anybody they want that's bowl-eligible, provided that there are enough bowls to take care of the 7-5 teams as well as the 6-6 teams.

In other words, the Insight could take a 6-6 Illini team over an 8-4 Northwestern team if they thought the Illini would bring more fans, spend more money and bring a higher TV rating.

Here's a sample of how the bowls could play out with projected record, presuming there aren't any upsets that are too crazy:
BCS A: Penn State (11-1)
BCS B: Ohio State (10-2)
Capital One: Michigan State (9-3)
Outback: Iowa (8-4)
Alamo: Wisconsin (7-5)
Champs: Minnesota (7-5)
Insight: Illinois (6-6)
Motor City: Northwestern (8-4)

This, of course, presumes Illinois loses to Ohio State on Saturday and wins at Northwestern on Nov. 22...while Northwestern wins at Michigan on Saturday while losing to ILL. That scenario certainly isn't a sure thing.

It also presumes the Insight people in Phoenix think Ron Zook and Co., would make a more appetizing team than the Wildcats. That's certainly not a sure thing either.

But Northwestern has had the Big Ten's worst attendance, so it shouldn't feel too confident that it won't slide down the bowl pecking order.

One final thought: If Northwestern wins its last two games, it will be 9-3 and can do no WORSE than the Alamo Bowl. It essentially would come down to whether the Outback Bowl wanted the Wildcats...or the winner of the Iowa/Minnesota game which would likely be 8-4.

LW