Illinois lost to Iowa on a late score, so the Illini need to beat Northwestern to earn bowl eligibility. That should add some spice to the game next Saturday. Iowa earned the right to be humbled in Indianapolis.
Nebraska lost in OT to Wisconsin after blowing a 14-0 first quarter lead, so they need to beat Iowa to become bowl eligible. Don’t see that happening unless the Iowa offense is even more inept than the Huskers offense. It’ll be interesting to see what the over/under for that game is, could it be lower than the one for the Rutgers-Iowa game?
Presumably the more teams from the conference that become bowl eligible the less predictable it becomes where NU goes ( and of course there is no guarantee we get an invite if more than 82 teams are eligible) At this point Im thinking Las Vegas or Phoenix are the most likely scenarios ( though the Bronx is also a possibility ) but a loss to Illinois not only knocks down our record to a less desirable one but brings illinois to the pot as well .
The winning bet for Iowa’s past 6 games has been the under , ( I took the over for the 2nd half yesterday and lost) so it’s possible Vegas will have the figure in the 20’s this week. Also It’s hard not see them getting clocked in Indianapolis by OSU or Michigan Subsequent years the BT West as we know it today will have to compete with the rest of the conference ( including the new 4) for the top 2 spots for the title game; so long NU sneaking in with weak Western rivals ( had we got 4 more points against Iowa , we very likely would be going to Indy )
Action Network says 67 teams are bowl-eligible and 24 more teams could become bowl-eligible next week, though half of those are probably underdogs.
I don’t see Northwestern being left out this year if there are more than 82 teams eligibile, too good a story. But better to beat Illinois, knock them out of the picture and improve NU’s record.
They’re showing NU as a 5.5 point underdog, my kind of odds! They have Iowa-Nebraska as a ‘pick-em’ game.