Hey guys, I know I don't post a lot but I do read everyone's opinions quite a bit so I'm asking for a little bit of clarification. It is my understanding that if a conference does not fulfill all of its bowl commitments then other bowl eligible teams may take their place. That being said I don’t think it is very likely that the Big 10 will make all 7 of it’s bowl tie-ins. This is largely due to the fact that they will likely have 2 teams (Ohio State and Michigan) in BCS bowls, one in the Rose and one in the national championship game (if not a rematch in the national championship).
Currently the Big Ten has 6 eligible teams (Iowa 6-5, Michigan 11-0, Ohio State 11-0, Penn State 7-4, Purdue 7-4, and Wisconsin 10-1). In addition they have a couple of teams that can become bowl eligible:
Minnesota currently 5-6 will play Iowa (6-5)
and
Indiana currently 5-6 will play Purdue (7-4)
If I’m calculating correctly the Big Ten will need both Minnesota and Indiana to become bowl eligible to fulfill all of their commitments assuming that both Ohio State and Michigan get BCS bowls.
So on to our beloved SEC:
We currently have 8 teams bowl eligible (Florida 9-1, Georgia 7-4, Kentucky 6-4, Tennessee 7-3, Alabama 6-5, Arkansas 9-1, Auburn 9-2, and LSU 8-2)
We have one team that might become bowl eligible:
South Carolina currently 5-5 will play Middle Tenn State and Then Clemson (8-3)
Vanderbilt is currently 4-7 with one game left against Tennessee so they’re out (the loss last week to Kentucky took them out of it)
In order for Alabama to be left out of a bowl the SEC must have 8 teams with 7 wins or better and all other conferences must fulfill all their obligations. That means the following to happen:
1. South Carolina must win its next two games against Middle Tenn and Clemson to become 7-5)
2. Minnesota must beat Iowa to become bowl eligible
3. Indiana must beat Purdue to become bowl eligible
4. Alabama must lose to Auburn
So even if the SEC wound up having 9 bowl eligible teams we could still take a Big Ten slot at say the motor city bowl or something if they can’t fill all their slots up. Let me know if I'm way off with this.
:BigA: