Rank the teams in the Big Ten West Heading into Conference Season

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MaxyJR1 said:
I just think that MN is the most balanced, well-rounded team in the West.

I don't see anyone other than MN/WI playing in Indy.
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I agree. I thought Purdue was going to be the third coming in but they are underperforming my expectations.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
I think that because Nebraska is now free of Frost’s laziness and toxicity, and just yesterday fired the worst DC in the B1G, it has a chance over the course of the season to begin utilizing its talent to move to the middle of the West pack. No. 7 now, yes, but it will be a few spots higher by season’s end.
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Or the wheels could come totally off. Claeys made the comment in the interview he did with Doogie that once a staff knows they are almost certainly gone as well at the end of the year their motivation to work hard at the current school goes out the window because they are more worried about figuring out what happens next for them.

So unless Mickey Joseph believes he is a legit candidate for the Nebraska job (doesn't seem like his) there is very little reason for him to do more than the bare minimum over the remainder of the season. Can't imagine them working hard in recruiting or spending hours pouring over the gameplan when they know they are just going to get fired in a few months anyway.
 

Some guy said:
I agree. I thought Purdue was going to be the third coming in but they are underperforming my expectations.
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Wouldn't write them off just yet. If they can discover any kind of running game they have a shot to be a problem for a lot of teams with their offense. Their main problem right now is that they can't control the clock on the ground and are relying almost exclusively on the passing game to move the ball.
 

PoockItInfor6 said:
They’d need something to galvanize their talent… but they are capable of beating decent teams (not saying the will). NW just doesn’t have the talent… I think MN/IA/WI could all play their D game and still beat NW with some comfort.
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Notwithstanding Dublin, there is no way today to put anybody behind Northwestern. Next week, maybe.

Whatever hardware store normally mails Fitz a new calendar each year must still be closed for flu.
 


I keep thinking about how divisions are going to be completely different with UCLA and USC coming in, and I would assume the B1G will look to make things much more balanced. The Gophers’ path to Indy is only going to get tougher after this season.
 

PoockItInfor6 said:
I’m not picking this hill to die on, just my opinion! 😂😂
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If you were to question his flat out statement that every single Nebby 4-star plays exactly the same position he will fight to the death on that hill while calling you a druggie.
 

Otis said:
B1G rankings
1. tOSU
2. Michigan
3. PSU - took Gophers spot with Auburn beat-down
4. Gophers
5. MSU
6. Wisconsin
7. Maryland
8. Purdue
9. Indiana
10. Illinois
11. Iowa
12. Rutgers
13. Northwestern
14. Nebraska

That’s pretty ugly for the B1G West! Gophers have a tough game but i feel it is very winnable and we should be favored. Whisky will lose to the Buckeyes. Iowa could very easily lose at Rutgers. These three results would leave the Gophers tied with NW at 1-0 for the B1G west lead.
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Other than our game, Hoggs at Rutgers could be fun.
 

Let's be honest, the West is significantly worse than the East no matter who immerges. Certainly Minnesota looks like it's as capable as anyone to win the West.
I'm still not convinced that Morgan can convert enough broken plays into opportunities as we will need to be elite. He's a steady Eddy, but he is not a game changing quarterback. He may be our weak link.
 



Interesting to look at games through 3/4 games.

Illinois blew out Wyoming and Wyoming now has won 3 straight including a nice win over a solid Air Force team.

Indiana is 3-0, but struggled each week beating Illinois, Idaho, and Western Kentucky. Petrino and Bert are good coaches, so hard to say how good Indiana is at this point.

Part of why the B1G is so balanced this year is that outside of Nebraska, no other programs are a dumpster fire at HC or in the 1st year of their program. All teams seem to have a quality HC at this time.
 

MennoSota said:
Let's be honest, the West is significantly worse than the East no matter who immerges. Certainly Minnesota looks like it's as capable as anyone to win the West.
I'm still not convinced that Morgan can convert enough broken plays into opportunities as we will need to be elite. He's a steady Eddy, but he is not a game changing quarterback. He may be our weak link.
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have you seen QB play in B1G, particularly in the West?

