A total of twelve Big Ten football teams will be playing in the postseason this December and January including the three in the College Football Playoff. That means at least 12 postseason games, with hopefully
a few more of follow if Oregon, Ohio State and Indiana can keep rolling past their initial games. That’s a lot of football and unless you are a super fan, you don’t have time for all of that. So we ranked the Big Ten games 1-11 in ranks of watchability, interesting matchups, and intrigue. You will notice I said 12 teams will play but we are only ranking the games 1-11. Well, that’s what you get Washington for playing in the field Bowl Game of the season last Saturday crushing Boise State in the final Los Angeles Bowl ever 38-10. I would have had that game relatively highly ranked too, and it ended up being a blowout—so obviously take all my rankings with a grain of salt. So in reverse order, here are the last 11 Big Ten postseason games remaining.
#11 Game Above Sports Bowl—Detroit, MI
Central Michigan vs Northwestern Noon Dec 26 ESPN
If you even need to ask why this is #11 on the list you haven’t watched much Big Ten football this season. A 6-6 Northwestern team that squeaked into a bowl after defeating Minnesota in their 11th game of the season will now face a 7-5 team from the MAC who lost 63-3 to Michigan and 45-17 to Pitt. Northwestern should win this one in a rout but will they? They are favorited by 10.5 points, and I’d take the Wildcats to eclipse that.
#10 SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl
Utah vs Nebraska 2:30 PM December 31st ESPN
A 10-2 Utah team who’s only losses were to playoff bound Texas Tech and barely to BYU playing in their long time coaches’ final game against a Nebraska team playing a backup QB after their star injured QB entered the transfer portal. Add in that Nebraska will be without their best player in running back Emmett Johnson after he declared for the NFL Draft and the Utah +16.5 line might not be big enough for this one. Utah should absolutely crush the Huskers. Going to want to change the channel after (spoiler alert) what should be a great ReliaQuest Bowl before this one.
#9 Pinstripe Bowl—NYC
Clemson vs Penn State 11AM December 27th ABC
A battle of a pair of bluebloods…on a potentially frozen baseball field. Seems like the perfect location for a pair of blueblood teams that had poor 2025’s. Penn State will be down Nick Singleton along with three other starters who declared for the draft and have a lame duck coaching staff while Clemson comes in on a four game winning streak. The Tigers are favored by 3.5 points and this has the potential to be a decent game, but I do think Clemson is in a position to “want this” more than Penn State does and that usually means a lopsided result.
#8 Rate Bowl—Phoenix, Arizona
New Mexico vs Minnesota 3:30 PM December 26 ESPN
This one I feel a bit iffy about putting so low because I think there is actually a chance this is a really good game. Minnesota will be missing some offensive talent with Fame Ijeboi entering the transfer portal and Lemecke Brockington declaring for the draft. There is still time for additional opt outs as well, but the Gophers main core should be intact.
New Mexico appears to not be missing anyone from a 9-3 team that played welly well for Jason Eck. They lost at Michigan and crushed UCLA in the Rose Bowl, so the Lobos will not be an easy out for the Gophers to extent their NCAA long 8-game bowl winning streak. PJ Fleck and company are going to need to work for this one. Minnesota is a 2.5 point favorite at the moment, and this one probably will come down to the final possession. But there are just a few more intriguing matchups ahead on this list.
#7 Alamo Bowl-San Antonio, TX
TCU vs USC 8 PM December 30 ESPN
This matchup is intriguing, but just doesn’t have the same gravitas of a classic Big Ten/ SEC tilt. As of now neither team has any notable opt outs or players in the transfer portal which bodes well for the Trojans. Jayden Maiava had a great season for USC and has Makai Lemon to throw to. TCU has some players of their own, but not quite to USC’s level. The Trojans are favored by 4.5.
