As you may or may not know, throughout the season we picked every Big11Ten game until the end of the PSU schedule and two or three big national games every week against the spread.  It was a tough challenge, and if we had put any money up, we'd be in the red.  Let's take a look at how things ended up after the 12 main weeks of the Big11Ten slate:

Greg: 49-53

Will: 43-59

Things got off to a rough start for us and neither really recovered in spectacular fashion, as there was exactly one week that either of us reached the .500 plateua (that was Greg late in the season), and that vanished quickly.

Either way, it was definitely fun to pick all the games, so we're going to give it another go for bowl season.  That's right, we're picking every single bowl game against the spread.  If our overall records have improved after it's all said and done, we'll be shocked.

Anyway, we're going to do this on a weekly basis, and we have six games coming up before Christmas, so let's get right to it.  As always, we're using Danny Sheridan's odds as our source.

Here's the first slate of games:

And here's how we're picking:

Some quick notes:

• This is the first time we've picked exactly the same all year.  We don't know what this means, but it will probably end badly for both of us.
• When you leave the sponsor names out of the name of the bowl, they just look pretty boring.  Unquestionably, our favorite out of this slate is the St. Petersburg Bowl, which is presented by Beef O'Brady's.  Wow.
• Surprisingly, there's a couple interesting games here.  Cal-Utah is a nice matchup, and we're actually excited to watch Oregon State-BYU.  We're not sure if we've ever said that before about a pre-Christmas bowl game.
• Finally, how great is it that bowl games are starting?  Nothing like relaxing over Christmas break and watching some CFB.  We don't even care who's playing, just as long as there's a game on.  Enjoy bowl season!

We've gone through almost all of the teams in the Big11Ten, taking a look at what we said about them before the season and comparing it to what actually happened.  All that's left is Penn State, and since we are actually a Penn State blog, we're going to dive into that preview in a little more detail.  Click "Read More" to check it out.

Before we delve deeper into Penn State's sweet bowl matchup, we thought we'd take some time to give our thoughts on the entire bowl picture.  Click "Read More" to see our comments on this year's intriguing matchups.

Our prediction: 9-3 (5-3)

What we said before the season:

Like anyone else in the conference, the Hawkeyes lost some key pieces of last year's team.  Doak Walker Award-winner Shonn Greene has taken his show to the NFL, and defensive line duo Mitch King and Matt Kroul have also departed.  But with a bunch of returning starters, a loaded defense and an O-line that has the potential to be great, Iowa fans still have high hopes for the season:

Of course, that picture was taken before the fans looked at the schedule.  Then they had this reaction:

We think Iowa has a lot of potential this year, and we know they're going to be a tough team to beat.  But we also think that road schedule is going to keep them from contending for the conference crown.

Actual record: 10-2 (6-2)

Comments:

Well, they did one game better than we expected, and that one game was a gigantic win on the road... at Penn State.  They opened up the season 9-0, squeaking by some truely bad teams, doubling up on PSU and seemingly playing way over their heads.  Eventually it all came crashing down in a game against Northwestern when Ricky Stanzi was forced from the game.  Everyone at the PSU game on November 7th was scoreboard watching that day, knowing that PSU could pull into the tie with a win over Ohio State. We all know what happened there.

Iowa then went on to lose in overtime to Ohio State with the BCS bid on the line. Things still ended pretty well for Iowa, however, as they were the recipient of an invitation to the Orange Bowl to play against Georgia Tech.  Should make for the least watched game in history.

Hopefully the Iowa team that played against PSU shows up to the bowl game, and not the one that barely got by Northern Iowa and Arkansas State.

Our prediction: 10-2 (7-1)

What we said before the season:

Now for the schedule.  The Buckeyes' slate isn't all that tricky.  They have only five road games, and only one should give them any problems.  They get Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa all at home.  In reality, we think there are only two games that Ohio State fans might be a little nervous about (okay, one more than the other), and those are, of course, USC and Penn State.  Now don't get us wrong, this is going to be a very good football team, but we think maybe they are one year away from being a great one (The Silver Bullet agrees).  Drew picked the Bucks to go 11-1, but we can't go quite that far.  A reloading USC team is better than a reloading Ohio State team, and we think that's how things will play out on the 12th in Columbus.  And as for the showdown at the Beave...Pryor isn't worried about the crowd, maybe he thinks they're all "too country" to give him any problem.  We think he'll be singing a different (but well-known) tune after his visit to Happy Valley:

Actual record: 10-2 (7-1)

