Week 9 Who to Cheer for Thread

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

I put something like this together last week, and since we are still in the midst of a title chase, I thought I would take another crack at summarizing the implications of the other Big 10 games. Since SS posed the question last week, my primary consideration is what impacts our shot at a conference title, with the 4 team playoff being secondary.

Maryland (2-1) at Wisconsin (1-1), 11 AM: Maryland, and not just because we hate Wisconsin. Right now, Wisconsin is 1 of 3 one-loss teams in the west, and it would give us a little more cushion by adding Wisconsin to the list of remaining opponents who would could lose to and still be guarantied a spot in the title game if we go 7-1 (right now, OSU and Illinois are the only two on that list).

Rutgers (1-2) at Nebraska (2-1), 11 AM: Rutgers. This analysis is almost identical to the one above. Nebraska is another major west division contender, so a lost to an east division team helps. As with Wisconsin, if Nebraska loses, then we are in a position where 7-1 with a loss to Nebraska gets us to the title game.

Michigan (1-2) at MSU (3-0), 2:30 PM, and OSU (3-0) at PSU (1-2), 7:00 PM: Depends. I grouped these two together. It seems more and more likely every week that MSU or OSU will win the east, so pick which one you are less scared of in a hypothetical title game matchup, cheer for them to win and the other one to lose. These games are all both between east division teams so the impact on our divisional race is negligible. If you are thinking 4-team playoff, root for MSU and OSU to keep rolling and climb in the rankings so that that if we win out, we have a good chance to grab as good of a win as possible in the title game.

As I pointed out last week, the most important game is obviously the one the Gophers are playing in. Beating Illinois will do more for our title hopes than any of these other games can.

 

[MNVCGUY]

I put something like this together last week, and since we are still in the midst of a title chase, I thought I would take another crack at summarizing the implications of the other Big 10 games. Since SS posed the question last week, my primary consideration is what impacts our shot at a conference title, with the 4 team playoff being secondary.

Maryland (2-1) at Wisconsin (1-1), 11 AM: Maryland, and not just because we hate Wisconsin. Right now, Wisconsin is 1 of 3 one-loss teams in the west, and it would give us a little more cushion by adding Wisconsin to the list of remaining opponents who would could lose to and still be guarantied a spot in the title game if we go 7-1 (right now, OSU and Illinois are the only two on that list).

Rutgers (1-2) at Nebraska (2-1), 11 AM: Rutgers. This analysis is almost identical to the one above. Nebraska is another major west division contender, so a lost to an east division team helps. As with Wisconsin, if Nebraska loses, then we are in a position where 7-1 with a loss to Nebraska gets us to the title game.

Michigan (1-2) at MSU (3-0), 2:30 PM, and OSU (3-0) at PSU (1-2), 7:00 PM: Depends. I grouped these two together. It seems more and more likely every week that MSU or OSU will win the east, so pick which one you are less scared of in a hypothetical title game matchup, cheer for them to win and the other one to lose. These games are all both between east division teams so the impact on our divisional race is negligible. If you are thinking 4-team playoff, root for MSU and OSU to keep rolling and climb in the rankings so that that if we win out, we have a good chance to grab as good of a win as possible in the title game.

As I pointed out last week, the most important game is obviously the one the Gophers are playing in. Beating Illinois will do more for our title hopes than any of these other games can.

At this point it looks like a 4 team race in the West and the other 3 are still on our schedule. So yep cheer for anyone who plays Iowa, Wisconsin, or Nebraska, where it will get tricky is when they go head to head.

Northwestern, Illinois, and Purdue are eliminated from the West picture.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

At this point it looks like a 4 team race in the West and the other 3 are still on our schedule. So yep cheer for anyone who plays Iowa, Wisconsin, or Nebraska, where it will get tricky is when they go head to head.

Northwestern, Illinois, and Purdue are eliminated from the West picture.

Should be a fun finish. 4 teams (us, Nebraska, Sconnie, Iowa) with 0 or 1 losses, and I believe none of them have played each other yet, so we all sit firmly in control of our own destiny.