January 1 11:00 ESPN Outback Bowl - Northwestern vs. Auburn

Chris Todd threw for nearly 250 yards a game and 11 touchdowns on a five-game winning streak to open the season, including a 26-22 victory over Tennessee. Rushing for 224 yards and passing for another 235 yards, the Tigers built a 23-6 fourth quarter lead and had to weather 16-point fourth quarter effort from the Volunteers to preserve the win in Knoxville.

In the following three games, however, Kentucky beat them with the run (combined 235 rushing yards between Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke), LSU beat them with the pass (Jordan Jefferson passed for 242 yards and two touchdowns), and Arkansas beat them with the run and the pass (Michael Smith ran for 145 yards and a touchdown while Ryan Mallett threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns).

Auburn used 31 unanswered points, including a Walter McFadden pick six, to ambush Ole Miss 33-20 on Halloween and came up just short in Athens, falling to Georgia 31-24. Auburn played its most complete game in the Iron Bowl in which the Tigers used trick plays and an onside kick to mount a 21-14, but Alabama’s Greg McElroy willed his team to 12 unanswered points as he passed for 218 yards and two touchdowns (game-winning TD pass with 1:24 left) in the contest to pull out a 26-21 win.

Prediction time now: Despite valiant efforts against Georgia and Alabama, Auburn still finished the regular season losing five of six (the first team to do so and still play in a New Year’s bowl game). Northwestern recovered from a pedestrian 2-2 loss, including a disastrous 37-34 loss at Syracuse, finishing on a three-game winning streak to finish the season 8-4. Down 10-0 and playing with a backup quarterback, the Wildcats rallied with 17 unanswered points to end Iowa’s unbeaten season, surprisingly in Iowa City. With a New Year’s Day bowl game on the line, Northwestern notched another road win at in-state and rival Illinois 21-16 and then won their regular season finale 33-31 against a solid Wisconsin team.

Northwestern hasn’t won a bowl game since 1948 and considering last year’s overtime loss to Missouri in the Alamo Bowl, the Wildcats are beyond due to win of these, and comparing Auburn and Northwestern’s performance in big games and the way each team finished, Northwestern will actually win one of these for the Big 10.