Tanner is fine. He's not an NFL QB, but he's good college QB
 

Some guy said:
They are not capable of beating decent teams and have shown that by not beating decent teams or even bad teams 5 consecutive years.

Having a bunch of 4 star skill guys that all play the same positions and all didn’t pan out doesn’t mean you are talented
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Defensively they don't have talent. But if you've watched them it's evident that grant and allen are talented backs, vokolek can be a mismatch at the te position, they're at least 3 deep at WR and casey thompson is talented
 

MNVCGUY said:
Wouldn't write them off just yet. If they can discover any kind of running game they have a shot to be a problem for a lot of teams with their offense. Their main problem right now is that they can't control the clock on the ground and are relying almost exclusively on the passing game to move the ball.
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They've had five years to find a run game 😂. Brohm needs to change his best and I'm not holding my breath
 



fair said:
I keep thinking about how divisions are going to be completely different with UCLA and USC coming in, and I would assume the B1G will look to make things much more balanced. The Gophers’ path to Indy is only going to get tougher after this season.
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I’ve been assuming they would move NW across and bring UCLA and USC into west if they keep divisions.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Wouldn't write them off just yet. If they can discover any kind of running game they have a shot to be a problem for a lot of teams with their offense. Their main problem right now is that they can't control the clock on the ground and are relying almost exclusively on the passing game to move the ball.
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They can definitely be a problem for people. They’re already wracking up Ls

They’re still my pick for 3rd

1) mn
2) wi
3) pu
4) ia
5) il
6-7) LOL
 

noamfromm said:
Defensively they don't have talent. But if you've watched them it's evident that grant and allen are talented backs, vokolek can be a mismatch at the te position, they're at least 3 deep at WR and casey thompson is talented
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Yup. They can keep losing high scoring games no question
 

MNVCGUY said:
Or the wheels could come totally off. Claeys made the comment in the interview he did with Doogie that once a staff knows they are almost certainly gone as well at the end of the year their motivation to work hard at the current school goes out the window because they are more worried about figuring out what happens next for them.

So unless Mickey Joseph believes he is a legit candidate for the Nebraska job (doesn't seem like his) there is very little reason for him to do more than the bare minimum over the remainder of the season. Can't imagine them working hard in recruiting or spending hours pouring over the gameplan when they know they are just going to get fired in a few months anyway.
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Does doing the bare minimum for 8 games help the lame duck staff get nice jobs elsewhere after the season? I agree that they have no incentive to recruit. But I would think they have a meaningful incentive to try to win—and prove their worth—if they hope to stay in the coaching business. Can’t see how being branded lazy quitters helps their individual resumes.
 

Purdue is a big-time clutch PSU 4th quarter drive and two dumb penalties away from being undefeated. I personally think they are on the same level as Wisconsin right now. Regardless of the nonexistent running game, that offense can still flat out score.
 

Despite everything that has happened…. I don’t feel anymore sure of ranking the west now than say start of the season.
 

salzie said:
have you seen QB play in B1G, particularly in the West?

Tanner is fine. He's not an NFL QB, but he's good college QB
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For the West, Tanner is fine. There may be 5 or more better QBs in the East right now
 

FWIW, Wisconsin is still the betting favorite to win the West with Minnesota being 2nd. This season could go all sorts of ways as Wisconsin/Iowa/Purdue/Minnesota are all viable in their own ways. Illinois could finish ahead of 1 or 2 of those 4 but I think even in their best case scenario their loss to Indiana will keep them from contending for the top spot. I would hate it if Iowa fans do all this whining and still end up with 8 wins the year after they had the biggest fluke division title, but could easily see it happening. It just seems like the ball just always bounces there way.

It goes without saying, but I'd feel a lot better about Minnesota's chances if they either got Wisconsin at home or at least the trip to Madison wasn't the last game of the season. I just have a feeling that if it comes down to that game parading around the Axe like it is the damn Lombardi will come back to haunt this program just like it did in '19.
 

