Ranking the Big Ten West after week 5

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MNVCGUY

MNVCGUY

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1. Illinois (1-1) - After what they just did to Wisconsin on the road they get the top spot. Will be interesting to see how they handle prosperity and this is still a team that managed to lose to a very mediocre Indiana team.

2. Minnesota (1-1) - I know we just lost to Purdue so it seems a little odd to put us ahead of them but we had to play about as poorly as we could and without our stud RB for them to beat us. And we still had opportunities to win that game. The game with Illinois in 2 weeks is a massive game for both teams and may go a long way in determining who comes out on top in the West this year.

3. Purdue (1-1) - They played a solid game and capitalized on the Gopher's mistakes to get the win. They are solid but I'm not sold that they are good enough to win the division. Schedule is favorable so they could be the team that ends up on top in a division without a clear cut favorite at the moment.

4. Iowa (1-1) - I am putting Iowa here solely because of their defense. If you turn the ball over against them they can beat you. If you don't, they can't.

5. Wisconsin (0-2) - Getting crushed by Ohio State is one thing, getting blown out at home by Illinois is another. They have issues on both sides of the ball and this looks like a very mediocre Badgers team.

6. Nebraska (1-1) - Won a penalty fest with Indiana yesterday but this team isn't going anywhere this year. They do have some playmakers on offense which can make them dangerous but I don't see them fixing things enough to get back into contention.

7. Northwestern (1-1) - PSU turned the ball over 5 times in sloppy conditions and Northwestern still lost. Just not a good football team this year.

I know we are in doom and gloom mode after yesterday but the West is still very winnable this year. Going to be a crazy 2 months to see how it all shakes out.
 

I’d go:
1) Minnesota - possible o line isn’t very good. If that is the case they will lose more and move down these rankings, but they basically gave the game away yesterday.
2) Purdue - seem to be figuring it out on defense and getting healthier on offense. No remaining crossovers against the top 3 in the east. Already beat number 1 in my power rankings of the west. But just don’t trust them to put them number 1
3) Illinois - not sure they are for real. We will see how they do against Iowa. I personally don’t think Wisconsin looks very good on defense…which is why I have Wisconsin so low. Illinois lost to Indiana.
4) Iowa - horrible offense but a great defense. Seems right in the middle of the pack is the perfect spot. Iowa-Illinois winner is one of the contenders and the loser is one of the pretenders.
5) wisconsin - horrible on offense, defense not as good as it’s been.
6) northwestern - defense coming around. Offense not coming around
7) Nebraska - beat the team I think is the worst team in the conference…but that team also beat Illinois….?
 






These aren't my rankings but I suspect that three teams move ahead of the Gophers in the consensus of Big Ten Power Rankings published by the various fan sites:

Maryland, Illinois, and Purdue. Not sure of the order.

So, I'd say that we're probably going to be listed around an average consensus #7 after five games.

I checked Sports Reference Saturday morning before the game against Purdue. Purdue was listed as having the toughest schedule among Big Ten teams for the first four games (by a fair amount actually). That resulted in them having only a 2-2 record after 4 but I guess being tested strongly early in the season made them better prepared mentally. Obviously, one shouldn't look at a 2-2 early season record and conclude that a team is down.
 

MNVCGUY said:
2. Minnesota (1-1) - I know we just lost to Purdue so it seems a little odd to put us ahead of them but we had to play about as poorly as we could and without our stud RB for them to beat us. .
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Yes, it is odd to place Minnesota over Purdue when they just lost to Purdue at home as a 12 point favorite. That's just preferring homerism over fair evaluation.

Purdue had nothing to do with us "playing as poorly as we could?" Our defense is good and they have earned a fair amount of respect around the conference. They played well again yesterday until they appeared worn down at the end. Based on what I saw yesterday, I would say that Purdue's defense is vastly underrated. Do you think that Mo's absence is the only reason we didn't run well yesterday? Why were we such a good running team last season then? Purdue's defense did a hell of a job closing up the running gaps. Our DBs are well regarded and they played a good game yesterday but Purdue's DBs might have been a little better. Finally, while we totaled 47 rushing yards on 26 carries, Purdue amassed 160 yards on 27 carries and they did that with running backs that no one ever heard of.

One of the commonest manifestations of homerism is the view that every loss is attributable to your own team's failures rather than the other team's performance. The reason homers feel this way is that they really don't watch what the opposing team is doing.

We may still win this division and end up with a better record than Purdue but, right now, Purdue deserves to be ranked ahead of us.
 

I’m still pissed that PJ Fleck didn’t have his team anywhere near prepared for a home game, homecoming game and week before a bye week with a chance to make a statement and grab sole possession of 1st place in the Big Ten West.

