Big Ten West after 6 Weeks

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MNVCGUY

MNVCGUY

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Fresh off Nebraska's epic meltdown against Michigan here is my take on the West after week 6.

1. Iowa - Tough game with PSU but good teams find a way to win.

Huge Gap

2. Nebraska - They are playing really good football but manage to find a way to always lose close games. They are the most complete team in the West in terms of having a solid offense and defense. If they ever figure out how to get out of their own way they could be a threat.

3. Wisconsin - Their offense is still a mess but their defense is really good. They beat up on a bad Illinois team today but if they get into a game where they have to rely on Mertz to throw they are in trouble.

4. Minnesota - Dealing with some injuries and other issues. The potential is still there for this to be a very good team but they have not played like it so far this year. Big game with Nebraska coming up.

5. Purdue - Solid team, nothing special, but not terrible either.

Big Gap

6. Illinois - Toss up for 6-7 but there are two bad teams in the West, this is one of them.

7. Northwestern - and this is the other. Both look really really really bad to this point.

Edit - If I were to rerank the teams in the West in regards to potential to win the West it would go like this:
Iowa - Easy favorite

Outside shot - Have to win head to head matchup with Iowa to have any shot
Minnesota, Pudue

Have to win out - One more conference loss will all but eliminate them.
Wisconsin

Basically eliminated since Iowa seems very unlikely to lose 3 games over the remainder of the regular season given their schedule and how they are playing.
Nebraska, Illinois

Has only 2 conference losses but let's be real, isn't going to win out
Northwestern
 
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Nebraska #1 in moral victories? That should save Scott Frosts' job. "At least it was close!"
 

Nebraska will not be a threat. Their M.O. is to find the best ways to lose games. Hoping they continue the trend next week but they will have their best game of year against us, I’m sure. They are the #1 (3-4) team in America though- just ask the delusional fan base and media.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Fresh off Nebraska's epic meltdown against Michigan here is my take on the West after week 6.

1. Iowa - Tough game with PSU but good teams find a way to win.

Huge Gap

2. Nebraska - They are playing really good football but manage to find a way to always lose close games. They are the most complete team in the West in terms of having a solid offense and defense. If they ever figure out how to get out of their own way they could be a threat.

3. Wisconsin - Their offense is still a mess but their defense is really good. They beat up on a bad Illinois team today but if they get into a game where they have to rely on Mertz to throw they are in trouble.

4. Minnesota - Dealing with some injuries and other issues. The potential is still there for this to be a very good team but they have not played like it so far this year. Big game with Nebraska coming up.

5. Purdue - Solid team, nothing special, but not terrible either.

Big Gap

6. Illinois - Toss up for 6-7 but there are two bad teams in the West, this is one of them.

7. Northwestern - and this is the other. Both look really really really bad to this point.
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I agree with your rankings, but I don’t believe there is a big gap between IA and NE. I think NE could beat them that last game of the year.
 

Some Day...Maybe said:
I agree with your rankings, but I don’t believe there is a big gap between IA and NE. I think NE could beat them that last game of the year.
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Possibly, Nebraska has shown an ability to hang with pretty much anyone. But given the way Iowa forces turnovers and combined with the way Nebraska likes to give the ball away, I like Iowa's chances against them.

Plus Nebraska will be coming in off of back to back games with Ohio State and Wisconsin so they might be physically pretty beat up at that point.
 


Some Day...Maybe said:
I agree with your rankings, but I don’t believe there is a big gap between IA and NE. I think NE could beat them that last game of the year.
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The Iowa game will probably be Nebraska's best hope for a sixth victory, and it is at Lincoln the day after Thanksgiving. Might be another Michigan-Nebraska, but Huskers eking out a victory. Against the Gophers, who can say? Which MN team will show up? Which Husker team?
 

Buck_Buchanan said:
Nebraska will not be a threat. Their M.O. is to find the best ways to lose games. Hoping they continue the trend next week but they will have their best game of year against us, I’m sure. They are the #1 (3-4) team in America though- just ask the delusional fan base and media.
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This! I think Nebraska needs to find ways to win these close games first
 

It’s Iowa then everyone else. My rankings probably are

Iowa


Minnesota-the defense has come together and offense has enough juice
Nebraska-you can’t continue to find ways to lose and be higher than this given your losing record
Wisconsin-maybe their offense finds this as a time to get on track
Purdue-Brohm is hitting put up or shut up time



Illinois and NW both suck. Enough said
 

I am not sure how you can watch Iowa and think there is a "huge gap" unless you are talking about chances to win the West at this point and not individual matchups. Unless Nebraska goes in to the tank by then, both the Huskers and the Badgers will be very tough games for them. Unfortunately I think Minnesota gets embarrassed for the 7th time in a row and the 12th (?) straight in Iowa City.
 




