Bowl season is upon us, and a whopping ten teams from the Big Ten are going bowling. Granted, two of them finished the season 5-7, but that’s a sad topic for another day. A bowl game means more practice time, more game film, and an ability to end the season on a high note. Each team is hoping to close this final chapter of the 2015 season in style, but each is a choose-your-own-adventure type of affair.
Here is the main storyline for each Big Ten team that’s playing in the postseason:
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10. Minnesota Golden Gophers: It was a season of change for Minnesota, one that resulted in a new coach and some failed expectations. The defense was a solid group, but the offense couldn’t keep up its end of the bargain on more than one occasion. The Gophers will face Central Michigan in the Quick Lane Bowl, and it’s imperative that Tracy Claeys lays a foundation for what this program’s going to represent under his watch. He came in during the brutal part of the schedule, so there’s not a whole lot to show for all the effort, but this team needs a dominating performance on defense, and some semblance of an identity on offense to build momentum into next year.
9. Nebraska Cornhuskers: What a disappointing first season for new head coach Mike Riley. For him and the Cornhusker players, bowling has to be about finishing a game the right way. This season was about what might have been with all of the close losses, and the last thing you want is for a culture of losing to fester. Tommy Armstrong has to make sound decisions under center, but most importantly, the Huskers must finish the game against a solid UCLA team — just win baby. The program needs some kindling to start a fire under the Riley tenure and this is a shot to get that spark started.
8. Indiana Hoosiers: It’s a story in itself that Indiana is going bowling. Aside from that, though, the Hoosiers need to get serious about both sides of the ball. We all know a Kevin Wilson-led team can put up points against almost anyone, but against a well-coached Duke squad, the Hoosiers have to show the world they can put up a resistance against a living and breathing football team, rather than being mistaken for an offensive sideshow.
7. Penn State Nittany Lions: James Franklin has one more opportunity in 2015 to beat a team with a pulse. The Nittany Lions have been victorious in all but one of the winnable games this year, but have face-planted in games when they’ve needed to make a statement against opponents. Beating a very respectable Georgia team would be a salve to the wounded psyche of the program. It would begin to swing momentum behind the James Franklin way of doing things.
6. Wisconsin Badgers: It was a decent, if not hidden in the weeds, year for the Badgers. While many programs would love to go 9-3, this team has set the bar higher, but injuries and inconsistent play on offense derailed the hopes of really big things this year in Madison. The No. 1 storyline against USC in the Holiday Bowl is to get back to the Badger way. The running game was nowhere near where it needs to be even with the injuries, and the team needs to muscle up and finish the season on the ground to restore order in a universe ruled by Bucky.
5. Northwestern Wildcats: We’d be talking a ton more about the year Pat Fitzgerald pulled off in Evanston if not for the Iowa story. Defense has been a calling card of this team, and the program has made it as far as expecting a bowl each season, but wins in the postseason have been hard to come by. The Wildcats looked like a shell of themselves against the two opponents that had more athletic ability (Iowa and Michigan), so it stands to reason that they might have their hands full with a talented and young Tennessee squad. Can Northwestern put the cherry on top of a fantastic year, or will it go 0-3 in the “hang with ’em” department?
4. Michigan Wolverines: Jim Harbaugh set the Big Ten and khakis on fire through the first two-thirds of the season, but there were leaks springing in the dam until Ohio State blew the whole thing up in the season finale. Yeah, Harbaugh seems to have brought some toughness and pride back to Ann Arbor, but the only way it really means anything is if the Wolverines can finish the season against a very strong defensive squad from Gainesville. Adding a bowl defeat to two losses against archrivals in year one would reset the “holier than thou” expectations.
3. Ohio State Buckeyes: This might still be the best team in America, but nobody will believe it if the Buckeyes lose to Notre Dame in Glendale. Ohio State would love to show the world that it shouldn’t have been left out of the playoffs, but to do that, it must handily beat an Irish team that gave No. 1 Clemson and No. 6 Stanford all it can handle.
2. Iowa Hawkeyes: Coming an eyelash from the College Football Playoff semifinals is a tough pill to swallow. Despite the lofty No. 5 ranking, the Hawkeyes are still suffering from a lack of respect because of the ho-hum style they employ on gameday. However, a win over a Stanford team that has a flashy Christian McCaffrey doing everything but filling the Gatorade coolers will give the Hawkeyes the respect that should have come to them already. Lose, and it’ll be two straight losses and a collective I told you so from the college football world.
1. Michigan State Spartans: We still don’t know if the Spartans have what it takes to win this whole thing, do we? There are still some holes in the secondary and in the running game, but that front seven on defense, and Connor Cook under center, can hide a lot of deficiencies. However, is Michigan State ready to take that last step to the mountaintop? It’s been building for years now, but there isn’t that one big flag-planting win that says they’ve fully arrived. Beating Alabama and getting a shot at playing for the ultimate prize would certainly qualify.
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Phil Harrison is a contributor to The Student Section. He is also the founder of Big10news.com and featured contributor to collegefootballews.com, talking10.com, and occasionally campusinsiders.com. You can follow him on twitter @PhilHarrisonCFB or email him at pharrison28@gmail.com. If that doesn’t work, you can find him in the doghouse at home.
