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The Ducks play at Oregon State on Saturday and the outcome could have a big impact on the bowl destination of several Big Ten teams.
“I am absolutely rooting for (coach) Mike Bellotti and the Oregon Ducks,” Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said earlier this week.
If No. 17 Oregon State beats No. 19 Oregon, the Beavers will get their first Rose Bowl berth in 44 years, against Penn State. That would be a rematch of a Sept. 6 game won by the Nittany Lions 45-14.
It also likely would mean an at-large berth in a Bowl Championship Series bowl for Southern Cal, knocking Ohio State out of the BCS mix and into the Capital One Bowl.
Of course, given the performance of Big Ten teams in their past four BCS games, that might not be the worst thing. Ohio State’s losses in the past two national championship games and losses by Illinois and Michigan in the past two Rose Bowls have come by a combined 87 points — an average of 21.8 points per game.
Although having two BCS teams helps the Big Ten financially, a case could be made that having only one team would strengthen its entire bowl lineup and enhance the conference’s chances of its first winning record in bowl games since going 5-2 in 2002. The Big Ten is 14-22 in bowl games since then.
The University of Wisconsin’s bowl outlook appears to be down to two: the Insight Bowl on
Dec. 31 in Tempe, Ariz., or the Champs Sports Bowl on Dec. 27 in Orlando, Fla.
There appears to be only one way for the Badgers to get to the Champs Sports Bowl. The Big Ten has seven bowl-eligible teams, so if two conference teams make the BCS, then the Motor City Bowl gets left out.
That means the Champs Bowl likely would have to pick between Wisconsin (7-5) and Minnesota (7-5).
Among the potential Big 12 Conference opponents for the Insight is Kansas, which is 6-5 going into its final regular-season game against Missouri on Saturday and has had a season similar to Wisconsin’s.
The Badgers were No. 13 in the preseason Associated Press poll, one spot ahead of Kansas.
Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema has said school officials will push for an early announcement of the team’s bowl destination, prior to Dec. 7, when the BCS teams are announced.
Regardless of what happens between Oregon State and Oregon, the Big Ten’s bowl picture still might not be cleared up. That’s because USC still has a game remaining against UCLA on Dec. 6.
