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The Big 10 gets rolled in bowls every year, and I've been trying to figure out why. Since 2000, the Big 10 has been 38-55 in blow games bowl games, adding on to Phil Steele's chart (only goes through 2009) http://blog.philstee...gs-past-decade/. That record is by far the worst among conferences that have a semblance of football prowess. Now, I'm not going to include the "Big 10 teams beat up on each other" excuse, because frankly, every team does that, and players get hurt no matter what conference they are in. Questions: Is it the style of play that works against us? Power vs. other teams' speed? Geographical advantage? I'm not sure. Looking at the bowl schedule, however, I'm not entirely sure it's a fair comparison to start with. First of all, our #1 and #5 teams can't even play in the bowls, a huge disadvantage this year, but that doesn't explain the last 10 years. Moving on, look at the bowl schedules, along with my best guesses on who will play in each: Rose Bowl: B10 #1 vs. Pac12 #1------------------------------------ Nebraska vs. Oregon Capilal One Bowl: B10 #2 vs. SEC #2 ------------------------------ Michigan vs. LSU or Florida Outback Bowl: B10 #3 vs. SEC #3-4 ------------------------------- Wisconsin vs. Georgia, Florida, or LSU Gator Bowl: B10 #4 vs. SEC #6 ------------------------------------ Northwestern vs. Mississippi St. or South Carolina Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl: B10 #5 vs. Big12 #4 ------------------- Michigan St. vs. Oklahoma St. Meineke Car Care Bowl: B10 #6 vs. Big12 #6 -------------------- Minnesota vs. West Virginia Heart of Dallas Bowl: B10 #7 vs. Big12 ---------------------------- Purdue vs. Iowa St. Out of these, I see only one legitimate win, Mich St. over Okie St., leaving the Big 10 with a 1-7 record. Maybe Purdue sneaks past Iowa St.? Either way, expect another abysmal bowl season. My question is, does the Big 10 lose these games because the matchups are so screwy, or is it because of another reason, like some of the ones previously listed above?