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By John Eligon
The Daily Northwestern
Christmas break is rapidly approaching. But the location where many Big Ten teams will be unraveling presents and humming Christmas carols remains uncertain.
With the season winding down, Michigan and Illinois are the only teams in the conference that have clinched bowl berths. The rest of the Big Ten still is vying for a chance to play in the postseason – a task which could prove daunting in a conference filled with parity.
“One of the problems our league is having right now is we’re all beating each other up,” Minnesota head coach Glen Mason said. “When you start talking about the top end – trying to put yourself into a BCS bid or to the national championship game – that’s tough to do when you come out of a conference like ours.
“On the other end, when you’re just trying to qualify with six wins, it becomes an awfully difficult task.”
Currently, Michigan State, Purdue and Ohio State are all one win away from becoming bowl eligible. Wisconsin must win its final two games to qualify, while both Northwestern and Iowa need two wins in their last three contests. Penn State, Minnesota and Indiana are still in the hunt, too.
With the Rose Bowl serving as this year’s national title game and the Micronpc.com Bowl no longer in existence, the Big Ten has lost two of its automatic bowl berths. This makes qualifying for a bowl an especially challenging task for most squads.
The Citrus, Outback, Alamo and Sun now remain the league’s only automatic bowl berths. The conference’s top team is expected to earn a spot in a Bowl Championship Series game – the Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl or Sugar Bowl.
If the four automatic bowls fail to accommodate the number of Big Ten teams that achieve bowl eligibility, the league could receive at-large bids from the Tangerine and Silicon Valley bowls.
It’s a messy process that most Big Ten coaches say is far from their minds.
“What we try to do is worry about the next game,” Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez said. “I think everybody’s smart enough to know how many games you have to win to qualify for a bowl. If you start worrying too much about that and not about your games, then you get in trouble.”
Tough break: Michigan State cornerback Tyrell Dortch, who suffered a nasty break to his lower right leg in the Spartans’ win at Wisconsin on Oct. 27, remains hospitalized in Madison, Wis.
But he has reason to smile. Since being hospitalized, Dortch has received visits from members of the Wisconsin football team, including Alvarez and tailback Anthony Davis, whom he competed against in high school.
Alvarez has also spoken with Dortch’s mother.
“He’s a fine young man, and I think that’s the least we can do,” Alvarez said of the visits.
Following both of his operations, Dortch was left with two open wounds, which have since closed up. He remains in the hospital for observation, but is expected to return home on Wednesday or Thursday.
“He’s really handled this thing like a champ,” Michigan State head coach Bobby Williams said. “He’s been very positive.”
quarterback controversy: Kyle McCann’s days as Iowa’s starting quarterback could be over.
After a shoddy first-half showing against Wisconsin on Saturday – completing just 5 of 11 passes for 51 yards – McCann was replaced by junior Brad Banks in the second half.
The junior college transfer went 11 of 23 for 164 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in his first action as a member of the Hawkeyes. Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz has yet to decide who will get the starting nod this weekend.
“Our quarterback situation is clearly cloudy,” Ferentz said.
