The first edition of the 2011 BCS rankings were released Sunday night and the Nebraska Cornhuskers are No. 13 in the poll.
Nebraska should climb higher in these rankings with a win over Minnesota on Saturday. After the game against the Gophers, the Cornhuskers’ schedule becomes more difficult with games against Michigan and Michigan State.
The move to the Big Ten Conference has proved to be a good one for the Cornhuskers. While the Big 12 works on expansion and contraction, Nebraska knows they are in a strong conference and do not have to fear the conference blowing up. Another positive with the move to the Big Ten Conference is that Nebraska has a good shot to play in a bowl game after New Year’s Day. The Big Ten is associated with five bowls that play their games after the first of the year. The Big 12 Conference is only associated with two bowls that play their games after New Year’s Day. A better bowl means more money for the University of Nebraska. Now the Cornhuskers must win games to ensure they are placed into one of these bowl games.
This early in the season it is hard to predict what bowl Nebraska will be attending at the end of their season. Here are the options Nebraska will have based upon their performance this season…
The best option for Nebraska would be the Grand Daddy of them all, the Rose Bowl. The last time Nebraska went to the Rose Bowl was in 2001. Nebraska lost to the eventual National Champions, the Miami Hurricanes, 37-14.
I think it is unlikely that Nebraska will make it back to the Rose Bowl. The Cornhuskers would have to win the rest of their games and beat the winner of the Leaders Division (most likely Wisconsin) in order to receive an invite to the Rose Bowl. This is not the year for the Cornhuskers to go to the Rose Bowl. Nebraska has a young team and they are still learning the system. I look for the Cornhuskers to make their debut as Big Ten Champions in the Rose Bowl next season.
The team that wins the Big Ten Championship will most likely play the winner of the Pac 12 Championship. I predict the 2012 Rose Bowl will be a great game between Wisconsin and Stanford.
The second option for the Cornhuskers would be the Capitol One Bowl. In order for Nebraska to make it to the Capitol One Bowl the Cornhuskers would most likely have to make it to the Big Ten Championship game and lose. While Nebraska has had a history of making it to the championship game and then losing it, I do not see it happening this year.
Since I believe the Big Ten Conference will only receive one BCS Bowl, the team that finishes second in the conference will be heading to the Capitol One Bowl.
With their win over Michigan yesterday, I believe Michigan State and Wisconsin will play for the Big Ten Championship (the two teams play Saturday and it may be a preview of the championship game). Wisconsin will win the game and go to the Rose Bowl, while Michigan State heads to the Capitol One Bowl to play South Carolina or Georgia.
The Outback Bowl is awarded to the team who finishes third in the Big Ten Conference. Nebraska would have to finish second in the Legends division in order to be invited to the Outback Bowl. I think this is obtainable for the Cornhuskers but they must improve their play on defense if they want to have any shot at the Outback Bowl.
The likely scenario would be that Nebraska would lose one of their remaining games and come up one game short of making it to the Big Ten Conference Championship game. It is hard to say right now if Nebraska is good enough to win all but one of their remaining games. The Cornhuskers have been up and down all season. We will know more about the Cornhuskers after their game on October 29 against Michigan State. If the Cornhuskers are able to beat the Spartans, I believe they will be in the Capitol One Bowl playing either South Carolina or Auburn.
Nebraska is no stranger to the Gator Bowl. Nebraska beat Clemson in the 2009 Gator Bowl 26-21.
The Gator Bowl is awarded to the team that finishes fourth in the Big Ten Conference. I believe this is the Bowl that the Cornhuskers will receive an invited to.
The Cornhuskers had high hopes for the 2011 season. They were picked by the media to win the Big Ten Conference in their inaugural season. The team just did not come together as planned. While the Cornhuskers still have a chance to win the conference, I just do not see them doing it.
I predict Nebraska will finish the regular season at 9-3 and receive an invite to the Gator Bowl. If this were to happen, I think Nebraska would be matched up with the Florida Gators in their backyard.
If Nebraska does not receive an invite to the Gator Bowl, I believe the next most logical choice for the Cornhuskers would be the Insight Bowl.
If Nebraska were to lose two games down the stretch (possibly to Michigan State and Michigan), the Cornhuskers might end up in the Insight Bowl.
While this is not a January 2 Bowl (New Years is on Sunday this year so the New Year's Bowls have been moved to January 2), Nebraska might be happy to see the Cornhuskers play a team from their old conference, especially if that team is Texas.
The Insight Bowl matches up the fifth place team from the Big Ten Conference vs. the fourth place team from the Big 12 Conference. If Nebraska were to be placed in this bowl, I believe they would play either Texas or Baylor. I know the Cornhusker fans would love to get another shot at Texas.
The remaining options for Nebraska include the Meineke Car Care Bowl, the Ticket City Bowl, and the Little Caesar’s Bowl. If Nebraska finds themselves in any of these three bowl, coach Bo Pelini is going to have a lot of explaining to do.
I hate to even break down the possibilities of Nebraska going to one of these bowls, but Nebraska has six games remaining on their schedule and anything can happen.
To be invited to the Meineke Car Care Bowl Nebraska would have to finish sixth in the Big Ten Conference. In order to do that I think Nebraska would have to go 3-3 the rest of the season. At the beginning of the season I would have thought it would be impossible for Nebraska to finish 3-3 with Minnesota, Michigan State, Northwestern, Penn State, Michigan, and Iowa remaining on their schedule. After watching the Cornhuskers this season, I now think it is a possibility, but I do not think it will happen.
If Nebraska is placed in the Meineke Car Care Bowl they will get to face a team from their old conference. I think Nebraska would play either Texas Tech or Missouri in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. This is not a bad matchup, but not one Nebraska wants to be in.
The next possibility is the Ticket City Bowl.
I think Nebraska has a better shot at going to the Rose Bowl than they do at going to the Ticket City Bowl. If Nebraska finishes the season at 7-5 there is a possibility that they will be headed to Dallas. Nebraska fans would hate that because they have been there, done that before.
The good thing about going to the Ticket City Bowl is that Nebraska would be in a Bowl that they could easily win. Nebraska would face the loser of the Conference USA Championship game. I believe that team would be either Houston of Central Florida.
The last possibility for Nebraska would be the Little Caesar’s Bowl.
In order for Nebraska to be invited to the Little Caesar’s Bowl, the Cornhuskers would most likely win against Minnesota next week and then lose the remaining games on their schedule. If this were to happen, Nebraska fans would not be so concerned about what bowl they are going to, but who their new head coach will be next year!
A bowl game is supposed to be a reward for a good season. I do not see how going to Detroit for a bowl game is a reward for any team, but if Nebraska finishes the season at 6-6, they deserve to go to Detroit.
The team Nebraska would most likely play in the Little Caesar’s Bowl would be either Temple or Western Michigan. That would be a game Cornhusker fans have be dreaming about. Too bad that dream is a nightmare!
Nebraska will finish the season better than they have played in their first six games. The Cornhuskers received their bye week at the perfect time in the season. I look for Nebraska to make a statement against Minnesota and then come back to play Michigan State tough at home.
We have a long way to go before the bowl picture for the Cornhuskers becomes clearer.
I think Nebraska will finish the season at 9-3 with a trip back to the Gator Bowl.
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