The Big Ten officially confirmed a good number of kickoff times for throughout the duration of the 2022 college football season. Nestled in the release was a reminder about the Big Ten’s bowl lineup for the upcoming season that includes eight direct bowl tie-ins and the possibility of more bowl spots for the conference if things go well this season.
The Big Ten will take part in three New Years Day bowl games, which due to the NFL schedule will actually take place on January 2. The crown jewel of the Big Ten’s bowl lineup, of course, is the Rose Bowl Game, which remains in its traditional timeslot while the Sugar Bowl was forced to move to a noon kickoff to avoid a scheduling conflict with the NFL’s Monday Night Football programming. Yes, the Rose Bowl will serve as a leading for Monday Night Football to help ring in 2023.
The Big Ten will remain a part of the new year tradition with spots in the Tampa Bay Bowl and the Citrus Bowl in addition to the Rose Bowl.
Each of the Big Ten’s bowl games will be played after Christmas, although the possibility of a surplus of bowl teams could allow for a Big Ten team to play prior to Christmas if a bowl is in need of filling a spot.
The College Football Playoff is also once again playing its national semifinal games on New Year’s Eve, on Saturday, Dec. 31. This year’s playoff games will be held in the Peach Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl. The College Football Playoff national championship game is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 9 to bring a close to another season of college football.
Which of these bowl games will Penn State be playing in? We’ll have to wait and see. For now, here is the full Big Ten bowl lineup, plus the playoff schedule.