Comments: Well, at least we got the record prediction right. What we got horribly wrong was what would happen to the Buckeyes when they came to Beaver Stadium. Of course, no one could have predicted that debacle that took place at Purdue. For much of the season, Ohio State was their normal dominant self, even though there were times where they just didn't look all that impressive. The scores suggest otherwise, but part way through this season it felt like for the first time ever that Buckeye fans began to question the Sweater Vest and his offensive stylings. Well, in the end, things worked out and OSU finished with a record that's fitting for their team. They won the Big11Ten for 110th time in a row, because apparently they can claim it even when they lose it, and will take the trip out west to play Oregon in the Rose Bowl. Since it's the "post season", we can maybe sort of pull for Ohio State as any conference win in the bowls is a benefit to every team in the conference.

After a couple weeks of speculation, Penn State was left out of the BCS bowls, and they'll take on the LSU Tigers in the Capital One Bowl, January 1st at 1 pm in Orlando, Florida.

Though on the surface a BCS bid seems like a good thing, we're actually glad things turned out like this.  Frankly, this is a better matchup, and a win over a tough SEC squad like LSU would probably still bring the conference more cred than beating the ACC champ Georgia Tech, who Iowa will face in the Orange Bowl.

Of course, the other half of that is that if the Lions fall to LSU, it's only going to deepen the media love-fest for the SEC and drive the Big11Ten further back in the national discussion.  Penn State should be excited about drawing an SEC team in their bowl game, but they can't just be happy to be there.  They need to go out and win this one and prove the critics wrong.

The rest of the Big11Ten could help improve the level of respect for the conference as well.  Here's a quick look at the rest of the bowl matchups for conference squads:

CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL - No. 15 Miami (FL) at No. 25 Wisconsin, 12/29

INSIGHT BOWL - Iowa State vs Minnesota, 12/31

OUTBACK BOWL - Auburn vs Northwestern, 1/1

ROSE BOWL - No. 7 Oregon vs No. 8 Ohio State, 1/1

VALERO ALAMO BOWL - Texas Tech vs (What's left of) Michigan State, 1/2

FedEx ORANGE BOWL - No. 9 Georgia Tech vs No. 10 Iowa, 1/5

Oregon, LSU, Georgia Tech, Auburn, Miami and Texas Tech... not exactly a bunch of scrubs.  It's going to be a rough road once again for the Big11Ten, and if the confence can finish over .500 against that slate, we will consider this bowl season a resounding success.

Anyway, we'll be taking a more in-depth look at this game in the upcoming weeks.  For now, we are pretty excited about it.  Check back later in the week for the final part in our Big11Ten season review, thoughts on the whole bowl schedule and more.

The Civil War got things started for championship weekend, and it did not disappoint. We can only hope the rest of the championship games live up to the hype. We expect nothing from the ACC.

Read more to get to our picks.

Our prediction: 4-8 (1-7)

What we said before the season:

The Boilermakers and their fans may be in for a rough season this year, but as the bloggers we spoke to point out, there will be bright spots.  Ryan Kerrigan will be a standout at end and their secondary is going to be a unit that makes life miserable for already inept Big11Ten passing offenses -- and we're not trying to take anything away from those guys, we just know that passing is not the leagues best quality. ... The team isn't going to win a ton of games but they should be one that is fun to watch as they bust their asses to impress a new head coach.  It's going to be a fight for every game, and with that said we make our prediction: 4-8 (1-7)

Actual record: 5-7 (4-4)

Comments:

Well, the Boilermakers did have a rough season but it was better than we expected. They were 3 games better in the conference than we predicted, including one giant victory at home against Ohio State.  They did their part to topple Ohio State's death grip on the conference, it's just a shame no one could follow their lead.  That passing defense also wound up being fourth in the conference, behind Iowa, Ohio State and Penn State.  It's not all that glamorous, but considering how poor the team was overall, it may be something for that secondary to hang their hats on.

Overall they did significantly better in the conference, but at the same time gave up some winnable games outside of conference play.  It took a last-minute play for Notre Dame to get by them and the Oregon Ducks had to stuff a 2 point conversion with just over a minute left in order to preserve their victory. If they get those two wins and prevent a meltdown against Northwestern that cost them a win -- all of which were possible -- the mood on the Purdue campus is a lot different heading into bowl season.

Our prediction: 8-4 (5-3)

What we said before the season:

Michigan State's schedule isn't easy, but they do get Penn State at home and they don't have to play Ohio State.  Those two breaks could possibly lead to a breakout year.  However, they do have some tough games on the road, including trips to Notre Dame, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. ...   Beating the Spartans won't be easy, but while the defense should be strong, we're not sure how the offense will mesh just yet.  We won't be too surprised if we're wrong (mostly because it happens so often), but we see MSU having another year where they live up to expectations, but don't surpass them.  And given what's happened in recent years in East Lansing, we have a feeling the fans will be fine with that for now.