EG#9 said:
FWIW, Wisconsin is still the betting favorite to win the West with Minnesota being 2nd. This season could go all sorts of ways as Wisconsin/Iowa/Purdue/Minnesota are all viable in their own ways. Illinois could finish ahead of 1 or 2 of those 4 but I think even in their best case scenario their loss to Indiana will keep them from contending for the top spot. I would hate it if Iowa fans do all this whining and still end up with 8 wins the year after they had the biggest fluke division title, but could easily see it happening. It just seems like the ball just always bounces there way.

It goes without saying, but I'd feel a lot better about Minnesota's chances if they either got Wisconsin at home or at least the trip to Madison wasn't the last game of the season. I just have a feeling that if it comes down to that game parading around the Axe like it is the damn Lombardi will come back to haunt this program just like it did in '19.
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You think walking around carrying the axe will have an impact in the game?

How little of an opinion do you have of Wisconsin that you think they aren’t motivated to win without the gophers?
 

EG#9 said:
I just have a feeling that if it comes down to that game parading around the Axe like it is the damn Lombardi will come back to haunt this program just like it did in '19.
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lol...come on man, teams go nuts when they win rivalry trophies.....The celebration after last year's game will have zero impact on the outcome of this year's game.
 

MNVCGUY said:
lol...come on man, teams go nuts when they win rivalry trophies.....The celebration after last year's game will have zero impact on the outcome of this year's game.
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Counterpoint -- unless it does have a non zero impact
 

EG#9 said:
FWIW, Wisconsin is still the betting favorite to win the West with Minnesota being 2nd. This season could go all sorts of ways as Wisconsin/Iowa/Purdue/Minnesota are all viable in their own ways. Illinois could finish ahead of 1 or 2 of those 4 but I think even in their best case scenario their loss to Indiana will keep them from contending for the top spot. I would hate it if Iowa fans do all this whining and still end up with 8 wins the year after they had the biggest fluke division title, but could easily see it happening. It just seems like the ball just always bounces there way.

It goes without saying, but I'd feel a lot better about Minnesota's chances if they either got Wisconsin at home or at least the trip to Madison wasn't the last game of the season. I just have a feeling that if it comes down to that game parading around the Axe like it is the damn Lombardi will come back to haunt this program just like it did in '19.
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OSU vs Michigan always have their massive high stakes rivalry game the last game of the season. I think it's an honor and a complement for both the WI and MN programs, and the rivalry, to rate that last game of the season.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
Does doing the bare minimum for 8 games help the lame duck staff get nice jobs elsewhere after the season? I agree that they have no incentive to recruit. But I would think they have a meaningful incentive to try to win—and prove their worth—if they hope to stay in the coaching business. Can’t see how being branded lazy quitters helps their individual resumes.
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Human nature. I have no doubt the coaches will work hard to get the team ready to play, but their level of investment is not going to be the same because they know at the end of the year they are all going to be searching for new jobs. Nature of coaching and something that other coaches will not hold against them.

It is tough to explain, they will still put in the time, coach the players, setup game plans.....it just isn't the same as it would be under normal circumstances.

Look at it this way, if you knew you were getting fired on November 29th, would you work your butt off for your current job, doing everything in your power to help the boss that is going to fire you in a couple months, or would you do your job for the sake of the players while also working your connections and getting a jump on where you and your family are going to be next year?
 

EG#9 said:
parading around the Axe like it is the damn Lombardi will come back to haunt this program
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Oh, you mean like the winning team has done in the Axe game every damn year since forever?
 


Curious, how many B1G QB’s would you take over Morgan?

Stroud, no doubt.
Tagliowhatever, probably
After that, i don’t see enough talent to make up for Tanner’s ability to run the offense, limit turnovers and stay out of the RB’s way.
He’s hitting on over 70% of his passes and averaging a high number per completion. His 1 interception bounced off the guys chest!

He is built for this offense.
 

1. Minnesota
2. Wisky Fadgers
3. Idiots Out Walking Around
4. Purdon’t
5. Ill Noise
6. Nerdwestern
7. Nebarrassing
 

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