ROSEMONT, Ill. – For just the second time in conference history, 10 Big Ten schools were selected for bowl competition on Sunday night, including two teams earning berths in one of the six College Football Playoff bowls. The Big Ten’s total of 10 bowl teams equals the conference record for most bowl berths in a season, matching the 10 postseason teams following the 2011 campaign.
Big Ten Champion Ohio State earned a spot in the inaugural College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl and Michigan State is headed to the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, another College Football Playoff bowl. In addition, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Rutgers and Wisconsin collected bids as part of the largest and most diverse postseason lineup in conference history.
After winning the Big Ten Football Championship Game, Ohio State was granted the No. 4 seed and will take on top-seeded Alabama in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The game will be contested at 8:30 p.m. ET on Jan. 1 in New Orleans, La. The Buckeyes will be making their 44th official appearance in postseason competition, having last appeared in the 2014 Orange Bowl. Ohio State will take part in the Sugar Bowl for the second time, following a victory over Texas A&M in 1999. Big Ten programs have played in six Sugar Bowls, most recently following the 2011 season.
Michigan State heads to the Goodyear Cotton Bowl where it will face Baylor at 12:30 p.m. ET on Jan. 1 in Arlington, Texas. The Spartans will be making their first appearance in the Cotton Bowl and only the second by a Big Ten team, as Ohio State earned a Cotton Bowl win following the 1986 season. Michigan State has advanced to a program-record eight straight postseason contests and is making its 25th bowl appearance in team history.
Minnesota will take part in the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl at 1 p.m. ET on Jan. 1 in Orlando, Fla., against Missouri. The Gophers will be making their 17th postseason appearance and third straight bowl trip. The game will mark Minnesota’s first appearance in the Citrus Bowl, the Big Ten’s second-oldest current bowl partner behind only the Rose Bowl Game. Big Ten teams have played in 24 Citrus Bowls, including each of the last 22 seasons.
Wisconsin will play in the Outback Bowl for the first time since the 2007 season in a game that will take place at Noon ET on Jan. 1 in Tampa, Fla., against Auburn. The Badgers are taking part in postseason play for a school-record 13th straight season and are making their 26th bowl appearance. Wisconsin will make its fifth trip to the Outback Bowl. The Outback Bowl is the Big Ten’s third-oldest current bowl partner and has been affiliated with the conference since the 1993 season. Big Ten schools have played in 25 Outback Bowls, including each of the last 21 seasons.
Nebraska earned an invitation from one of the conference’s newest bowl partners, the National University Holiday Bowl, which will take place at 8 p.m. ET on Dec. 27 in San Diego, Calif., against Southern California. The contest will mark the Huskers’ fourth appearance in the Holiday Bowl and first since the 2010 campaign. Nebraska will be making its 51st bowl appearance and eighth straight postseason contest. Big Ten squads have played in the Holiday Bowl on nine occasions, most recently after the 1994 campaign.
Iowa makes its sixth bowl appearance in the last seven seasons and will take on Tennessee in the TaxSlayer Bowl at 3:20 p.m. ET on Jan. 2 in Jacksonville, Fla. The Hawkeyes will play in their 28th postseason outing overall, the 10th appearance by a Big Ten school in this bowl game and fifth straight. Iowa will participate in the TaxSlayer Bowl for the second time and first since the 1983 season, when it was called the Gator Bowl.
Penn State will make the Big Ten’s debut in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at 4:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 27 against Boston College. Played at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, N.Y., the Big Ten’s partnership with the Pinstripe Bowl marks the conference’s first bowl game tie-in on the East Coast. The Nittany Lions will be making their 39th official appearance in postseason play and first since taking part in the TicketCity Bowl following the 2011 campaign.
Following its first season as a Big Ten member, Maryland makes a bowl appearance for the second consecutive season and will face Stanford in the Foster Farms Bowl, one of the Big Ten’s newest bowl partners. The 2014 Foster Farms Bowl will be held at 10 p.m. ET on Dec. 30 in Santa Clara, Calif. The contest will mark the third time that a current Big Ten team will pay in the Foster Farms Bowl, including a 2007 appearance by the Terrapins in what was then called the Emerald Bowl. The Terrapins will participate in their 26th postseason contest.
Fellow Big Ten newcomer Rutgers also earned a bowl berth in its first season in the conference and will face North Carolina in the inaugural Quick Lane Bowl at 4:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 26 in Detroit, Mich. The Scarlet Knights will be making their ninth bowl appearance in the last 10 years and taking part in their 10th postseason game overall. Rutgers has won five of its last seven bowl games.
Illinois will make its first bowl appearance since the 2011 season against Louisiana Tech in the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl, to be held at 1 p.m. ET on Dec. 26 in Dallas, Texas. The Illini have won their last two bowl games and will be making their 18th