Big Ten West after Week 2

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MNVCGUY

MNVCGUY

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Going to keep this one short because I don't think we learned much about the teams this week.....My Take....

1. Iowa - Iowa is the clear cut best in the West right now through 2 weeks and I don't think it is even that close.

2-3 - Wisconsin and Minnesota. Even with our less than impressive win today I still think we are a cut above the remainder of the division

4 - Purdue - Still don't have a good read on this team

5 - Northwestern - Their offense does not look good at all

6-7 - Nebraska and Illinois - Still don't see anything really to like in either of these teams through this point. Nebraska has beaten back to back weak teams. They do have a receiver that looks like he could be a big play threat though.

Didn't see a ton of the games this week due to being at our game but for what it's worth that is my take on the West after 2 weeks. I still feel we are significantly better than what we showed today, time will tell I guess.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Going to keep this one short because I don't think we learned much about the teams this week.....My Take....

1. Iowa - Iowa is the clear cut best in the West right now through 2 weeks and I don't think it is even that close.

2-3 - Wisconsin and Minnesota. Even with our less than impressive win today I still think we are a cut above the remainder of the division

4 - Purdue - Still don't have a good read on this team

5 - Northwestern - Their offense does not look good at all

6-7 - Nebraska and Illinois - Still don't see anything really to like in either of these teams through this point. Nebraska has beaten back to back weak teams. They do have a receiver that looks like he could be a big play threat though.

Didn't see a ton of the games this week due to being at our game but for what it's worth that is my take on the West after 2 weeks. I still feel we are significantly better than what we showed today, time will tell I guess.
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I'd put Wisconsin solidly at 2. That defense is going to be so tough all year.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Going to keep this one short because I don't think we learned much about the teams this week.....My Take....

1. Iowa - Iowa is the clear cut best in the West right now through 2 weeks and I don't think it is even that close.

2-3 - Wisconsin and Minnesota. Even with our less than impressive win today I still think we are a cut above the remainder of the division

4 - Purdue - Still don't have a good read on this team

5 - Northwestern - Their offense does not look good at all

6-7 - Nebraska and Illinois - Still don't see anything really to like in either of these teams through this point. Nebraska has beaten back to back weak teams. They do have a receiver that looks like he could be a big play threat though.

Didn't see a ton of the games this week due to being at our game but for what it's worth that is my take on the West after 2 weeks. I still feel we are significantly better than what we showed today, time will tell I guess.
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Pretty spot on.
I feel the same way about Wisconsin’s offense and Minnesota’s defense.
But I like Wisconsin’s defense better than Minnesota’s offense post mo injury. I would say Wisconsin 2 Minnesota 3.

I agree Purdue is the biggest wildcard.
they could win the division. Or they could get 7th. I have no idea how good they are.
 

Iowa’s offense will need to do more at some point this season. They aren’t going to get the same kind of scoring opportunities from the defense all year.
 

btowngopher said:
Iowa’s offense will need to do more at some point this season. They aren’t going to get the same kind of scoring opportunities from the defense all year.
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Yeah. They are the favorite but not run aways

if they play a game with even turnovers they will struggle to score enough.
 


btowngopher said:
Iowa’s offense will need to do more at some point this season. They aren’t going to get the same kind of scoring opportunities from the defense all year.
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Iowa has not been impressive on offense for some time but they still manage to have good seasons. Until they show otherwise, I'm not going to assume that they can't continue doing that.

Here are Iowa's records the last five years along with their Big Ten ranks in total offense and offense per play:

2021: 2-0 (against 2 power 5 teams with one being ranked in the top ten)
Total offense: #13
Yards per play: #12

2020: 6-2
Total offense: #8
Yards per play: tied for 8th (same as Illinois)

2019: 10-3
Total offense: #10
Yards per play: #9

2018: 9-4
Total offense: #10
Yards per play: #11

2017: 8-5
Total offense: #10
Yards per play: #9

So, yes, this year's offensive ranking (so far) is the worst of the bunch but none of them have been very good. If they move up two or three places, they'll be at their average but still in the bottom half of the league.
 

cjbfbp said:
Iowa has not been impressive on offense for some time but they still manage to have good seasons. Until they show otherwise, I'm not going to assume that they can't continue doing that.

Here are Iowa's records the last five years along with their Big Ten ranks in total offense and offense per play:

2021: 2-0 (against 2 power 5 teams with one being ranked in the top ten)
Total offense: #13
Yards per play: #12

2020: 6-2
Total offense: #8
Yards per play: tied for 8th (same as Illinois)

2019: 10-3
Total offense: #10
Yards per play: #9

2018: 9-4
Total offense: #10
Yards per play: #11

2017: 8-5
Total offense: #10
Yards per play: #9

So, yes, this year's offensive ranking (so far) is the worst of the bunch but none of them have been very good. If they move up two or three places, they'll be at their average but still in the bottom half of the league.
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Yes they’ve been good, but haven’t won the west.
 

Iowa and Wisconsin look to be well ahead of everyone else, with Nebraska improving and both Purdue and Northwestern question marks ("On a given Saturday" kind of teams). Minnesota has to win half its remaining games to get to a bowl and Maryland could be trouble (has in the past), Nebraska's Martinez is looking good, Indiana on the road, ditto Northwestern, will be tough, as will Colorado and Iowa on the road. And then there's Wisconsin. Hard to see more than six or seven wins this year.
 




Yah-E said:
I’d be surprise to see another win. Even Bowling Green will be a toss up based on yesterday’s performance. 🤷🏻‍♂️
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Dude, get a grip. You obviously haven't paid attention what happened to a bunch of other "name" programs the last couple weeks.
 

Purdue is difficult to read, mainly because their first two opponents are so bad. I didn't watch a lot of their game with UConn, but that team is so bad. It's hard to tell if they have much talent because they are so poorly coached..blown assignments, taking bad angles, poor tackling..you name the issue, and it was on display. I watched two plays in a row with UConn trying to pass, and George Karlaftis was left ignored/ unblocked. Nobody even looked his way until 2 seconds later he was in on the QB. Karlaftis is a dominant DE, probably Pudue's best player. How is he not noticed? WR David Bell is really good as well, but if you watch some of the highlights of his catches and yards after, you'll see some of the poor angles and tackling on display. It wss comically bad football.
 

btowngopher said:
Iowa’s offense will need to do more at some point this season. They aren’t going to get the same kind of scoring opportunities from the defense all year.
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B1G West is looking like ... it might give them those chances all year ...
 

As things stand right now, Illinois and Iowa are tied atop the west standings. I think that's probably how it will end too.
 



It is way too early.
Wait until MN plays CO, Purdue plays ND, WI plays ND and NE plays OK.
IA at the moment is a front runner.
If WI had not shit the bed with TOs on offense and they had beat PSU they would be a front runner.
 



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