Eight teams from the (current) Big Ten Conference are going bowling this year.  In just a few short days, they'll be teeing up against opponents from the Big 12, SEC and Mountain West. 

Whether we like to admit it or not, the perception of the conference as a whole rides firmly on the performance of its teams in bowl games.  If they come away with a poor showing (as they did in 2008 when they went 1-6), getting a team into the national championship game in the near future will be much tougher. 

On the other hand, with the opponents they face, the schools of the Big Ten can make a statement as to their conference being one of the tougher ones in the nation.  Once again though, most of the teams are hav...

Read Complete Article at Bleacher Report - College Football
Article is property of BleacherReport.com