ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

I just read a very interesting blog post from the Lansing State Journal's Joe Rexode, who writes that Michigan State should set its sights on the Outback Bowl immediately to avoid being bumped out of a New Year's Day contest.

His reasoning is interesting. The Big Ten obviously needs Oregon State to lose Saturday against Oregon to get both Ohio State and Penn State into BCS bowls. But if the Beavers prevail, Ohio State likely falls out of the BCS picture and into the Capital One Bowl for sure. The Outback Bowl then would be able to choose between Michigan State, Northwestern and Iowa, three teams that are hard to separate right now, as I mentioned in today's power rankings.

Michigan State did beat both Northwestern and Iowa, but it also struggled big time against Penn State on Saturday. The Spartans probably don't need to worry about Northwestern jumping them for the Outback Bowl, but Iowa could be a different story. The Hawkeyes are hot, winning five of their final six, including a win against Penn State, and boast the nation's best running back in Shonn Greene.

Rexrode writes:

This is a no brainer. MSU doesn't want to risk Florida. Considering Iowa's surge, what if MSU waits and Ohio State ends up missing on the BCS? Would the Outback opt for Iowa over MSU? I don't think so because Jim Delany wants the bowls to follow the pecking order if possible, and MSU's better record, head-to-head win over Iowa and strong fan showing in Orlando last year should be enough to give the Spartans the nod.

But crazier things have happened. Shonn Greene is getting a lot of national attention as a dark horse Heisman guy, as Javon Ringer was earlier in the year. And MSU's ugly loss at Penn State doesn't help the Spartans' profile. Iowa just beat Penn State.

I think the Outback Bowl takes Michigan State even if Ohio State slips to Capital One, and Michigan State could risk an invitation to the Capital One Bowl should it hammer out a deal with Outback right now. But the bowl selection process is tricky, and it might be wise for the Spartans to cover their bases.

Not sure what this means, but the Outback Bowl's Web site has a poll that allows users to vote for the teams they would like to see in the game. Right now Iowa leads the Big Ten pool at 48 percent, followed by Michigan State (20 percent) and Northwestern (19 percent).