I've been out of the country for the past couple football weekends, but did I miss something here? People are hyping Nebraska now???

What has Nebraska done other than lose to Illinois (WOW), beat up on an atrocious Northwestern squad and blow a game against an overhyped Michigan team that literally has yet to beat a quality team this year?
 

WriterGoph said:
I've been out of the country for the past couple football weekends, but did I miss something here? People are hyping Nebraska now???

What has Nebraska done other than lose to Illinois (WOW), beat up on an atrocious Northwestern squad and blow a game against an overhyped Michigan team that literally has yet to beat a quality team this year?
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Nebraska is playing really solid football but they just can't seem to get out of their own way. They should have beaten Michigan State, could have beaten Michigan, and played really well against Oklahoma.

When you look at how the teams in the West are playing right now, they look like the second best team behind Iowa. And if I had to pick one team in the West to potentially beat Iowa head to head I would go with Nebraska as the team with the best shot at getting it done with the way they are playing overall.
 
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WriterGoph said:
I've been out of the country for the past couple football weekends, but did I miss something here? People are hyping Nebraska now???

What has Nebraska done other than lose to Illinois (WOW), beat up on an atrocious Northwestern squad and blow a game against an overhyped Michigan team that literally has yet to beat a quality team this year?
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I'd stay quiet as the gophers play them this weekend.
 




kg21 said:
I'd stay quiet as the gophers play them this weekend.
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If the Gophers beat Nebraska, you will see a dramatic shift in how Nebraska is perceived on GopherHole. Right now, 'Holers have the Huskers as a small half step below Iowa. If the Gophers beat 'em, though, the same people will swear that Nebraska is terrible.

Remember how people were trembling in fear during the lead-up to the trip to Colorado? Now we're hearing that the Buffs are plain awful.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Nebraska is playing really solid football but they just can't seem to get out of their own way. They should have beaten Michigan State, could have beaten Michigan, and played really well against Oklahoma.

When you look at how the teams in the West are playing right now, they look like the second best team behind Iowa. And if I had to pick one team in the West to potentially beat Iowa head to head I would go with Nebraska as the team with the best shot at getting it done with the way they are playing overall.
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We won on the road at Purdue. You can argue that the Boilers have a better win at Oregon State than Michigan or Michigan State are yet to have.

There are a number of teams in the East who haven't played anyone. Two of them are from Michigan.

Also, Oklahoma nearly lost to Tulane and West Virginia. I think they are severely overrated. It's too bad they continued the fallacy yesterday because Texas choked.
 

RememberMurray said:
If the Gophers beat Nebraska, you will see a dramatic shift in how Nebraska is perceived on GopherHole. Right now, 'Holers have the Huskers as a small half step below Iowa. If the Gophers beat 'em, though, the same people will swear that Nebraska is terrible.

Remember how people were trembling in fear during the lead-up to the trip to Colorado? Now we're hearing that the Buffs are plain awful.
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Wasn't Nebraska supposed to be 6-1 coming into this game??
 


MNVCGUY said:
Nebraska is playing really solid football but they just can't seem to get out of their own way. They should have beaten Michigan State, could have beaten Michigan, and played really well against Oklahoma.

When you look at how the teams in the West are playing right now, they look like the second best team behind Iowa. And if I had to pick one team in the West to potentially beat Iowa head to head I would go with Nebraska as the team with the best shot at getting it done with the way they are playing overall.
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Nebraska has lost to the 4th and 5th best team in the conference in consecutive weeks.
they also have a loss to 13 and a win against 14.


To me this should put them pretty low in the standings.


the team with the best shot to beat Iowa is probably wisconsin as they have one of the best defenses in the country. Unlike Nebraska who people are claiming to even though they don’t
 

MNVCGUY said:
Nebraska is playing really solid football but they just can't seem to get out of their own way. They should have beaten Michigan State, could have beaten Michigan, and played really well against Oklahoma.
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I think you might be playing the "can't get out of their own way" or "shoot themselves in the foot" memes a little too much. It's not like Nebraska clearly outplayed Michigan but lost. It was a pretty even game. The score differential was 3 points and the yardage was 459 for Michigan and 431 for Nebraska. Both teams were penalized the same number of times and Michigan was penalized for slightly more yards. Nebraska had one more turnover than Michigan but that late turnover was the type of turnover that happens frequently to teams.

The final differential was almost identical to the betting line. The betting line indicated an estimation that Nebraska, playing at home, would be very competitive but slightly worse than Michigan and that was the ending result. The general conclusion is that Nebraska is a good team but not quite as good as Michigan. That's not a bad conclusion for Nebraska since Michigan is a top 10 team.

