Crucial Stretch of Schedule

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SJUgopher

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01/23/13 at Northwestern
01/26/13 at Wisconsin
01/29/13 vs. Nebraska
02/03/13 vs. Iowa
02/06/13 at Michigan State
02/10/13 vs. Illinois
02/14/13 vs. Wisconsin
02/17/13 at Iowa

If the Gophers want to win the B1G championship can we afford a loss in any of these games? I think they need to go 8-0 for a shot at the title. If we go 8-0, we all but eliminate Wisconsin from title contention and severely wound MSU (they have Mich 2x and IU 2x still). We have @ OSU and IU at the barn after this stretch that could determine the race.
 

IMO we could afford to go 7-1 in this stretch and still be in the conference title discussion. With just @ OSU and vs. IU as the "tough" games left after this stretch, we'd be looking at 14-4 if we could salvage a split in those two (and take care of business elsewhere). That should be a winning number for the conference this year.

If we go 8-0 we'll be in the driver's seat, no doubt. We go 6-2, we're probably still in the discussion but things get a lot more difficult down the stretch. 5-3 or less and I think we're out of it.
 

Realistically, the Gophers will probably be favored in six of those games - at Wisconsin and at Michigan State being the exceptions.
 





Let's just think about going 1-0 in Evanston tonight.

Watching the Big Ten games last night, it really hit home how brutal(ly competitive) the conference is. Michigan State and Wisconsin played their typical bloodbath, white-knuckler. On the road Iowa falls down 23 to Ohio State (have we heard this before?) before pulling within 5 and giving the Buckeyes all they can handle. Illinois, sort of given up for dead, in Lincoln routs a Nebraska team that has shown signs of life. Illinois and Iowa are good basketball teams, and both (2-4 in the B1G) are just chasing .500 right now.

Bottom line, though. The B1G has to prove itself in March. All this "Big Ten is great" stuff goes out the window if a bunch of teams make early exits from the tourney. I'd argue the B1G needs to cut down the nets (haven't won it all since 2000) in order for it to be considered a success, but in the meantime let's enjoy the rollercoaster. Are there any teams that don't have at least 2 gauntlets in their conference schedule?
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
How are we not favored at Wisconsin?
Click to expand...

Well, on most books, Michigan State was a 5.5-point dog at Kohl Center last night. Yes, Minnesota beat Michigan State several weeks ago, but Sparty's been playing quite well since that game.

I'd imagine our line would look quite similar to this one.
 

8-0 could, put us in the drivers seat, depending on how Michigan and IU do, of course. One of them could go on a streak. And of course msu IS in the drivers seat right now, so going 8-0 would only even us up with them, but give us the tie-breaker.

7-1 would still keep us in great shape, and 6-2 would leave us with some work to do, and wins vs IU and @OSU would then be required.

But I like what Selection Sunday said, lets worry about going 1-0 tonight, first, before we start talking about the next 7 games.
We get this road win vs NW and then I'll start thinking about the possibility of winning the Conf Title. If we lose this game to NW, we'll have a lot to worry about and talk of possible Big Ten titles will probably have to be put on hold for a week or two to see how the team responds after the fact.
 



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