It has been well documented that six is the number of wins a team needs to become bowl eligible.
What hasn't been discussed as often is the fact that six wins isn't a guarantee for a bowl game.
The Big Ten has seven guaranteed spots in bowl games. Right now there are six teams in the conference with six wins, (Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin.) Indiana, Michigan State and Northwestern are all sitting on five wins. Iowa still has a shot as well with four wins and games still against Western Michigan and Minnesota.
No team in the conference can go to a bowl game that is not reserved for the Big Ten if there is a team from another conference that has a better record.
For example, if Indiana goes 6-6 and finishes 8th in the Big Ten, but Central Michigan and Buffalo of the MAC finish 7-5, they will get preference in a bowl game due to NCAA rules.
Long story short, six wins might not be enough to get Indiana into a bowl game. They may have to go 2-1 in their last three games of the regular season in order to play 13.
