2025 Bowl Projection Tracker

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A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Anything but the Northern bowls.

The Rate bowl on the 26th …. Little inconvenient timing.
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Yeah, at least the charter to Detroit is really easy there and back in a day. We had a blast last time. Phoenix on the 26th isn't.
 




MaxyJR1 said:
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Unfortunately this is how I see it. Would rather go to Vegas or Nashville but I think Vegas is going to pick Nebraska because they will sell more Tix. I do believe we travel well and have traveled well for bowls and road games but we're not Big Red in that regard. I personally prefer to go somewhere new every year, why I didn't mind Charlotte last year,so I would like to go to Vegas or Nashville before Phoenix gain if we can't go to Florida
 


The Deliberate Stranger said:
Unfortunately this is how I see it. Would rather go to Vegas or Nashville but I think Vegas is going to pick Nebraska because they will sell more Tix. I do believe we travel well and have traveled well for bowls and road games but we're not Big Red in that regard. I personally prefer to go somewhere new every year, why I didn't mind Charlotte last year,so I would like to go to Vegas or Nashville before Phoenix gain if we can't go to Florida
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Gotta have a better season next year and get in loop for one of those bowls.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Gotta have a better season next year and get in loop for one of those bowls.
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Those bowls may not be affiliated with big ten next year
I think this is the last year of the current cycle of contract.

I would guess some are re-upped and some will change.
At a minimum the pac 4 schools will be in the big ten selection cycle next year…so they’ll need to add 2-4 contracts
 

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: Nebraska
Sports: Northwestern
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Gotta have a better season next year and get in loop for one of those bowls.
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We will have a tougher schedule but a lot of our opponents will be interesting. UCLA at home they'll have a new coach, NW at home, Michigan at home, it'll take a strong effort but their offense a tier or two below playoff contenders. Iowa I'll be honest I can't pick us until we show they are not in our heads.
@Indiana, have to give Cignatti the benefit of the doubt that he will have it figured out, my hope is we play them early on. @Maryland, obviously the later the better with them but I imagine Locksley will be a dead man walking. @Penn State new coach so who knows what they'll look like. @Washington, tough place to go too but will they have a new coach too? @Wisconsin I don't think Fickell will be coaching that game. Non con is a garbage Mississippi State team, Akron and I am not sure if it's Albeline Christian or Eastern Illinois coming in next year, but we should win all three
 



The Deliberate Stranger said:
Unfortunately this is how I see it. Would rather go to Vegas or Nashville but I think Vegas is going to pick Nebraska because they will sell more Tix. I do believe we travel well and have traveled well for bowls and road games but we're not Big Red in that regard. I personally prefer to go somewhere new every year, why I didn't mind Charlotte last year,so I would like to go to Vegas or Nashville before Phoenix gain if we can't go to Florida
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Agree, Vegas on New Year's Eve would be tremendous and I think we'd have a lot of Gopher fans there.

Everything says it should be Minnesota over Nebraska (better conference record, head to head win, healthy starting QB), but the bowls ultimately pick and Vegas will likely choose Nebraska, unfortunately. And, the Big Ten will certainly not hold that up.

But, I'm holding out slim hope the Vegas bowl picks us!
 
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DarrenTheGreek said:
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: Nebraska
Sports: Northwestern
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The last time we were in the Music City Bowl was 2004. Nebraska has never been to the Rate Bowl or any of it's previous iterations. We were just there in 2021.

The main issue with the Rate Bowl were the atrocious field conditions in 2021. However, it was a unique event that should not happen again.

Synopsis of the 2021 cluster:
  • The shitty field was a combination of bad luck and mechanical failure
  • Natural grass sod is laid over an artificial turf field, creating a playing surface with no natural drainage
  • The roof was open for the pregame show, which included fireworks and parachuters
  • A mechanical issue with the roof's pulley system meant that once fans begin filling the staidum, they couldn't close it due to safety protocols
  • While normally not a problem in Phoenix, a sudden downpour system moved through the area and officials were unable to close the roof, instantly flooding the undrained field and making a slippery sh*thole for the entire game
  • The mechanical issue is supposedly fixed, so they should not have a repeat

