Stole this from LakethePosts.com... scares me to think we'll play Florida, Georgia or South Carolina. Looks like the Bowl losing record will remain intact. OUCH! Maybe we should throw the Illinois game.


... here are my most likely possible scenarios for Northwestern, in order of likelihood…
Scenario 1 – Northwestern to Outback Bowl
Simply, if Northwestern beats Illinois, they would finish at 9-3 and have no worse than the second best record in all games among the teams from the Big Ten. The critical tipping point for Northwestern, to keep from dropping below the Outback Bowl, is to have two fewer losses or two more wins, than Wisconsin, which would put Northwestern no worse than the third selection spot after Nebraska and Michigan. If Wisconsin were to lose either to Penn State or in the Big Ten Championship Game, Wisconsin would finish 8-5. Northwestern would have two fewer losses than Wisconsin, and the Outback Bowl, by rule would not be allowed to select Wisconsin over Northwestern and the ‘Cats would be headed to Tampa.
Scenario 2 – Northwestern to Capital One Bowl It is possible that Northwestern could go as high as the Capital One Bowl. For that to happen, Northwestern would need to beat Illinois, Nebraska would need to beat Iowa and then Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game and Michigan would probably need to lose big to Ohio State. That would leave Northwestern at 9-3 and Michigan at 8-4. Granted, the two-loss rule would not be in effect here to automatically force Northwestern ahead of Michigan, but from what I’m hearing, there are some folks at the Cap One Bowl who are big Northwestern fans.
Another possible route to the Cap One for the ‘Cats… If Michigan somehow moves up into the BCS, which would mean a win over Ohio State, coupled with Nebraska wins over Iowa and then Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game, and several schools ahead of Ohio State in the BCS standings losing (again, a lot of dominos, so we’re not going to dig too deeply into this at this point), and Northwestern beats Illinois, that could also push NU toward Orlando.
Scenario 3 – Northwestern to Gator Bowl
Again, this scenario assumes Northwestern beats Illinois to go to 9-3. If Wisconsin wins the Big Ten Championship Game to take the Rose Bowl spot, that would free up Nebraska and Michigan for the Outback and Capital One Bowls. If it’s Michigan who advances to the Big Ten Championship Game (by virtue of a Michigan win over Ohio State and a Nebraska loss to Iowa) and loses to Wisconsin, I think the Capital One Bowl would take Michigan and Nebraska would go to the Outback, leaving Northwestern to go to Jacksonville. Despite what’s been said and written about the Gator Bowl, I’d have a hard time seeing them chose a 7-5/6-6 Minnesota, 6-6 Michigan State, or 6-6 Purdue over a 9-3 Northwestern. Yes, they are free to select whomever they want, but there would be quite the uproar if they reached down for any of those three schools over Northwestern.
Scenario 4 – Northwestern to Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl
Now, a Northwestern loss to Illinois and the 8-4 record that would result, and all bets are off. However, I don’t think Northwestern would drop below the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, because I’m told the folks in Tempe really like the Cats.

Looks like we are pretty much guaranteed a Jan 1 bowl if we take care of biz-ness against the Pumpkinheads.