Alright, so there have been a lot of posts that have been shitting on the Big Ten for their lackluster 3-6 record in bowl season. Should be worried about the current outlook of the conference with respect to the others? I'm here to argue that no, we shouldn't.

The Big Ten is grossly underestimated when you simply look at the 3-6 record. Many of our teams had very unfavorable matchups when we look at each game separately. Below, I will take a brief look at each bowl game, and at the end of this analysis we can truly determine if the Big Ten is as terrible as people claim.

Pinstripe Bowl So Northwestern (6-6) goes up against a high-scoring offense like Pitt (8-4). Given how Northwestern has preformed in past bowls, I did not expect for them to pull this one off. Northwestern's season had tons of ups and downs. This is a team that lost to FCS Illinois State and smashed Iowa at home. They also played a very close game with Ohio State in Columbus. Hardly a pushover, but their opponent, Pitt, beat two conference champions in their season. Pitt was an easy favorite for this game and heavily outmatched the Wildcats, but Northwestern prevailed. They held Pitt to only 24 points, something Clemson couldn't do in the slightest. A good win.

Foster Farms Bowl Alright, so another 6-6 Big Ten team goes up against an 8-4 team, this time from the Pac-12. Indiana led Utah in the 4th quarter and showed why Big Ten teams hate playing them. A Big Ten team that had a losing in-conference held their own against a Pac-12 team that was leading their division toward the end of the season. Although it was an L, I would say Indiana had strong performance and has nothing to be ashamed of.

Holiday Bowl This was another result none of us were expecting. Washington state was held to 12 points, the lowest point total they've had all season. Minnesota's defense looked fierce and Liedner finally closed out a game without throwing a pick to lose it. Minnesota was an underrated, underappreciated team in the Big Ten, as they held their own against several tougher foes.

Outback Bowl The only thing I can really say here is that an 8-4 Iowa team that finished 2nd in their division played a division champ on Florida's home turf. This one was not in their favor, and CJ Beathard not playing the whole game also hurts as well. Trust me Huskers understand having your offense go to shit when your starting QB gets hurt. Although I think Iowa still loses if Beathard stays in, I bet they don't get limited to just 3 points, and a better-rested defense probably doesn't let Florida score 33 either.

Music City Bowl This was a more even matchup, as the Huskers were only a seed lower than Tennessee. Nebraska was 9-3, and Tennessee finished 8-4. I was honestly impressed that Nebraska stayed within two scores, as their offense withing Tommy Armstrong is about as incompetent as it gets. I think this game is close if TA could have played, and while Tennessee also had injuries playing them, you're automatically at a worse disadvantage when it's your starting quarterback. Just ask Florida how injured quarterbacks can affect your season.

Orange Bowl This was one of the few matchups that favored the Big Ten IMO. 10-2 Michigan had a great season with a close loss to their hated rival. The only game that really confuses me here is Iowa. Iowa foreshadowed what wuld happen to Michigan in the Orange Bowl, as offensive struggles really killed them in both games. Florida State's defense suffocated Spieght the entire first half. Credit to the Seminoles for playing lights-out in the trenches and giving Cook the big yards needed to overcome Michigan. Although this loss is disappointing, I firmly believe Michigan is still a fantastic team. They had to travel down into Florida State's territory, which is something Clemson barely escaped unscathed. Michigan, although disappointed, shouldn't be embarrassed by this at all. Was Michigan overrated? Yeah probably, but not by terribly much.

Rose Bowl Second Half Penn State was finally conquered in a game that was absolutely insane. This was a game featuring two teams that were playing their hottest ball late in the season. USC fans probably sigh when they consider what could have happened in Darnold started all season, as PSU fans do when they think of an injury-free PSU team all year. Again, Penn State has nothing to be ashamed of. It really is unfortunate when you consider how many of these games were right in their opponent's back yard, and this one is no exception. PSU's defense is most to blame in IMO when they let USC drive right now the field and scored, and they could have possibly had a shot in overtime, but then THAT play happened. Penn State is a very young team and Franklin will have them back on top of the B1G East in no time. Penn State is still very much a top-ten team.

Fiesta Bowl Ok, I can't really defend this one. I just want to say that Beck did an excellent job making JT Barrett worse. Husker fans know how it feels, we could have had a really awesome season if Martinez hadn't regressed so badly thanks to this guy. But even with Beck, holding Ohio State to 0 points is still amazingly impressive, and Clemson's defense may be in the same ballpark as Alabama's. Can't wait for an excellent championship game.

Cotton Bowl This was a good win. The top G5 teams have proven many years that they can tangle with the top P5 teams. Western Michigan faced the Wisconsin D like champs and played a good game. WMU simply couldn't keep up with how physical Wisconsin was. Wisconsin has a knack for wearing down some of the best teams in the nation and they did an excellent job asserting their dominance in the run game.

The Big Ten till has an extremely bright future. Teams like PSU and Ohio State are still very young. With how far they went, these teams will be scary next year. With tOSU ousting Tim Beck, they should be early season favorites... again. Nebraska will be bringing in a better system QB, and Wisconsin will have another staunch defense as usual. I don't know about you guys, but I find Big Ten football to easily be the best to watch because you get some of the best power run teams mixed with some of the deadliest spread offenses in the country. And the best part? This entire low-effort excuse list was created to distract you from the fact that Texas lost to Kansas this year.