My prediction is Music City or Vegas.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
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: Nebraska
Sports: Northwestern
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Agree, and I believe another overlooked factor here is which team the other conference is sending. For example, if the Music City ends up with Vanderbilt or Tennessee, ticket sales will not be an issue — so maybe they don’t mind throwing the B1G a bone and giving MN a new destination. If Missouri ends up there, it seems Illinois fans would foam at the mouth for that match up and come out in droves, so perhaps the B1G pushes for that. B1G also doesn’t want any blowout losses, so if Utah (for example) ends up in Vegas, they’ll do all they can to put the team with the best chance of staying competitive into that game rather than appeasing a fan base.

As always, lots of moving pieces, and I won't be surprised with any outcome. But I do agree with you that this isn't a "draft" and the conference will be heavily involved in placements. Guess we'll see how important avoiding repeat appearances is to them.
 





U2Gopher said:
Technically, I think the formal announcement is Sunday, but it usually leaks prior to that.
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Yeah, nothing official till after the CFP field is set but Big Ten spots seem pretty locked up with Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon being the only 3 that will get in so that will make it possible for the conference to start locking in the other bowls quicker since they don't have to wait and see if another team makes it.
 


 


IceBoxGopher said:
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That's a strange one. Rutgers, a team with a losing record, went there against ranked Wake Forest in December of 2021 but only because Wake Forest's original opponent dropped out and Rutgers agreed to be the sacrificial lamb.

The last regularly scheduled Big Ten opponent to go there was Indiana in January 2020. They lost a 1 point game against Tennessee.

I like that matchup (NC State) but I'm uncertain why Sporting News thought we might be sent there.
 
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saintpauljeff said:
I looked at flight costs last night from MSP…oof. Lucky to those who don’t get price gouged.
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It's half the reason I never have been to a bowl game. That and my family is usually already traveling that time of year to a guaranteed bear destination that was planned way before the bowl selection.
 

caliGopher said:
It's a great bowl.
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Nashville is a fun city. Changed a ton since 2004. Only downside people may have is that it may not be super warm that time of year. But everything else is great.
 
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TwistingMyMelon said:
That's a strange one. Rutgers, a team with a losing record, went there against ranked Wake Forest in December of 2021 but only because Wake Forest's original opponent dropped out and Rutgers agreed to be the sacrificial lamb.

The last regularly scheduled Big Ten opponent to go there was Indiana in January 2020. They lost a 1 point game against Tennessee.

I like that matchup (NC State) but I'm uncertain why Sporting News thought we might be sent there.
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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.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Yeah, nothing official till after the CFP field is set but Big Ten spots seem pretty locked up with Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon being the only 3 that will get in so that will make it possible for the conference to start locking in the other bowls quicker since they don't have to wait and see if another team makes it.
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Yes but doubtful because other teams making it or not making it will change things:
Pitt in NY makes Penn state more likely there
Missouri in Nashville makes Illinois more likely there

Etc
 

Word said:
Only downside people may have is that it may not be super warm that time of year.
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Lived not too far away in the early part of this century. A few days before Christmas, I took a flight to Los Angeles and parked in the huge open lot outside of the Nashville airport. I returned at night the day after Christmas and spent more than an hour looking for my car in the lot. I can testify that it was not at all warm that night (I'd say high teens low twenties). I've been there at that time of year when it was about 20 degrees warmer than that but it can get cold at night in late December.
 

Word said:
Nashville is a fun city. Changed a ton since 2004. Only downside people may have is that it may not be super warm that time of year. But everything else is great.
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The Vegas game will be indoors but Vegas can be nippy in late December.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
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.
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The same article has the Las Vegas bowl as Cal vs. Missouri.

This is why it is important to find projections written by people who know what they are talking about. This Sporting News writer doesn't even know what conferences belong to what bowls.

Some of these guys are just filling spaces to fill spaces and put something in a Tweet.

Brett M is the most dialed in, in my opinion. He broke most of the bowl bids ahead of time the last few years. I also think his Gophers to Rate Bowl is spot on.
 

If Penn State is available for the Pinstripe Bowl, Hank Steinbrenner will insist on them being the Big Ten team for that game.
 

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