The Michigan State Spartans took care of business on Saturday with a strong win over the Iowa Hawkeyes to remain in control of the Big Ten's Legends Division. Meanwhile the Michigan Wolverines remained one game behind their intrastate rival with an impressive win over the Illinois Illini on the road.
The wins put both teams in position to look ahead to an extra game in sunny Florida as the latest college football bowl projects have both teams playing on January 2nd.
Michigan State controls their own destiny atop the Legends Division with a more favorable schedule (Indiana, @Northwestern) to close out the year. So while the Spartans will have a shot at a BCS bid in the Rose Bowl, both SB Nation's bowl projections and the College Football News projections predict Michigan State will come up short, instead landing the Big Ten's number two bid at the Capitol One Bowl in Orlando, Florida where they project to face the Arkansas Razorbacks. That also means the Big Ten will not see an at-large BCS bid has they have in previous seasons.
The two projections differ when it comes to Michigan's bowl future, which isn't surprising since the Wolverines finish the season with critical home games against Nebraska and Ohio State. If Michigan wins both they should secure the Big Ten's number three bowl slot, as CFN projects, which would have them playing in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida against the Georgia Bulldogs.
With a loss, Michigan could slide to the number four slot, as SB Nation projects, which would have the Wolverines facing the Auburn Tigers in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. Either way, Michigan is looking at a quality SEC opponent on January 2nd which should be plenty entertaining.
For more 2011 college football bowl projections make sure to head over to SB Nation's college football hub.