(Photo credit: Tyler Trent)

So you’re amped that Purdue qualified for a bowl again after an up and down, schizophrenic season? And you’re now looking forward to traveling well for them, perhaps to an exotic locale like Florida, Texas, California or…hey, do they still play that Hula Bowl in Hawaii? (No, they don’t, but there is still a bowl game in Hawaii.)

Well, we’re watching the projections and I think you may not need to pack your swimsuit. Here’s what some of the projectors are projecting:

Sports Illustrated: Pinstripe Bowl, Bronx, NY vs Pitt

ESPN: Pinstripe Bowl, Bronx, NY vs Duke (it’s the Gerad Parker Bowl!)

CBS (Jerry Palm, a Purdue guy who is good at predicting things like this): QuickLane Bowl, Detroit, MI vs Virginia Tech

247Sports: TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, FL vs South Carolina.

This one seems less likely because the Gator Bowl will probably want something a bit better than a 6-6 squad from the Big Ten. That said, 247 says: “We're projecting the Big Ten selection here to be Purdue, Minnesota or Wisconsin — three teams separated by a game.”

College Football News: Pinstripe Bowl, Bronx, NY vs Georgia Tech.

College Football News also has a nice, concise breakdown of Big Ten bowl tie-in’s. The highlights are below.

A Big Ten team will be in the Rose Bowl – it’ll be the champion if not in the College Football Playoff. There can’t be a Big Ten team this year in the Sugar Bowl.

College Football Playoff Semifinal: If Selected

1. Rose Bowl vs. Pac-12

2. Citrus Bowl vs. ACC or SEC. Agreement for Citrus is for five different teams in six years, so no Minnesota or Michigan, if possible.

3. Outback Bowl vs. SEC. Agreement is for five different teams in six years, so no Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan or Northwestern, if possible.

4. San Diego Country Credit Union Holiday Bowl vs. Pac-12. Agreement is for five different teams in six years, so no Minnesota, Wisconsin or Michigan State, if possible.

5. TaxSlayer Bowl vs. SEC
OR
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl vs. SEC

– ACC and Big Ten combine in the Music City and TaxSlayer, with each getting three appearances in six years. The Big Ten played in TaxSlayer in 2015 and the Music City in 2016 and 2017. It’s almost certainly going to be in the TaxSlayer, but no Penn State or Iowa, if possible.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl vs. ACC. It’s not official, but the bowl would prefer to have eight different teams in eight years, so no Iowa, Northwestern or Penn State, if possible.

San Francisco Bowl vs. Pac-12. Agreement is for five different teams in six years, so no Purdue or Maryland, if possible.

Quick Lane Bowl vs. ACC

SERVPRO First Responders Bowl vs. C-USA. Agreement for three SERVPRO First Responders and three Armed Forces bowls in six years. The Big Ten hasn’t been in the bowl since 2014. The Big 12 is contracted to play in the SERVPRO First Responders in 2019.

Interestingly, there are 82 bowl eligible teams for 78 spots, the opposite of the problem a few years ago that saw a 5-7 Nebraska team go bowling. So hey, Indiana, don’t despair – even if you’d won you’d probably be sitting at home. Right now, there is talk that Army could wind up winning ten games and not go to a bowl, which feels supremely criminal.

If you think Ohio State makes the College Football Playoff, then it’s probably Michigan who goes to the Rose and then you start slotting in below that. If, however, OSU were to lose to Northwestern in the Big Ten title game, not only does it knock OSU out of the CFP for sure, but it also potentially screws with other bowl games. In that scenario the Wildcats go to the Rose which pushes OSU and Michigan to other games. It’s reasonable to think, though, that the Buckeyes and Wolverines will then be appealing for other New Years Six games. Perhaps they go to the Fiesta and Peach Bowls. If OSU does go to the playoff, most projections I’ve seen show Michigan in the Rose and then Northwestern affecting the rest of the Big Ten bowl slotting.

Either way, it’s a fun guessing season. We will know more after next weekend’s games. Including who is coaching Purdue’s bowl game.