A Look at BIG Division standings at the halfway point

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MNVCGUY

MNVCGUY

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All the usual caveats apply (long way to go, injuries, lots can change, don't look ahead......)

WEST
Coming into the year the West looked like a wide open 6 team race. Through the halfway point of the season the number of true contenders has dwindled to 2-3 tops.

1 - Wisconsin - pains me to write it but the Badgers look like the odds on favorite to win the West this season based on how they have played to this point. Their defense has been amazing and the offense is scoring lots of points as well. They are 1 of only 2 teams in the West that 100% controls their own destiny at this moment. The other....

2. Minnesota - Has really kicked things into high gear during Big Ten play after looking a little shaky to start the season. We all know the degree of difficulty goes up a lot in November.

3. Iowa - 2 loses already in conference play so will need help to win the division. Defense has looked good, offense has not in Big Ten play.

Spots 4-7 are all a bunch of teams that look like they have no real shot of competing for the division title this year.

EAST
Michigan was the pre-season pick by a lot of publications and while they are not out of it they certainly don't look like the favorite right now. That distinction goes to....

1. Ohio State - Firmly in the CFP mix with the Georgia loss and looking like the team to beat in the BIG. 10/26 game against Wisconsin could easily be a preview of the BIG championship game with the way those teams are playing.

2. Penn State - Nipping at the heals of Ohio State. Has a big showdown with Michigan this weekend and the schedule makers didn't do them a lot of favors with some tough road games ahead as well.

3. Michigan - Must win game for them this weekend at Penn State if they want to stay in contention for the East. Only 1 loss on the season so far and it was to a very good Wisconsin team but they have not looked like the force a lot of people thought they would be this season.

As with the West teams 4-7 don't look like they have any shot at contending this year. MSU could maybe be pulled out of this bunch as all 3 of their loses have been to good teams but with 2 conference loses already and with one being against the Buckeyes, the odds of OSU losing 3 games over the second half of the year seems pretty unlikely.
 

Iowa looked so solid and then just seemed to stall.

Granted they still hung in with Penn St. and that's no small feat, just not AS strong as we thought.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Iowa looked so solid and then just seemed to stall.

Granted they still hung in with Penn St. and that's no small feat, just not AS strong as we thought.
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Iowa defense is really good. Iowa offense has not been good. Hard to win scoring so few points.

18 in a win vs Iowa St, 3 in a loss to Michigan, 12 in a loss to Penn St. I am curious to see what Iowa does vs Purdue (who looked good against Maryland) as they are better than the teams Iowa scored a lot against (MTSU, Miami OH and Rutgers) so it'll be interesting to see if Iowa can score vs a mediocre B1G team (less than mediocre?)
 

I am 100% convinced that the game against Wisconsin will be for the BIG West championship.

I think Wisconsin will have one loss and we will have one or two losses going into the Badger game. That means the winner gets a trip to Indianapolis to play the Buckeyes. Just my two cents!
 

HoustonTXGopher said:
I am 100% convinced that the game against Wisconsin will be for the BIG West championship.

I think Wisconsin will have one loss and we will have one or two losses going into the Badger game. That means the winner gets a trip to Indianapolis to play the Buckeyes. Just my two cents!
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Long way to go but if things continue the way they have to this point there is a very good chance that you will end up being correct.
 


MNVCGUY said:
All the usual caveats apply (long way to go, injuries, lots can change, don't look ahead......)

WEST
Coming into the year the West looked like a wide open 6 team race. Through the halfway point of the season the number of true contenders has dwindled to 2-3 tops.

1 - Wisconsin - pains me to write it but the Badgers look like the odds on favorite to win the West this season based on how they have played to this point. Their defense has been amazing and the offense is scoring lots of points as well. They are 1 of only 2 teams in the West that 100% controls their own destiny at this moment. The other....

2. Minnesota - Has really kicked things into high gear during Big Ten play after looking a little shaky to start the season. We all know the degree of difficulty goes up a lot in November.

3. Iowa - 2 loses already in conference play so will need help to win the division. Defense has looked good, offense has not in Big Ten play.

Spots 4-7 are all a bunch of teams that look like they have no real shot of competing for the division title this year.

EAST
Michigan was the pre-season pick by a lot of publications and while they are not out of it they certainly don't look like the favorite right now. That distinction goes to....

1. Ohio State - Firmly in the CFP mix with the Georgia loss and looking like the team to beat in the BIG. 10/26 game against Wisconsin could easily be a preview of the BIG championship game with the way those teams are playing.

2. Penn State - Nipping at the heals of Ohio State. Has a big showdown with Michigan this weekend and the schedule makers didn't do them a lot of favors with some tough road games ahead as well.

3. Michigan - Must win game for them this weekend at Penn State if they want to stay in contention for the East. Only 1 loss on the season so far and it was to a very good Wisconsin team but they have not looked like the force a lot of people thought they would be this season.

As with the West teams 4-7 don't look like they have any shot at contending this year. MSU could maybe be pulled out of this bunch as all 3 of their loses have been to good teams but with 2 conference loses already and with one being against the Buckeyes, the odds of OSU losing 3 games over the second half of the year seems pretty unlikely.
Click to expand...

Thought I would revisit this one week later. Obviously there was one seismic shift in the conference standings on Saturday, but the contenders remain mostly the same.

West
1 - Minnesota - Only unbeaten left in the West, and 1 of 2 that fully controls its own destiny. November is going to be interesting
2 - Wisconsin - Nobody saw the loss to Illinois coming. Most likely pick up loss #2 this weekend against Ohio State
3 - Iowa - Still has a shot to win the West as they play both Wisconsin and Minnesota.
4-7 - Nebraska has just 2 conference losses at this point but seems unlikely to be a factor in the race.

East
1 - Ohio State - Have looked dominant all year
2 - Penn State - Only team that looks like it has any shot to stop Ohio State in the East and maybe the conference
3-7 - Michigan's loss to Penn State basically takes them out of contention in the division. They could maybe get back in it but seems really unlikely that Penn State is going to lose 3 of their final 5 games (although it could happen). The chances of Penn State and Ohio State both losing enough for Michigan to sneak in and steal the division seem really slim though.
 

Good synopsis up to now. Down to a 4, potentially 6 team race (2 in each division) with 2 outliers with potential (1 in each division). I'm removing Nebraska because Minnesota would need to lose 3 of 5 and Nebraska go undefeated (Minnesota with the head to head tie breaker). Although possible, not likely.


I'll be honest and say I'm just happy to be in this conversation.
 

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