How lost they looked without Mo was just brutal. PJ and Kirk better correct that and get this offense up to speed and prepared for Big Ten play without Mo or it’s going to be a very disappointing season. Our receivers are sub par for a good Big Ten team.
 





Is it bad that I’m so jaded with what I witnessed yesterday that I don’t want to look through this thread?
 

Where would the West rank in the Power 5 division rankings?
 






cjbfbp said:
Yes, it is odd to place Minnesota over Purdue when they just lost to Purdue at home as a 12 point favorite. That's just preferring homerism over fair evaluation.

Purdue had nothing to do with us "playing as poorly as we could?" Our defense is good and they have earned a fair amount of respect around the conference. They played well again yesterday until they appeared worn down at the end. Based on what I saw yesterday, I would say that Purdue's defense is vastly underrated. Do you think that Mo's absence is the only reason we didn't run well yesterday? Why were we such a good running team last season then? Purdue's defense did a hell of a job closing up the running gaps. Our DBs are well regarded and they played a good game yesterday but Purdue's DBs might have been a little better. Finally, while we totaled 47 rushing yards on 26 carries, Purdue amassed 160 yards on 27 carries and they did that with running backs that no one ever heard of.

One of the commonest manifestations of homerism is the view that every loss is attributable to your own team's failures rather than the other team's performance. The reason homers feel this way is that they really don't watch what the opposing team is doing.

We may still win this division and end up with a better record than Purdue but, right now, Purdue deserves to be ranked ahead of us.
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Call it whatever you want but I don’t think the best team won on Saturday.

Purdue played well and we made too many critical mistakes to overcome. Dropped TD, missed chip shot, drive extending late hit. Those are all on us and have nothing to do with Purdue.

Upsets happen all the time in football.
 


RememberMurray said:
Yeah, you have to put Purdue above Minnesota at this point. We all saw the game yesterday; give the opponent some credit when they beat you.
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disagree in regards to needing to rank Purdue ahead of us. It is possible to believe we still have the better team even though we lost the game. The best team doesn’t always win. If they did there would be no point in playing the games.

Purdue played well and we didn’t, some of that was due to them and some was due to us making unforced critical errors.
 


MNVCGUY said:
disagree in regards to needing to rank Purdue ahead of us. It is possible to believe we still have the better team even though we lost the game. The best team doesn’t always win. If they did there would be no point in playing the games.

Purdue played well and we didn’t, some of that was due to them and some was due to us making unforced critical errors.
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Wish I could like this twice.
 

MNVCGUY said:
1. Illinois (1-1) - After what they just did to Wisconsin on the road they get the top spot. Will be interesting to see how they handle prosperity and this is still a team that managed to lose to a very mediocre Indiana team.

2. Minnesota (1-1) - I know we just lost to Purdue so it seems a little odd to put us ahead of them but we had to play about as poorly as we could and without our stud RB for them to beat us. And we still had opportunities to win that game. The game with Illinois in 2 weeks is a massive game for both teams and may go a long way in determining who comes out on top in the West this year.

3. Purdue (1-1) - They played a solid game and capitalized on the Gopher's mistakes to get the win. They are solid but I'm not sold that they are good enough to win the division. Schedule is favorable so they could be the team that ends up on top in a division without a clear cut favorite at the moment.

4. Iowa (1-1) - I am putting Iowa here solely because of their defense. If you turn the ball over against them they can beat you. If you don't, they can't.

5. Wisconsin (0-2) - Getting crushed by Ohio State is one thing, getting blown out at home by Illinois is another. They have issues on both sides of the ball and this looks like a very mediocre Badgers team.

6. Nebraska (1-1) - Won a penalty fest with Indiana yesterday but this team isn't going anywhere this year. They do have some playmakers on offense which can make them dangerous but I don't see them fixing things enough to get back into contention.

7. Northwestern (1-1) - PSU turned the ball over 5 times in sloppy conditions and Northwestern still lost. Just not a good football team this year.

I know we are in doom and gloom mode after yesterday but the West is still very winnable this year. Going to be a crazy 2 months to see how it all shakes out.
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What happens to Wisconsin after firing Paul Chryst
 

cjbfbp said:
Yes, it is odd to place Minnesota over Purdue when they just lost to Purdue at home as a 12 point favorite. That's just preferring homerism over fair evaluation.

