Saturday Skull Session

Welcome to bowl season, fans of Big Ten football!

That sinking feeling you have is the league getting off to yet another lackluster start in games that are, you know, kind of meaningful on the strength of conference front.

Maryland, who will join Ohio State in the Big Ten's East Division next season, got the stank party started by losing in their own backyard to Marshall, 31-20. Thundering Herd quarterback Rakeem Cato torched the Terps for 377 yards and three touchdowns. It was Maryland's first bowl game in Randy Edsall's three seasons at the helm and the game wasn't even as close as the final 11-point margin indicated.

So, we can kind of write that performance off. After all, Maryland is still the ACC's problem for now, but if you caught any of the Military Bowl, you're not exactly excited for Maryland's brand of Big Ten football. It was like watching Illinois, but with with weird, ugly helmets.

But that, friends, was nothing compared to Friday night's main B1G Stage™ event, Minnesota vs. Syracuse in the Texas Bowl.

Tickets for this affair were going for a penny prior to kickoff and those that struck at that price may still feel a bit cheated following Syracuse's 21-17 victory over the Gophers in a game that's best quickly forgotten.

The Orange jumped – and I'm using jumped loosely here – out to a 7-3 halftime lead, and then Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill joined his team on the sideline for the first time since Sept. 28, following a leave of absence while he battled bouts of epilepsy.

The boost was short lived as Syracuse added another touchdown for what should have been an insurmountable 14-3 third quarter margin. Insurmountable because it had been 13 quarters since the Gophers last scored an offensive touchdown.

But then the Gophers got hot, hitting for two early fourth quarter touchdowns to take a 17-14 lead. For nearly 11 minutes, Minnesota held that lead and it looked as if they would snap a six-game bowl losing streak before Syracuse's Brisly Estime returned a punt 70 yards to setup a 12-yard Terrel Hunt run with just over a minute remaining for the final points of the evening. Ballgame, Orange.

The loss was the second time in as many years that the Gophers have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at the Texas Bowl, having squandered a late lead in 2012 to Texas Tech. It's also the fifth bowl loss by four or fewer points in the last six postseasons for Minnesota. Chokitude, thy name is Goldie.

For good measure, the Texas Bowl featured the worst non-fumble call in recent memory (later overturned), a dropped Hail Mary that would have won the game for Minnesota and Gopher #struggleface.

And just like that, the Big Ten finds itself in a 0-1 hole.

NAME SO ASSY, FANS WON'T EVEN SAY IT. Next up for the Big Ten – excluding future member Rutgers' 12 p.m. date with Notre Dame in the Pinstripe Bowl – is Michigan taking on Kansas State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl tonight.

Far be it for a fanbase that recently watched their team play in the Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl to make fun of another team for playing in something called the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, but at least Ohio State fans accepted that turd of a name for what it was instead of trying to dial back the clocks and calling it the Copper Bowl.

Actually, that's the most Michigan thing ever. You see, Michigan Men will gladly tell you about all of the wins their program amassed before the advent of the forward pass and I'm pretty sure they look forward to vacationing in spots like Prussia, the Ottoman Empire and for the riskier, Vice-reading lot, East Pakistan.

But alas, I'll find myself pulling for the hated Wolverines tonight when the game kicks at 10:15 p.m. I can actually hear some of you groaning right now, but don't hate the writer, hate the game.

This isn't 1971 anymore – the Big Ten sends a half dozen or more teams to bowl games every winter and whether we like it or not, these games, plus the increasingly rare non-conference tilts with BCS conference opponents, are what pundits, pollsters and committee members use when determining which teams meet in the BCS Championship, and starting next year, the college football playoff.

If you don't want to hear about a one-loss SEC team jumping Ohio State for a playoff berth, then we need to see Big Ten teams – even Michigan – show well out of conference. If you enjoy listening to Jesse Palmer and David Pollack discounting Ohio State's success on the gridiron, then, by all means, continue to cheer for Michigan to lose.

SO LONG, GUY WITH THE BEST JOB IN AMERICA. Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti is stepping down after 17 years on the job in Eugene. What would cause a guy to walk away from a job where success was giving up fewer points than a Nintendo offense?

"I've been fortunate to enjoy a great career and to step away from the game when I felt the time was right," Aliotti said. "Now is that time."

Happy trails, coach. May your retirement be filled with thoughtful reflection on winning and losing with class.

GO AHEAD AND CHEER FOR THIS. IT MEANS NOTHING IN A BCS/PLAYOFF WORLD. Hey, it's Michigan losing on a coast to coast goal in overtime at the Great Lakes Invitational. Cool.

PREMIUM CONTENT GIFT BOXES ARE HERE. Thanks to Gametime, Eleven Warriors premium content gift boxes are in stock. If you've accumulated at least 1,000 helmet stickers, you'll receive yours in the mail. If you don't have the requisite helmet stickers, but still want in on the action, please send a check for $1,999.99, which happens to be the real world cash value of 1,000 helmet stickers.

Probably.