Everybody’s been bagging on the Big Ten this offseason, what with the conference’s dismal 1-6 record in bowl games last season. And if the first games of the first weekend this year are any indication, expect the criticism to continue.

First, Iowa - the only Big Ten school to win its bowl game last year - opened up with in-state I-AA opponent Northern Iowa. And the 22nd-ranked Hawkeyes needed not one, but two blocked field goals to survive an embarrassing near-plucking by the Panthers.

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