Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Big Ten bowl projections: Week 9

Tuesday nights have become rather significant in college football with the release of the playoff selection committee's rankings. As a result, bowl projections also move to Tuesdays and will be released immediately after the committee's rundown.

Last week, we projected Maryland to the Holiday Bowl based on merit, while noting that the Terrapins would have to prove themselves again at Camp Randall Stadium. Wisconsin ended up mauling Maryland, so the Badgers move up the projections. Remember: the Big Ten is taking greater control over bowl pairings this season, so the teams that have earned it on the field, not necessarily those with the largest fan bases, will land in the higher-profile games.

We had a brief discussion about projecting Michigan State or Ohio State to the playoff, but a few more things need to break the Big Ten's way. There's a good chance the winner of the Nov. 8 showdown at Spartan Stadium moves up a rung, but we're not ready to pull the trigger.

We also discussed whether to project Illinois to its first bowl game under coach Tim Beckman after a big home win against Minnesota. The Illini only need two more wins, but we need to see a little more.

Maryland and Rutgers move down after losses. Penn State, meanwhile, actually moves up after taking Ohio State to the brink before falling in two overtimes.

Here are the latest projections:

Chick-fil-A Peach/AT&T Cotton/Fiesta/Capital One Orange: Michigan State

Chick-fil-A Peach/AT&T Cotton/Fiesta/Capital One Orange: Ohio State

Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus: Nebraska

Outback: Wisconsin

National University Holiday: Minnesota

TaxSlayer/Franklin American Mortgage Music City: Maryland

San Francisco: Rutgers

New Era Pinstripe: Penn State

Quick Lane: Iowa

Heart of Dallas: Northwestern

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