Can't Wait For Saturday Big Ten off to a good start … Illinois is next

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Dec. 29—***

Next up on the Big Ten's cavalcade of bowls: Illinois.

Bret Bielema's team is a 2 1/2-point underdog Tuesday against Tennessee at the Music City Bowl in Nashville.

Later Tuesday, Southern California is a 6 1/2-point favorite over TCU in the Alamo Bowl.

Both Illinois and the Trojans have a high bar to clear thanks to the rest of the conference. The league is off to a 5-0 start in the postseason with at least eight more to go. Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon are in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals and hoping to keep going.

Those will be tough games. So will Iowa against Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest, Michigan against Texas in the Citrus and Nebraska against Utah in the Las Vegas. Matt Rhule's team is a 14-point underdog, by far the largest margin against a Big Ten school.

The Big Ten won't likely win them all. But a large percentage of victories will make commissioner Tony Petitti feel a lot better next time he gets together with the other leagues bosses. Certainly more important to the commish is keeping the league's streak of CFP titles alive. It is at two.

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