ESPN: Big Ten: What to watch in the second half (The West Division scramble.)

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BleedGopher

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per ESPN:

The West Division scramble. To enter Week 8, it's a jumbled mess, with Minnesota atop the heap. The Gophers look poised to stay in control into November, with upcoming games against Purdue and at Illinois. Things get dicey for Minnesota, though, next month with a finishing stretch against Iowa and Ohio State, followed by trips to Nebraska and Wisconsin. Northwestern, with one loss in the league, remains in a decent spot, as do the preseason division favorites, Iowa, Wisconsin and Nebraska. As projected in August, the race may still come down to schedules. And the schedule, despite Minnesota's strong play and stumbles elsewhere, still favors the Badgers and Hawkeyes.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/109149/big-ten-what-to-watch-in-the-second-half

Go Gophers!!
 

Man, it would be fun if we could make some noise.
 

None of this will be clearer, even when heading into the final 3 weeks when Neb, Iowa, Wisc, and us all play each other (obviously MN/IA is the week before, but our 6th game is vs OSU - another defining game for all in the race). I can easily see Wisconsin cracking off 3 wins (Maryland, Rutgers, Purdue), same for Neb (Northwestern, Rutgers, Purdue) and IA/MN each getting the next 2 (IA has Maryland/Northwestern). Of course, none of those are guaranteed wins, and each team obviously has flaws, but I think it's more likely that each team maintains its loss column until than they are to be eliminated with a second loss before heading into the gauntlet.

And if Northwestern happens to win their next 3 B1G games (Neb, Iowa, Mich), they're almost assured the title with Purdue & Illinois to finish out. We should all be NU fans the next 2 games, and assuming they win, HUGE Michigan fans the following week. If that were to happen and we take care of Iowa, we have serious breathing room heading into the final 3 games...
 

"stumbles elsewhere"? He's writing about the division title, perfect logic.
 

popeyoung5 said:
"stumbles elsewhere"? He's writing about the division title, perfect logic.
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He intended "stumbles elsewhere" to mean other teams (Wisconsin and Nebraska), not us. Not well written, however.
 


I feel like Cobb doesn't get that much credit. The writer made it sound like those 3 are the cream of the crop...then there's the rest with Cobb. Kinda grinded my gears :mad:
 

RailBaronYarr said:
None of this will be clearer, even when heading into the final 3 weeks when Neb, Iowa, Wisc, and us all play each other (obviously MN/IA is the week before, but our 6th game is vs OSU - another defining game for all in the race). I can easily see Wisconsin cracking off 3 wins (Maryland, Rutgers, Purdue), same for Neb (Northwestern, Rutgers, Purdue) and IA/MN each getting the next 2 (IA has Maryland/Northwestern). Of course, none of those are guaranteed wins, and each team obviously has flaws, but I think it's more likely that each team maintains its loss column until than they are to be eliminated with a second loss before heading into the gauntlet.

And if Northwestern happens to win their next 3 B1G games (Neb, Iowa, Mich), they're almost assured the title with Purdue & Illinois to finish out. We should all be NU fans the next 2 games, and assuming they win, HUGE Michigan fans the following week. If that were to happen and we take care of Iowa, we have serious breathing room heading into the final 3 games...
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I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority here, but I'd like to see Nebraska win this week against NW due to the relatively easy year-end shcudule for NW. Somebody has to give them a 2nd loss and if NE doesn't, the only hope, I fear, is Iowa.

We are probably going to have to beat NE and Iowa anyway to win the West, so let's get NW it's 2nd loss and then take care of our business by beating Iowas and NE. In that scenario, we can lose to OSU and maybe Sconny and win the tie-breaker. The Skunks have to lose a second game, though, to Iowa or Nebraska.

All that said, we need to beat Purdue and Illinois or none of it may matter.

I'm sure someone has dug deeper into the scheudle than me and can tell me I'm all wet.
 

TNGophfan said:
I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority here, but I'd like to see Nebraska win this week against NW due to the relatively easy year-end shcudule for NW. Somebody has to give them a 2nd loss and if NE doesn't, the only hope, I fear, is Iowa.