Actual record: 6-6 (4-4)

Comments:

We should have known. Make your prediction for Michigan State and then subtract two wins. How did we forget?

It was almost over for Michigan State before it started. After blowing out Montana State, the Spartans went on to lose to Central Michigan. Yeah, Central Michigan is probably going to end up winning the MAC and lost only one other game this season, but they're still a MAC team. Michigan State should win that game. Then they went on to lose to Notre Dame and Wisconsin, putting themselves in a 1-3 hole to start the season.  They rebounded and beat most of the teams they should have, but still managed to lose to a Decker-less Minnesota team and couldn't steal a win against either Iowa or PSU.  Overall it's going to be remembered as another disappointing season for Spartans fans, but, at least they extended their win streak against Michigan!

Our prediction: 6-6 (3-5)

What we said before the season:

Wisconsin's schedule isn't too hard, but they do have three tough away games on the conference schedule in Ohio State, Minnesota and Northwestern, and we think they're going to drop all of those.  The Badgers may be able to get things going in the right direction this year, but we don't think the record is going to reflect it.  We're just not sure we can count on the team to score when they absolutely need it.  But one thing we can count on: when things start going badly for Wisconsin this year, we'll definitely enjoy the dumbfounded look on Bielema's face.

Actual record: 8-3 (5-3) *

Comments:

Well, Wisconsin has one more game left, so maybe they can lose and get at least a little bit closer to our prediction. Overall, they made us look stupid by not only putting things together, but by having a record to reflect it.  Wisconsin rode their strong rushing game all the way to an 8-3* record this year and, until losing a disappointing game to Northwestern, had only lost to top-of-the-conference teams Ohio State and Iowa. They still have one more game to play out in Hawaii, but it's probably pretty safe to say that they'll get that 9th win and finish fourth in the conference.  It's an improvement over last season and further improvement should be expected next season.

*one more game this weekend, @Hawaii

Our prediction: 8-4 (4-4)

What we said before the season:

As for the schedule, NW's non-conference slate is almost as laughable as Penn State's.  Chalk up four wins there.  In the conference action, the Wildcats have a couple tough road games (Iowa, Michigan State and Illinois) and get Penn State, Wisconsin and Minnesota all at home.  While we think it's going to be another solid year for the big purple, after perusing the schedule, we don't really see that much room for improvement in terms of record.  Northwestern fans should be excited about the direction of the program, but they're not in the upper echelon just yet.

Actual record: 8-4 (5-3)

Comments:

We were damn close, and the Wildcats got one more signature win than we expected -- having beat No. 4 Iowa on the road. Unfortunately, they also had a bad loss against Syracuse.  We pretty much wrote them off after back-to-back losses to 'Cuse and Minnesota, but a couple weeks later they were hosting Penn State and looking like a pretty formidable foe.  Northwestern pretty much defined middle-of-the-pack this season, as they'll likely finish 4th or 5th in the conference, and with the exception of passing offense, where they're 2nd in the conference, they'll be right in the middle of the conference for most of the major statistical categories.  It's a pretty good year for the Wildcats and definitely something to build on.  If they balance out the offense and get the defense working, they could be a surprise team next year.

Now that the majority of the Big11Ten has gone into its customary six-week slumber before bowl games (and we've taken a solid week to do nothing but eat turkey and drink egg nog), it seems like a fine time to take a look back at the 2009 Big11Ten football season.

Before the season, we picked wins and losses for every game by every team, and then previewed each squad in the conference here on the blog.  Now we're going to spend a couple posts talking about how our predictions turned out.  There were a couple cases where we were pretty far off, but for the most part, we did pretty well (surprisingly).

So here's the first look back at the season.  We'll start with the worst teams and work our way up to the top. Enjoy.

First half: holy crap, this is boring.

Second half: holy crap, what just happened?!

Early on, it looked like this could be one of those games where ealy missed opportunies could cost the Lions late.  The second half proved that theory completely wrong.  Onto the recap...

Gametime: 3:30 pm

Records: Michigan State 6-5 (4-3); Penn State: 9-2 (5-2)

Series Record: Penn State leads, 13-12-1

TV: ABC

Audio: Here

Weather: A little sun, a little cloud. 50-something degrees

They're playing for this thing, so you know it's important.