#6 Cheez-it Citrus Bowl—Orlando, FL
Texas vs Michigan 2 PM December 31 ABC
This game had a bit more gravitas as a game a week ago, but now the big story is how will Michigan deal with the circus around their program now that Sharone Moore is gone and there are no real answers as to who the new Wolverines coach will be. So expect a lot of ABC coverage on Arch Manning—who has had a great second half of the season after an awful first half. Bryce Underwood likely will be running for his life for most of the game against this Texas defensive front, but if he can throw the Longhorns are missing some talent on the backend of their defense who have already declared for the draft. Still, I think the distractions are too much and Texas easily covers the 7.5 point spread in this one.
#5 Music City Bowl—Nashville, TN
Tennessee vs Illinois 4:30 PM December 30 ESPN
This game will be an interesting battle between two teams that had much higher aspirations for their seasons, but now see themselves playing in Nashville. Illinois will be playing a de facto road game against the Volunteers, but will Tennessee fans actually care? The Vols went 8-4 this season but lost to only teams in the top 15 of the country in Georgia, Alabama, Vandy and Oklahoma. Meanwhile Illinois had some baffling losses including at Wisconsin and an absolute drubbing at Washington, The Illini have not had any opt outs yet while Tennessee will be missing their best WR and CB. Will it be enough for Illinois to overcome? I have my doubts. But the Vols are only favorited by 2.5 so Vegas thinks we will see a good game.
#4 CFP Playoff First Round—Eugene, OR
James Madison @ Oregon 6:30 PM December 20 TNT
The first of the College Football Playoff matchups on the list sees James Madison headed to Eugene to face Oregon. It sounds like the Ducks will have several of their injured players back which should help them. The Dukes are a great story, but with their head coach joining the Big Ten next season at UCLA, and likely many of is players leaving as well, it still has to be a bit of a distraction. The Ducks are the real deal in Eugene and are favored by 21 points. These first round games often end up in blowouts, and it would not surprise me to see this one over early as well. Now that potential Oregon/Texas Tech Quarterfinal—-yeah that might be #1 on this list if it was quarantined.
#3 ReliaQuest Bowl—Tampa, FL
Vanderbilt vs Iowa 11 AM December 31 ESPN
This game has one of those classic Florida bowl games written all over it. Iowa’s defense against a scorned/pissed Diego Pavia and Vandy’s offense. If Iowa can play like it did when it played Indiana and Oregon, then they can definitely win this game and it should be a lot of fun. But if they play like they did against Iowa State or USC—well this one could get ugly. Vanderbilt comes in at 10-2 with only losses to Alabama and Texas. They are good, but this is a classic game where Iowa shows up and overplays. Vandy are favored by 5.5 but this game should be one of the best not in the CFB.
#2 Cotton Bowl—CFP QF Arlington, TX
Miami/Texas A&M vs Ohio State 6:30 PM Dec 31 ESPN
The Buckeyes sit back and await to see who wins the game this weekend between Texas A&M and Miami in College Station. If the Aggies can get the home win, it does set up a very interesting second round matchup where the crowd may trend a bit more towards the lower seeded team just due to proximity. This Ohio State team is quite good, but as Indiana showed, they can be beaten. OSU gets off to slow starts and if a team can take advantage and jump on them early, it could make a difference. I think the Buckeyes do match up much better against Miami, but I think it will be A&M that advanced which should be a more interesting game.
#1 Rose Bowl—CFP QF Pasadena, CA
Alabama/Oklahoma vs Indiana 3:00 PM Jan 1 ESPN
Are the Hoosiers for real? We will see right away as they will see a SEC top team in the Rose Bowl in either Alabama or Oklahoma. Indiana played their best game of the season in their Big Ten Championship Game win over Ohio State, but now need to do that same thing three more times. We have seen the Hoosiers absolutely steamroll easier opponents , but the tape of them struggling to beat Iowa and Penn State is definitely out there. But they sure are a fun team to watch. A potential Alabama/ Indiana matchup would be a very fun game to watch—add in the sunset over the San Gabriel’s, and that’s why this game sits at #1 on the list.
