CHICAGO, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Five Big Ten Conference teams accepted bowl bids Tuesday, led By No. 11 Michigan, which will face No. 20 Florida in the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day in Tampa, Fla.
The other Big Ten teams to accept bowl invitations were No. 12 Penn State (9-3), Wisconsin (7-6), Minnesota (7-5) and Purdue (6-6).
Second-ranked Ohio State, which finished the regular season 13-0, is guaranteed a spot in the national championship game in the Fiesta Bowl. Iowa (11-1) is likely headed to the Rose Bowl, giving the 11-team league seven bowl teams.
The Wolverines (9-3), who finished third in the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Iowa, will be making their 27th consecutive bowl appearance and 34th in school history.
For the fourth straight year, Michigan will participate in a bowl game in Florida. The Wolverines played in the 1999 Orange Bowl before appearing in the Citrus Bowl the last two years.
Michigan suffered a 45-17 setback to Tennessee in last season's Citrus Bowl, falling to 17-16 all-time in bowls.
Florida (8-4), coming off a 31-14 loss to Florida State, will be making its 30th bowl appearance and 12th straight. The Gators will be playing on New Year's Day for the 10th consecutive year.
However, Florida needs a victory to extend its Southeastern Conference-record streak of consecutive nine-win seasons to 13.
The Gators beat Maryland, 56-23, in last year's Orange Bowl to improve to 14-15 in bowl appearances.
Penn State, which will be playing in its first bowl game in three years, accepted a bid to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando on Jan. 1. The Nittany Lions will face an undetermined team from the Southeastern Conference.
It will be the 31st bowl appearance in 37 years for the Nittany Lions under coach Joe Paterno, who has a postseason record of 20-9-1, the most bowl wins of any coach in NCAA history. Penn State is 23-12-1 all-time in bowl play.
Wisconsin was chosen to play in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28 in San Antonio. The Badgers will face an opponent from the Big 12 Conference, whose identity likely will not be announced until after Saturday's Big 12 championship game between Oklahoma and Colorado.
Under coach Barry Alvarez, Wisconsin is 6-1 in bowls, including Rose Bowl victories in 1994, 1999 and 2000. Overall, the Badgers are 8-5 in postseason play.
Purdue will face a Pac-10 Conference team to be determined in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas on New Year's Eve. The Boilermakers will be making their sixth bowl appearance in as many years under coach Joe Tiller and are 6-4 all-time in bowl play.
Minnesota will represent the Big Ten in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., on Dec. 28 against an SEC opponent to be announced. The Golden Gophers, 2-5 in the postseason, will making their third bowl appearance under coach Glen Mason.
