BleedGopher
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per SI:
The debate over which teams belong in the College Football Playoff is typically dominated by talk of non-conference schedule strength, quality wins and so-called style points. For Wisconsin, its argument for the playoff could come down to something much simpler: It barely had to play anyone good.
The Badgers moved to 4-0 on Saturday after beating Northwestern, 33-24, at Camp Randall Stadium. They had already cruised to double-digit victories over Utah State, Florida Atlantic and BYU and, believe it or not, the matchup with the Wildcats was one of their biggest remaining obstacles.
A year after facing a brutal slate including a Week 1 meeting with LSU and back-to-back dates at Michigan and against Ohio State, Wisconsin will benefit from the Power 5’s smoothest road to the national semifinals. According to Football Outsiders, the Badgers’ lowest win probability in a game this season is 61% (against Michigan in Madison on Nov. 18).
The biggest reason Wisconsin could waltz to the final four is the overall lack of quality in the Big Ten West. Only one of its teams, Minnesota (39), ranks inside the top 40 of Football Outsiders latest S&P + ratings, and the Gophers lost 31-24 at home on Saturday to a Maryland squad down to its third-string quarterback.
https://www.si.com/college-football/2017/09/30/wisconsin-northwestern-big-ten-football
Go Gophers!!
The debate over which teams belong in the College Football Playoff is typically dominated by talk of non-conference schedule strength, quality wins and so-called style points. For Wisconsin, its argument for the playoff could come down to something much simpler: It barely had to play anyone good.
The Badgers moved to 4-0 on Saturday after beating Northwestern, 33-24, at Camp Randall Stadium. They had already cruised to double-digit victories over Utah State, Florida Atlantic and BYU and, believe it or not, the matchup with the Wildcats was one of their biggest remaining obstacles.
A year after facing a brutal slate including a Week 1 meeting with LSU and back-to-back dates at Michigan and against Ohio State, Wisconsin will benefit from the Power 5’s smoothest road to the national semifinals. According to Football Outsiders, the Badgers’ lowest win probability in a game this season is 61% (against Michigan in Madison on Nov. 18).
The biggest reason Wisconsin could waltz to the final four is the overall lack of quality in the Big Ten West. Only one of its teams, Minnesota (39), ranks inside the top 40 of Football Outsiders latest S&P + ratings, and the Gophers lost 31-24 at home on Saturday to a Maryland squad down to its third-string quarterback.
https://www.si.com/college-football/2017/09/30/wisconsin-northwestern-big-ten-football
Go Gophers!!
