The Big Ten will be well-represented in Super Bowl XLVI at Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Big Ten Football Championship Game.
Big Ten Commissioner James E. Delany made the following statement regarding the passing of Joe Paterno.
With the 2011 football season now concluded, the season in review looks back at the outstanding teams and record-setting players in the Big Ten's first year of divisional play and a championship game.
Brendan Gibbons drilled a 37-yard field goal down the middle in overtime to lift Michigan to a 23-20 victory over Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday night. The victory capped an impressive debut season for head coach Brady Hoke, who has led the Wolverines (11-2) back to prominence with a BCS bowl victory. Denard Robinson highlighted an otherwise unspectacular night with touchdown passes of 45 and 18 yards to Junior Hemingway. Virginia Tech (11-3) had more than double Michigan's total yards, 377-184, and had 22 first downs to Michigan's 12 but settled for four field goals in regulation by third-string kicker Justin Myer.
Oregon's incredible offense busted up Wisconsin and the record books on the way to the Ducks' first Rose Bowl victory in 95 years. Darron Thomas passed for three touchdowns, De'Anthony Thomas scored on runs of 91 and 64 yards, and the No. 6 Ducks earned their first bowl victory under coach Chip Kelly, holding off Wisconsin 45-38 Monday night in the highest-scoring Rose Bowl ever played. And it wasn't over until a video review confirmed the Badgers (11-3) ran out of time at the Oregon 25, out of timeouts and unable to spike the ball in time to stop the clock for a last-gasp fling.
Kirk Cousins gave Michigan State a parting gift - its first bowl win in more than a decade. Cousins threw for 300 yards and led a late rally to tie it, then Dan Conroy kicked a 28-yard field goal in the third overtime that lifted the 12th-ranked Spartans over No. 18 Georgia 33-30 Monday in the Outback Bowl. Georgia's Blair Walsh became the Southeastern Conference's career scoring leader with a field goal in the second extra period. But he missed a 42-yarder in the first overtime after conservative play-calling and had a 47-yard attempt blocked on the final play of the game.
Florida's special teams came up big in the Gator Bowl, scoring twice as the Gators beat Ohio State 24-17 on Monday in a game between Urban Meyer's old team and his future one. Andre Debose returned a kickoff 99 yards - the longest scoring play in bowl history - and Chris Rainey blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown. The speedsters helped the Gators (7-6) avoid their first losing season since 1979 and pick up some much-needed momentum after losing six of their previous eight games.
Alshon Jeffery had four catches for 148 yards and a touchdown before getting tossed out of the game for fighting, and No. 11 South Carolina's defense had six sacks and shut out No. 21 Nebraska in the final three quarters of 30-13 win at the Capital One Bowl on Monday. The victory gave South Carolina (11-2) 11 wins for the first time in school history and snapped a string of three straight bowl losses. Nebraska (9-4) lost its second consecutive bowl game and drops to 12-6 all-time in bowl matchups against SEC foes.
Pacing the Penn State sideline just the way his dad did for 46 seasons, Jay Paterno couldn't help but wonder what JoePa might be doing back home in Happy Valley. A 30-14 loss to Houston at the TicketCity Bowl on Monday ended a tumultuous season for a program shrouded with uncertainty following the firing of a Hall of Fame coach in the aftermath of a child sex-abuse scandal that shook college sports. "It wasn't easy ... It wasn't easy on game day without him because you think about him," said Jay Paterno, Penn State's quarterbacks coach. "I always came to work knowing we had an ace up our sleeve in Joe because of all of his experience, so yeah it was tough."
Michigan is back in the BCS picture with an Allstate Sugar Bowl matchup against Virginia Tech. The Wolverines first BCS game since appearing in the 2007 Rose Bowl Game will take place in New Orleans on Jan. 3 at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Big Ten Champion Wisconsin heads to the Rose Bowl Game for the second consecutive season and will face Pac-12 Champion Oregon. The 98th edition of the game takes place in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 2 at 5:10 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Northwestern's comeback attempt came too late and doomed the Wildcats to yet another bowl loss. Ryan Tannehill threw for 329 yards and a touchdown and Ben Malena ran for two more scores to lead Texas A&M to a 33-22 win over Northwestern on Saturday in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Northwestern hasn't won a bowl game since the 1949 Rose Bowl, a span of nine losses. Heading into the game, players and coaches spoke of "getting the monkey off" their backs and ending the losing streak.
Terry Hawthorne returned an interception 39 yards for Illinois' first touchdown late in the third quarter and the Illini snapped a six-game losing streak by beating UCLA 20-14 in the Fight Hunger Bowl. Nathan Scheelhaase added a 60-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Jenkins midway through the fourth quarter to seal the first victory for Illinois (7-6) since beating Indiana 12 weeks ago. The game between two six-win teams who have already fired their head coaches matched the underwhelming expectations as there was little excitement before Hawthorne's third-quarter touchdown that gave Illinois its first lead.
Nebraska is set to make its first trip to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, where it will meet South Carolina on Jan. 2 at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Blake Bell ran for three touchdowns to help No. 19 Oklahoma survive a late rally and a crashing camera to beat Iowa 31-14 in the Insight Bowl Friday night. Oklahoma (10-3) didn't get a particularly great game from quarterback Landry Jones and wasn't effective on the ground, either. Once considered national-title contenders, the Sooners grinded it out against the gritty Hawkeyes, ending a difficult year that included the death of linebacker Austin Box in the offseason. Jones threw for 161 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and Bell put the game away with a 21-yard touchdown run with 45 seconds left.