Big Ten Disaster

New Year's Day 2011 will forever be remembered as just an absolute disaster for the Big Ten Conference. Five of the conferences teams played in bowl games on Saturday, and all 5 of them lost giving up an average 41 points per game. Co-Champions Wisconsin and Michigan State both fell as did Michigan, Penn State and Northwestern. The Big Ten now has a 2-5 record in Bowl Games this season with just Ohio State left to play. Here's a look at the carnage:

Michigan State was absolutely manhandled by Alabama 49-7. The Spartans didn't even get on the board until there were under 6 minutes to go in the 4th quarter and they were outgained on the day 546-171. Most of the damage was done on the ground as the Tide combined for 275 yards and 6 touchdowns with 4 different players scoring on running plays including two by Mark Ingram.

Michigan got off to a quick start in their game against Mississippi State taking a 14-10 lead into the second quarter, but that was it for them and the Bulldogs scored 42 unanswered over the final three quarters. Junior quarterback Chris Relf threw 3 touchdown passes and ran for another score while junior Vick Ballard ran for 3 more touchdowns as Mississippi State gave Michigan their worst bowl loss EVER. Michigan was 2/10 on 3rd down and 0/5 on 4th down. By contrast, Mississippi State converted 5 4th downs in as many tries.

Florida picked off Penn St. sophomore Matt McGloin 5 times en route to a 37-24 win in the Outback Bowl. The Nittany Lions led 24-20 going into the 4th quarter, but the Gators took the lead on a 1 yard touchdown run from Mike Gillislee and iced the game when Ahmad Black returned his second interception of the day for an 80 yard score with under a minute to go.

Northwestern came back from being down 31-9 to make it a 7 point game on two occasions, but fell short against Texas Tech in the Ticketcity Bowl 45-38. The Red Raiders threw the ball all over the field as Senior quarterback Taylor Potts went 43/56 for 369 yards and 4 scores as Texas Tech totalled 552 yards of total offense. The Wildcats lost their 8th straight bowl game and haven't won one since 1949.

Wisconsin put up the best fight of any of the 5 Big Ten teams in play but still managed to lose the Rose Bowl to TCU 21-19 allowing the Horned Frogs to become the first school from a non-automatic qualifying conference to win it. The Badgers trailed for most of the game and they missed a chance to tie the score in the 4th quarter when a two-point conversion attempt was batted down by linebacker Tank Carder. Wisconsin dominated the game in time of possession and outgained the Horned Frogs on the ground 226-82, but at the end of the day, it wasn't enough to stop Andrew Dalton and undefeated TCU who finishes the season 13-0.