by Aaron
(Ann Arbor, MI)
I am a Big Ten supporter. I went to a Big Ten school for college, I now go to a Big Ten school for my phd. I have watched Big Ten football and college football in general since I was a child and one thing stands out to me in this rivalry.
All of the big games, bowls games now I guess, are played away from Big Ten country, most of the time in the states of Florida, Georgia and Louisiana, with a couple in Arizona thrown in there.
So as far as it go, the SEC teams' worst case scenario would be playing a neutral site, like the Fiesta Bowl while the best case scenario would be to play basically a home game like LSU and Florida did in their respective bowl games last season.
When was the last time LSU came north of the Mason-Dixon line to take on Penn State or Michigan or Wisconsin? Not in my lifetime. So this site is very interesting, but I think that when you account for the fact that at worst, these SEC teams are playing a neutral, while some are even getting home game environments in what is supposed to be a neutral site, the numbers change a little.
I would also like to mention despite the fact that Michigan has had to travel to Florida to play the Gators on a "neutral" site twice in the Citrus Bowl, the Wolverines have been victorious both times.