Nine Big Ten teams get bowl invites

Nine Big Ten teams will appear in bowl games. Here is something about the seven not named Minnesota or Ohio State:

No. 8 Wisconsin vs. No. 6 Oregon, Rose: The Badgers are headed to Pasadena for the 10th time and for the first time since 2012. That's also the last time they played Oregon (the Ducks won 45-38). … It will be Paul Cryst's first Rose Bowl as head coach.

No. 10 Penn State vs. No. 17 Memphis, Cotton: This will be Penn State's 50th bowl appearance as well as its fourth Cotton Bowl, but its first in 45 years. It has never played Memphis.

No. 14 Michigan vs. No. 13 Alabama, Citrus: The Wolverines have lost their past three bowl games. They are 2-1 against Alabama in bowl games and 0-1 against the Tide in the regular season.

No. 16 Iowa vs. No. 22 USC, Holiday: The Hawkeyes will be making their fourth Holiday Bowl appearance (2-0-1) and first since 1991. Iowa is 2-7 against USC, last beating the Trojans in 1961.

Indiana vs. Tennessee, Gator: This will be Indiana's first bowl game in the state of Florida and its second meeting with Tennessee (it lost to the Volunteers in the Peach Bowl on Jan. 2, 1988).

Michigan State vs. Wake Forest, Pinstripe: This will be the first meeting between the schools.

• With 79 teams bowl-eligible and 78 slots available, one team was left out, and that team was Toledo (6-6).

• Twelve of the 26 first-year FBS coaches are taking their teams to bowl games.

• Iowa State will play Notre Dame for the first time in program history at the Camping World Bowl on Dec. 28.

• Five schools from outside the Power Five conferences appeared in the final CFP rankings.

• Liberty and Charlotte will make their first bowl appearances.

Drinkwitz was also being pursued by another SEC school, Arkansas, which settled on Georgia assistant Sam Pittman. Drinkwitz is just 36, and this was his first year as a head coach at any level.

Pittman has been a longtime college assistant but has never led a program.