Purdue had nothing to do with us "playing as poorly as we could?" Our defense is good and they have earned a fair amount of respect around the conference. They played well again yesterday until they appeared worn down at the end. Based on what I saw yesterday, I would say that Purdue's defense is vastly underrated. Do you think that Mo's absence is the only reason we didn't run well yesterday? Why were we such a good running team last season then? Purdue's defense did a hell of a job closing up the running gaps. Our DBs are well regarded and they played a good game yesterday but Purdue's DBs might have been a little better. Finally, while we totaled 47 rushing yards on 26 carries, Purdue amassed 160 yards on 27 carries and they did that with running backs that no one ever heard of.

One of the commonest manifestations of homerism is the view that every loss is attributable to your own team's failures rather than the other team's performance. The reason homers feel this way is that they really don't watch what the opposing team is doing.

We may still win this division and end up with a better record than Purdue but, right now, Purdue deserves to be ranked ahead of us.
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I’m guessing you didn’t watch any other games that Purdue played this year. They don’t suddenly have a great defense and run game. They had one long run and had some success in the first drive, otherwise they didn’t do much on the ground.
 

cjbfbp said:
Yes, it is odd to place Minnesota over Purdue when they just lost to Purdue at home as a 12 point favorite. That's just preferring homerism over fair evaluation.
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Why does the spread matter?

Anyways....I'd put the Gophers over Purdue still as well. Fact is that Mo is a giant part of our offense.....and he was ruled out right before kickoff. I don't think Purdue shuts down our offense with anywhere near that effectiveness.....because we don't average 1.8 yards per carry with Mo.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Call it whatever you want but I don’t think the best team won on Saturday.

Purdue played well and we made too many critical mistakes to overcome. Dropped TD, missed chip shot, drive extending late hit. Those are all on us and have nothing to do with Purdue.

Upsets happen all the time in football.
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I agree with this. The gophers lost primarily due to unforced errors.
If Minnesota can correct them, they have more potential as a team.
If Minnesota can’t correct them they don’t. Hopefully they do.
 

cjbfbp said:
Yes, it is odd to place Minnesota over Purdue when they just lost to Purdue at home as a 12 point favorite. That's just preferring homerism over fair evaluation.

Purdue had nothing to do with us "playing as poorly as we could?" Our defense is good and they have earned a fair amount of respect around the conference. They played well again yesterday until they appeared worn down at the end. Based on what I saw yesterday, I would say that Purdue's defense is vastly underrated. Do you think that Mo's absence is the only reason we didn't run well yesterday? Why were we such a good running team last season then? Purdue's defense did a hell of a job closing up the running gaps. Our DBs are well regarded and they played a good game yesterday but Purdue's DBs might have been a little better. Finally, while we totaled 47 rushing yards on 26 carries, Purdue amassed 160 yards on 27 carries and they did that with running backs that no one ever heard of.

One of the commonest manifestations of homerism is the view that every loss is attributable to your own team's failures rather than the other team's performance. The reason homers feel this way is that they really don't watch what the opposing team is doing.

We may still win this division and end up with a better record than Purdue but, right now, Purdue deserves to be ranked ahead of us.
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Odd to reference a spread that assumed their QB was likely out and our RB was likely in.
It probably would’ve been a pick ‘em or gophers by 2-4 points at most if that was known.
 

We weren't going 12-0.

I had us at 10-2 with one loss that made you shake your head. Hopefully Purdue is that loss.

Frustrating but some of you are acting like 6-6 is our future.
 

Line ‘em up and play. There are always the what-if’s after every game. PU beat us no matter how much some here spin it. IMO, the West lacks a dominate team and teams will beat each other up. If I were a betting man I wouldn’t spend a dime on any West team to win the top spot.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Call it whatever you want but I don’t think the best team won on Saturday.

Purdue played well and we made too many critical mistakes to overcome. Dropped TD, missed chip shot, drive extending late hit. Those are all on us and have nothing to do with Purdue.

Upsets happen all the time in football.
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Look, weekly power rankings are not intended to capture the best team at year end. They're intended to capture good performances to date. If we perform better than them through the rest of the year, we'll surpass them on the power rankings. But, they've played the best schedule in the Big Ten (by quite a bit so far), they're 1-1 in conference (just like us and they lost to an undefeated team), and they clearly outplayed us yesterday.

"Dropped TD, missed chip shot, drive extending late hit."

Oh, I guess those having nothing to do with evaluating the quality of the team committing them. Mistakes count!

You can't defend your rankings because they're not based on logic. They're based on your wishful feelings. Too bad you don't ref our games.
 
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Bayfieldgopher said:
Line ‘em up and play. There are always the what-if’s after every game. PU beat us no matter how much some here spin it. IMO, the West lacks a dominate team and teams will beat each other up. If I were a betting man I wouldn’t spend a dime on any West team to win the top spot.
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Amen!
 

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