Michele from Prescott, Ariz., writes: Hi Adam,Would you mind doing a little explanation about your bowl predictions? Or maybe something about the order of bowls? The reason why I ask is I'm a Wis fan and ESPN puts Wis in the Insight Bowl and you put them in the Champs bowl. But I think some explanation of the different bowls would be really helpful. Thanks!

Ben from Sarasota, Fla., writes: Adam,When the Big Ten teams are looked at for bowl selection, what are the bowls looking at first? Are they more concerned with conference standing or over-all record?Thanks, love the blog.

• Big Ten records don't matter: The bowls only need to consider overall records when determining selections. This could come into play if Michigan wins one of its last two games to finish 6-6 overall but 2-6 in Big Ten play. Michigan could be selected before a 7-5 team regardless of the other team's Big Ten record as long as there is another Big Ten bowl tie-in spot available. I'll get into this more during Wednesday's Rooting Interest feature, but the other teams in bowl contention (Northwestern, Michigan State, Minnesota, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana) should be rooting for Michigan to lose because they could get jumped.
  
• The Champs Sports Bowl picks fourth: The Champs Sports Bowl and the Valero Alamo Bowl alternate the No. 4 pick, but this year the selection goes to Champs Sports. I know there has been some confusion because Alamo picked fourth last year. Now it will be interesting to see what these two bowls do if it comes down to Wisconsin and Northwestern. Wisconsin played in the Champs Sports last year (and in Orlando in three of the last four years), while Northwestern appeared in the Alamo Bowl last year. The bowls could work out an agreement to avoid a repeat participant. Then again, the Champs Sports Bowl can't select a team with two fewer losses than the team above it in the standings.
  
• The 1-win differential doesn't apply in Tempe and Detroit: The Insight Bowl and the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl are allowed to select teams separated by more than one victory as long as there's another spot for the leapfrogged team. So, a 6-6 team could be picked ahead of an 8-4 team as long as the 8-4 team goes to another Big Ten tie-in bowl.
  
• The outlook for 6-6 teams: A 6-6 team can be selected for a Big Ten tie-in bowl only if spots are available for teams finishing 7-5 or better. A 6-6 team can be selected for an unaffiliated bowl only after every available FBS team with a record of 7-5 or better finds a postseason destination.
  
• This year's bowl selection order: Just so there's no confusion, it goes Rose/BCS, Capital One, Outback, Champs Sports, Valero Alamo, Insight and Little Caesar's.