We are probably going to have to beat NE and Iowa anyway to win the West, so let's get NW it's 2nd loss and then take care of our business by beating Iowas and NE. In that scenario, we can lose to OSU and maybe Sconny and win the tie-breaker. The Skunks have to lose a second game, though, to Iowa or Nebraska.

All that said, we need to beat Purdue and Illinois or none of it may matter.

I'm sure someone has dug deeper into the scheudle than me and can tell me I'm all wet.
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I guess it depends on how likely you think it is that NW will lose a second game outside of Neb vs how likely you think Neb will lose 2 other games besides NW and potentially us. I'm basically assuming we lose 2 games (likely OSU & Nebraska - any more than that and we're out of the hunt regardless) for this scenario to play out. Winning at Wisconsin seems much more likely to me than winning at Neb (and the statistics seem to agree with me..).

Ugh, no matter how we slice it, Nebraska is 1) a tough road game for us to win to get an advantage in H2H, and 2) likely to win most of their remaining games. So we basically have to beat them (you're right) to have a shot since I don't see them losing 3 BT games (though, that would set up for another 4 loss season with a bowl loss..). Maybe it is better to root for Nebraska to flat out eliminate NW now so they can be rooting interest to hand Iowa a second loss (along with Nebraska, assuming we beat NE).

Ok, I'm done trying to figure this out. It's still only the 3rd game of the BT for us.
 

RailBaronYarr said:
I guess it depends on how likely you think it is that NW will lose a second game outside of Neb vs how likely you think Neb will lose 2 other games besides NW and potentially us. I'm basically assuming we lose 2 games (likely OSU & Nebraska - any more than that and we're out of the hunt regardless) for this scenario to play out. Winning at Wisconsin seems much more likely to me than winning at Neb (and the statistics seem to agree with me..).

Ugh, no matter how we slice it, Nebraska is 1) a tough road game for us to win to get an advantage in H2H, and 2) likely to win most of their remaining games. So we basically have to beat them (you're right) to have a shot since I don't see them losing 3 BT games (though, that would set up for another 4 loss season with a bowl loss..). Maybe it is better to root for Nebraska to flat out eliminate NW now so they can be rooting interest to hand Iowa a second loss (along with Nebraska, assuming we beat NE).

Ok, I'm done trying to figure this out. It's still only the 3rd game of the BT for us.
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I say we take care of our own business. Just win, baby!
 




Dr.Don said:
That's too easy to say. There would be no discussion otherwise.
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I enjoyed all of the possible scenarios, but I really do think this squad has the potential to determine their own destiny in the B1G.
 

If the Kansas City Royals can get to the World Series......the Gophers can go to Indy. Done and done.
 




Just took a look at the schedule. Assuming NEB knocks of NW this weekend (which is no guarantee), the B1G West has four contenders: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Iowa. Each team obviously plays the other three "contenders" at some point this year and if anyone is able to 3-0 vs the group, they should win the division. Now a closer look at each team individually:

Iowa:
A massive game vs. Maryland this weekend. Win and they are in a great position to win the division with one loss the rest of the way, or potentially tie for the lead with two losses. Let's go Maryland!!

Nebraska and Northwestern:
A massive game for both Nebraska and Northwestern this weekend. If Northwestern wins, they will have a chance to win the division vs. Iowa in a few weeks and Nebraska would have to be perfect the rest of the way to hope for a tie at 6-2. If Nebraska wins, Northwestern will have to be perfect the rest of the way and Nebraska would likely have room for one loss vs. IA, MN, or WI.

Wisconsin:
To start, Wisconsin needs to win both remaining crossover games vs. Maryland and Rutgers. From there, Bucky will likely need to win 2 of 3 vs IA, MN, and NEB to end up 6-2 and have a chance at a tie.

Minnesota:
I hate the phrase "must-win" game without a qualifying phrase "if they want to ___________." The next two games are must-wins IF the Gophers want to contend for the B1G West. Assuming the Gophs lose to tOSU, they would likely need to win 2 of 3 vs. IA, NEB, and WI to end up 6-2 and have a chance at a tie. Beat tOSU? The division is the Gophers to lose.

Should be a great six weeks of football with five teams in the running for the division. As Dr.Don would say,

Go Gophers!!!
 

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