Bowl Grades For Every Team, Conference: How Did Everyone Do? – Page 3

Big Ten Bowl Grades

Big Ten Bowl Grade: B-

Big Ten Straight Up: 5-4
Big Ten Against The Spread: 5-4

Why such a low grade considering the 5-4 bowl season?

Penn State was fantastic in the Rose Bowl, Wisconsin was great over Oklahoma State in the Guaranteed Rate, Iowa and Minnesota won with relative ease, and Ohio State was this close to winning the national title – which it would’ve done if it pulled that off against Georgia.

What’s the problem?

Michigan totally gacked against TCU and missed out on playing for the national title, Illinois couldn’t get by a mediocre Mississippi State, and before the horror of the College Football Playoff National Championship, Purdue – Big Ten West Champion Purdue – suffered the worst loss in bowl history up to that point.

Illinois Bowl Grade: C-

ReliaQuest Bowl
Prediction: Illinois 20, Mississippi State 19
Line: Mississippi State -1.5, o/u: 46
Final Score: Mississippi State 19, Illinois 10
What Happened, Player of the Game, Fun Stats, What it Means

Not having RB Chase Brown didn’t help, but that wasn’t the problem. Even without the star, the ground game should’ve come up with more than 35 yards. Illinois just missed on chance after chance to put the game away, and didn’t. This was an opponent whose style fit what Illinois can handle, and yet it failed in the fourth quarter giving up two long scoring drives.

Iowa Bowl Grade: B+

TransPerfect Music City Bowl
Prediction: Iowa 19, Kentucky 16
Line: Iowa -2.5, o/u: 31
Final Score: Iowa 21, Kentucky 0
What Happened, Player of the Game, Fun Stats, What it Means

Why isn’t it an A? 0-of-11 on third downs and 206 yards of total offense. However, Iowa went Iowa. The attack came up with one touchdown, the defense did everything else – it held a depleted UK to under 200 yards – and it was a totally dominant win over an SEC team to close the season with a big moment. It’s not Iowa’s fault that most of Kentucky’s starters didn’t want to play.

Maryland Bowl Grade: B+

Maryland vs NC State
Prediction: NC State 27, Maryland 20
Line: NC State -2, o/u: 45.5
Final Score: Maryland 16, NC State 12
What Happened, Player of the Game, Fun Stats, What it Means

Any landing you can walk away from is a good one. There wasn’t anything pretty about this, but the defense held NC State to under 300 yards and just four field goals. The offense wasn’t as good as it should’ve been, but it scored a touchdown – and didn’t trail from the middle of the second quarter on – and the other side didn’t.

Michigan Bowl Grade: D-

College Football Playoff: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
Prediction: Michigan 34, TCU 17
Line: Michigan -7.5, o/u: 58.5
Final Score: TCU 51, Michigan 45
5 Thoughts on TCU’s win over Michigan

Sugarcoat it however you want, but that was a flat-out, all-time gag. Michigan nowhere near resembled its steady and ultra-consistent self that ripped through the regular season and was so brilliant against Ohio State.

From the embarrassing Philly Special attempt early, to the panic play-calling trying to bomb away to get back in it, to the defense opting out in the second half and having its worst day of the season by a mile against the run, this was a painful disaster. And because of it, the world got TCU vs Georgia and now might never recover.

Minnesota Bowl Grade: B

Pinstripe Bowl
Prediction: Minnesota 27, Syracuse 13
Line: Minnesota -10, o/u: 44.5
Final Score: Minnesota 28, Syracuse 20
What Happened, Player of the Game, Fun Stats, What it Means

It was a win. Don’t ask questions. Don’t look a gift bag in the mouth, and don’t worry about how it all looked. This should’ve been a walk in the park – especially for those who had Minnesota -10 – and it came really, really close before a rough late beat.

However, the offensive line was just okay, the attack only gained 215 yards, and it was more about holding serve than it was about being dominant. Whatever – it was another good bowl win under PJ Fleck.

Ohio State Bowl Grade: A-

College Football Playoff: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
Prediction: Georgia 36, Ohio State 30
Line: Georgia -6.5, o/u: 62
Final Score: Georgia 42, Ohio State 41
5 Thoughts on Georgia’s win over Ohio State

Go ahead and nitpick about how the offense should’ve come up with a few more yards for a slightly shorter final field goal attempt, or dissect how the defense failed late all you want, but bottom line, Ohio State came up with a fantastic game in what turned out to be the national championship.

ALL this talk now about how Georgia is some sort of an unstoppable dynasty was just this close to never happening. The Buckeyes almost pulled it off.

Penn State Bowl Grade: A

Rose Bowl
Prediction: Utah 30, Penn State 27
Line: Utah -2.5, o/u: 52
Final Score: Penn State 35, Utah 21
What Happened, Player of the Game, Fun Stats, What it Means

BOOM! Penn State was explosive, consistent, and when needed, dominant in the second half. Yeah, Utah QB Cameron Rising got hurt, but that didn’t stop the offense from blowing up against Ohio State in last year’s Rose. The attack was sharp, the defense swarming, and it turned into an emphatic win to prove that this really was one of the best teams in the country – and NEVER got enough credit.

Purdue Bowl Grade: D-

Cheez-It Citrus Bowl
Prediction: LSU 31, Purdue 20
Line: LSU -14.5, o/u: 56.5
Final Score: LSU 63, Purdue 7
What Happened, Player of the Game, Fun Stats, What it Means

We can’t give an F when the effort is there. Purdue was in a horrible situation with the late coaching change coming relatively not helping a team that was decimated by opt-outs and transfers. Even so, that’s a team that played for the Big Ten Championship, and it lost in the biggest blowout out in college football bowl history before Georgia pulled a “hold my beer” against TCU.

Wisconsin Bowl Grade: A

Guaranteed Rate Bowl
Prediction: Wisconsin 23, Oklahoma State 19
Line: Wisconsin -3, o/u: 43
Final Score: Wisconsin 24, Oklahoma State 17
What Happened, Player of the Game, Fun Stats, What it Means

Wisconsin was going through a coaching change and tried to make the transition as easy as possible, but it didn’t have its new head coach, and the other side had Mike Gundy, who’s great in bowl games. It got a little too interesting late, but considering all the changes and opt-outs, this was a fantastic way to end a – to be nice – rocky season.

NEXT: Big 12 Bowl Grades

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