"Elimination Season" Begins in B1G West

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RememberMurray

RememberMurray

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Coming into 2019, many of us thought the B1G West would be a wide-open race, with Wisconsin and Iowa the favorites and Northwestern, Nebraska and Purdue (along with Minnesota) as contenders.

With 6 games remaining, a careful look at the schedule has led me to the conclusion that some of those teams may soon be out of the race.

Iowa hosts Purdue this week. The loser will have 3 B1G Conference losses, effectively eliminating them.

Northwestern hosts Ohio State. Yikes.

Nebraska has a bye, but note that they already have two conference losses.

After this week, there may be two favorites remaining, plus two contenders barely hanging on.

The Current Standings:

Minnesota 3-0

Wisconsin 3-0

Nebraska 2-2

Iowa 1-2

Purdue 1-2

Illinois 0-3

Northwestern 0-3
 

I'm still in awe that after 3 conference games we are not "waiting for next year". So many people are saying enjoy the ride. I sure am. If after 5 conference game the Gophs are the main competition with Wisconsin, I'll be even more happy.
 

It's somewhat cool that the Gophers, Hawkeyes, and Badgers are the teams that will be battling it out for the West.
 

BTChamp said:
I'm still in awe that after 3 conference games we are not "waiting for next year". So many people are saying enjoy the ride. I sure am. If after 5 conference game the Gophs are the main competition with Wisconsin, I'll be even more happy.
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Like 2014.
 

The way Wisconsin is playing the most loses to win the West is going to be 2 or less.

Northwestern
Illinois
Purdue/Iowa loser

These teams are all out.
 


Safe to say Mn, Ia, and MN are really only contenders
 


BeerFueledFF said:
And Iowa still needs to play Wisconsin, Nebraska and us, so they are already on the ropes a bit.
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Yes, exactly right.

The way Purdue played against Maryland, I'm not sure this week's game is going to be any cakewalk for the Hawkeyes.

If Iowa can finally get their offense untracked, they can still be a force. But right now they're just not looking good when they have the ball.

Iowa remaining: PURDUE, @ Northwestern, @ Wisconsin, MINNESOTA, ILLINOIS, @ Nebraska.

Outside of maybe Illinois at home, there are no cupcakes on that schedule.
 

BeerFueledFF said:
And Iowa still needs to play Wisconsin, Nebraska and us, so they are already on the ropes a bit.
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Nebraska is not scary. Iowa will truck them. They need to win out and catch some luck. In that scenario.....the Gophers lose to PSU and Iowa, but beat Wisconsin. Wisconsin loses to Iowa and the Gophers. In that case....I think Iowa wins the tie-breaker. Doesn't seem likely....considering how offensively challenged they are....but it's possible. Their defense is VERY good.

And I hate to say it....but the Badgers are team to take down as of now. They look every bit as good as their ranking. That OSU game on the 26th is shaping up to be one of the most important games of the CFB season. And....again....it's difficult to say....but Jonathan Taylor is an easy guy to like. Hopefully he hits the draft after this year......but based on what I've heard and read about him......he's probably shooting for his degree.
 



It really comes down to if MN can be within a game of WI going into final week. Wisconsin will not have more than 1 loss, so we have to be 10-1 or 9-2. And one of our losses can't be to Iowa, if they start winning.
 

stocker08 said:
Nebraska is not scary. Iowa will truck them. They need to win out and catch some luck. In that scenario.....the Gophers lose to PSU and Iowa, but beat Wisconsin. Wisconsin loses to Iowa and the Gophers. In that case....I think Iowa wins the tie-breaker. Doesn't seem likely....considering how offensively challenged they are....but it's possible. Their defense is VERY good.

And I hate to say it....but the Badgers are team to take down as of now. They look every bit as good as their ranking. That OSU game on the 26th is shaping up to be one of the most important games of the CFB season. And....again....it's difficult to say....but Jonathan Taylor is an easy guy to like. Hopefully he hits the draft after this year......but based on what I've heard and read about him......he's probably shooting for his degree.
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You're spot on; Wisconsin is clearly the team to beat. Their game against Ohio State, in The Horseshoe, will be very telling for both squads.

That being said, here are the teams Wisconsin has beaten so far:

USF, CMU, Michigan, Northwestern, Kent, Michigan State.

Outside of maybe Michigan (and that's a big maybe, in my opinion), that's not a very impressive lineup. Michigan State looks pretty ordinary these days. All three B1G teams that Wisconsin has beaten have offenses that are currently struggling.
 
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Someone will make Wisconsin throw. When they have to, they could lose.

Going into the year I thought:
Iowa
Minnesota/Wisconsin winner
Minnesota/Wisconsin loser


I still think Iowa or a healthy Nebraska could beat Wisconsin on a given day.


No question Wisconsin is the favorite. No question they look the best.
 

Some guy said:
Someone will make Wisconsin throw. When they have to, they could lose.

Going into the year I thought:
Iowa
Minnesota/Wisconsin winner
Minnesota/Wisconsin loser


I still think Iowa or a healthy Nebraska could beat Wisconsin on a given day.


No question Wisconsin is the favorite. No question they look the best.
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Michigan State sold out to stop Taylor and Wisconsin killed them with play action all game. You need to be able to stop the run while not selling out to do it which is a tall order.
 



BeerFueledFF said:
Michigan State sold out to stop Taylor and Wisconsin killed them with play action all game. You need to be able to stop the run while not selling out to do it which is a tall order.
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I’d like to think we we have a secondary that matches up with WI better than MSU- now whether that’s reality or not who knows- but I’d like to think that.[emoji23][emoji848]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

RememberMurray said:
You're spot on; Wisconsin is clearly the team to beat. Their game against Ohio State, in The Horseshoe, will be very telling for both squads.

That being said, here are the teams Wisconsin has beaten so far:

USF, CMU, Michigan, Northwestern, Kent, Michigan State.

Outside of maybe Michigan (and that's a big maybe, in my opinion), that's not a very impressive lineup. Michigan State looks pretty ordinary these days. All three B1G teams that Wisconsin has beaten have offenses that are currently struggling.
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Very true but none of those games were really ever close except Northwestern after a late TD by them. I hate to say it but Wis has looked very good. I know Michigan seems over rated but they had that game in had early @Michigan. Michigan St is an above average team with their only losses against 3 top 15 teams.
 

stocker08 said:
Jonathan Taylor is an easy guy to like. Hopefully he hits the draft after this year......but based on what I've heard and read about him......he's probably shooting for his degree.
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He's already said his plan is to enter the draft after the season.
 


BeerFueledFF said:
Michigan State sold out to stop Taylor and Wisconsin killed them with play action all game. You need to be able to stop the run while not selling out to do it which is a tall order.
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If a team is already "sold out" to stop the run, there's no need to run play action, and the Badgers barely ran any against MSU.
 

The Wisconsin offensive resurgence is a little surprising. They supposedly had a great OL last year and even though they were healthy, and had Taylor they looked pretty bad much of last year.

This year, with a much younger OL, Taylor looks like Walter Payton/ Jim Brown again and even the back up RBs look great.

The new QB Croan (even though the old QB did play games for Fl. State this year) and the return of #87 Cephus, who escaped the UW version the EOAA witch hunt seem to be factors.

Wisconsin is playing at a high level, but they may regress to the mean in coming weeks. They sure look great now.
 

Minnesota can lose one game but must beat Wisconsin. They are going to lose to OSU and nobody else. Anything else won't cut it.
 

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