This was the first time I really watched Michigan this season. They strike me as a very meat and potatoes team but a very efficient one. Their runners are especially impressive. They have speed and they really follow their blockers well.
 

Some guy said:
Nebraska has lost to the 4th and 5th best team in the conference in consecutive weeks.
they also have a loss to 13 and a win against 14.


To me this should put them pretty low in the standings.
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You can't play the "they lost to Illinois" card in ranking Nebraska without playing "they lost to an even worse Bowling Green State team - at home no less" card in ranking us.
 


I watched PSU/IA and M/N yesterday. PSU demonstrated in the first half that Iowa is beatable by throwing the ball 20+ times, using their TE's productively, with a QB willing to run the rock, and solid defense. PSU's freshman QB did them in after the injury to Clifford but that's football; PSU lost the MO. Iowa's defense saved the day. As for the M/N game, N showed they are a solid football team. I don't understand why GHers are so negative; Martinenz was trying to win the game at the end. If he didn't fumble they still could be playing. The Gophers better show up this Saturday. I think they will because the West is still up for grabs. Go Gophers.
 

Injuries are going to factor into the meat of the Big Ten West race.

The Gophers got off to an early start with Mo out for the season.
 

cjbfbp said:
You can't play the "they lost to Illinois" card in ranking Nebraska without playing "they lost to an even worse Bowling Green State team - at home no less" card in ranking us.
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Yeah I’d have NE and MN pretty close in my power rankings. Would have Nebraska lower because MN has beat a team with a pulse ((Purdue) and Nebraska hasn’t

the second tier could all beat each other on a given day.

Ohio state
Iowa
Penn State
Michigan

Michigan state
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Purdue
Maryland
Rutgers
Indiana
Nebraska

Illinois
Northwestern

Nebraska could jump to 6th in my power rankings if they beat a team in the top 11 of the conference but until they do: I pick them to finish 3-9 or 4-8
 

Gopher 461 said:
I watched PSU/IA and M/N yesterday. PSU demonstrated in the first half that Iowa is beatable by throwing the ball 20+ times, using their TE's productively, with a QB willing to run the rock, and solid defense. PSU's freshman QB did them in after the injury to Clifford but that's football; PSU lost the MO. Iowa's defense saved the day. As for the M/N game, N showed they are a solid football team. I don't understand why GHers are so negative; Martinenz was trying to win the game at the end. If he didn't fumble they still could be playing. The Gophers better show up this Saturday. I think they will because the West is still up for grabs. Go Gophers.
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Iowa wins when their defense gets turnovers and gives their so-so offense a short field. If you don't turn the ball over to them, you can beat the Hawkeyes. Whether your offense runs the ball or throws it has very little to do with it; the crucial point is you simply have to protect the football.
 

Gopher 461 said:
I watched PSU/IA and M/N yesterday. PSU demonstrated in the first half that Iowa is beatable by throwing the ball 20+ times, using their TE's productively, with a QB willing to run the rock, and solid defense. PSU's freshman QB did them in after the injury to Clifford but that's football; PSU lost the MO. Iowa's defense saved the day. As for the M/N game, N showed they are a solid football team. I don't understand why GHers are so negative; Martinenz was trying to win the game at the end. If he didn't fumble they still could be playing. The Gophers better show up this Saturday. I think they will because the West is still up for grabs. Go Gophers.
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Imagine if a mobile Martinez is the Gophers QB...
 

hungan1 said:
Injuries are going to factor into the meat of the big ten race.

The Gophers got off to an early start with Mo out for the season.
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And now we've apparently lost Trey — at least for the time being.

The rest of the team will have to row even harder.
 

RememberMurray said:
Iowa wins when their defense gets turnovers and gives their so-so offense a short field. If you don't turn the ball over to them, you can beat the Hawkeyes. Whether your offense runs the ball or throws it has very little to do with it; the crucial point is you simply have to protect the football.
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Yes. And their defense isn’t as good as it’s been either. More room to run and throw than 2019…but really good at turning people over. If you can be aggressive and take care of the ball at the same time there are points to be had. They’ll be in some dog fights.
 

Some guy said:
Yes. And their defense isn’t as good as it’s been either. More room to run and throw than 2019…but really good at turning people over. If you can be aggressive and take care of the ball at the same time there are points to be had. They’ll be in some dog fights.
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That Penn State game was a prototypical Iowa win. They almost bore the other team into submission!

It's like a golf match against an opponent who can't hit it more than 150 yards, but he hits every single fairway and never misses a putt — or like a prize fight against a boxer who clinches and grabs every time you're about to nail him with a knockout punch.
 

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