BIG West….its complicated

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holereader

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So the two huge tilts this weekend are Illinois/Purdue and Iowa/Wisconsin - losers of those are likely done. Illinois then has Michigan and Northwestern left while Purdue has NW and Indiana. Iowa and Wisconsin will then both have Nebby and Gophers left. The Gophers own the destiny on that side of the equation.

More intriguing is Illinois/Purdue. If Illini win assume they lose to Michigan that leaves NW. Illini would then have tie breaker against all teams in the west since their losses were all crossover games. If Purdue wins that leave NW and Indiana for them. Purdue would have tie breaker over WI, Illini and Gophers. So for the Gophers to pull this out they need to take care of business these last three games and then get major help from Northwestern against Purdue and then Illinois

That is all. Tomorrows lecture will be a simpler topic like nuclear physics.
 

As it stands today, we don't (necessarily) need Northwestern to beat anybody.

Gophers (3-3) win out;
Minnesota 6-3.

Illinois (4-2) loses to Purdue and to Michigan, beats Northwestern;
Illinois 5-4.

Purdue (3-3) beats Illinois and Northwestern, but loses to Indiana;
Purdue 5-4.

Minnesota wins West... not a single bit of Northwestern magic required.
 
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I'm definitely a huge Purdue fan this week and an Indiana fan on the final weekend if things go the way I hope and Minnesota takes care of business!
 


MaxyJR1 said:
It's really not complicated at all. If Illinois doesn't lose 2 of last 3, they win division.
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Not a good look when in theory the West will send a team that lost to Indiana (East last place), MSU (East 5th place) and Michigan to the Big Ten Championship.
 




fmlizard said:
Not a good look when in theory the West will send a team that lost to Indiana (East last place), MSU (East 5th place) and Michigan to the Big Ten Championship.
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Just a level conference after tOSU, MI, PSU.
 




The (other) crazy bit in all this is: both Iowa and Wisconsin are sitting in exactly the same spot as we are, both also having lost to Illinois, yet both also able to win the West by winning out if the other prescribed things happen with Purdue and Illinois.


Talk about a friggin free-for-all.
 
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holereader said:
So the two huge tilts this weekend are Illinois/Purdue and Iowa/Wisconsin - losers of those are likely done. Illinois then has Michigan and Northwestern left while Purdue has NW and Indiana. Iowa and Wisconsin will then both have Nebby and Gophers left. The Gophers own the destiny on that side of the equation.

More intriguing is Illinois/Purdue. If Illini win assume they lose to Michigan that leaves NW. Illini would then have tie breaker against all teams in the west since their losses were all crossover games. If Purdue wins that leave NW and Indiana for them. Purdue would have tie breaker over WI, Illini and Gophers. So for the Gophers to pull this out they need to take care of business these last three games and then get major help from Northwestern against Purdue and then Illinois

That is all. Tomorrows lecture will be a simpler topic like nuclear physics.
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Two huge tilts!
 

Gophers_4life said:
The (other) crazy bit in all this is: both Iowa and Wisconsin are sitting in exactly the same spot as we are, both also having lost to both of Purdue and Illinois, yet both also able to win the West by winning out if the other prescribed things happen with Purdue and Illinois.


Talk about a friggin free-for-all.
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Iowa and Wisconsin both beat Purdue.
 

fmlizard said:
Not a good look when in theory the West will send a team that lost to Indiana (East last place), MSU (East 5th place) and Michigan to the Big Ten Championship.
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There have been many lopsided championship games since the East/West split in 2014 and unfortunately this year has the look of being yet another one. No matter who comes out on top in the West it seems unlikely that they will be able to hang with Ohio State.

Unless we can find a way to generate the kind of wind they faced in Northwestern that can eliminate their passing game. Of course it is pretty tough to pull that off when the game is played indoors.
 







I'm not holding out any hope for a BIG West title. I just want to beat Iowa and Wisconsin in the same year. (Well, don't FU against Northwestern.)
 

I said it in another thread, but I've been a MN fan long enough to predict that the stars will align to give MN a chance at the title on the last weekend only for some heartbreaking circumstance to slam it shut. Book it, lol.
 

why not us, why not now?
 

USAF said:
We ****** ourself losing at home to Purdue.
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Agree. That 4th down failure led not only to a Purdue score, but a loss of confidence and swagger. Admittedly one play can't turn a season around, but if one could, that would be the one. And to be clear, not the call, but the botched, bumbled execution.
 

But, if we Somehow make it to Indy - do we start TM2 or AK8?
 


fmlizard said:
Not a good look when in theory the West will send a team that lost to Indiana (East last place), MSU (East 5th place) and Michigan to the Big Ten Championship.
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There's really no good looks available.
 

MGGopher said:
I said it in another thread, but I've been a MN fan long enough to predict that the stars will align to give MN a chance at the title on the last weekend only for some heartbreaking circumstance to slam it shut. Book it, lol.
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If the books put up odds this far in advance for all these games I'd totally parlay MN to beat Northwestern and Iowa, Purdue to beat Illinois, Michigan to beat Illinois, Indiana to beat Purdue, and then Wisconsin to beat Minnesota :LOL:
 

I doubt Purdue beats Illinois. But I also thought Illinois would beat MSU
 

FanSinceTheFifties said:
Agree. That 4th down failure led not only to a Purdue score, but a loss of confidence and swagger. Admittedly one play can't turn a season around, but if one could, that would be the one. And to be clear, not the call, but the botched, bumbled execution.
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The drop for for an INT by Brown Stephens was the turning point play in the season, IMO.
 



If we win out, I don't care if we lose the West. It will be considered a great season, beating our rivals and a chance for 10 wins.
 

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