Yeah that's dumb. Big Ten had a shared agreement with Gator & Music city from 2014-2019 (each bowl got a Big Ten team 3 times in a 6-year period) but the Gator Bowl and Big Ten parted ways after the 2019 season.
Agree....but Indiana has benefitted from having an annual matchup against Purdue. Their record before they became a power was higher than it should have been.
Since 2014 I've been keeping annual stats of the East vs West division. The last 2 seasons I've added a hypothetical "Pac" division. Here are the results from 2025 as well as historical results.
2025
East vs West: East wins 15-10
West vs Pac: Pac wins 10-4
East vs Pac: Pac wins 9-4
2024...
I still think the conference has more say in who goes to the bowls than people realize. Since they announced their change in approach back in 2014 they've pretty much stuck to it. My prediction:
Citrus: Michigan
Reliaquest: Iowa
Vegas: Illinois
Music: Minnesota
Pinstripe: Penn State
Rate...
I'm wrong quite a bit but Nebraska got absolutely blasted by MN and PSU and is on their backup QB. Gophers were in Phoenix a few years ago and conference is vested in getting new destinations.