The case for Indiana winning the B1G Leaders.......don't laugh
Indiana (1-3) has as good a path as anyone to make the B1G championship game after beating Illinois.
They play Iowa and Wisconsin next at home. Iowa's on a two game losing streak and Wisconson just lost another game and their QB.
Yes it's Indiana, but they gave OSU and MSU all they could handle in close losses. They have the 2nd highest scoring offense in conference play and 3rd best overall.
If they win their next two and split with PSU and Purdue they'd be 4-4 with the tiebreaker against Wisconsin, who'd need to beat both OSU and PSU.
Its been 45 years since their last Rose Bowl.....the Hoosier stars are again aligned.
October 29th, 2012 at 7:53 AM ^
Michigan to the Rose Bowl.
October 29th, 2012 at 8:04 AM ^
October 29th, 2012 at 8:59 AM ^
Its nice to think that, but Michigan isn't going anywhere unless they get some help and fix their abysmal offense enough that we're able to win out.
October 29th, 2012 at 9:18 AM ^
We will surely win 1 more game in the 4 remaining games, so we'll go somwhere. Specifically to the Rose Bowl? I agree, our offense is in shambles.
October 29th, 2012 at 10:45 AM ^
That is only possible if we win the next three games and Nebraska loses 2 out of 3 to either MSU, Iowa and Minnesota.
I don't see Nebraska losing 2 of 3.
October 29th, 2012 at 10:48 AM ^
Are you suggesting there is a 0 probability of beating ohio? Because if we beat ohio, then we only need Nebraska to lose 1 game of their final 4.
Even if we did lose 1 of the next 4 games, we need Nebraska to lose 2 of the next 4, not 2 of the next 3. And playing against Penn State and @ Michigan State it is not exceedingly unlikely.
October 29th, 2012 at 7:55 AM ^
October 29th, 2012 at 8:06 AM ^
Dammit! Just beaten to the punch.
My post has a funny "head asplode" .gif (#themichigandifference) and the extra time searching for it cost me. Drat.
October 29th, 2012 at 8:08 AM ^
What in the hell led two posters to simultaneously post about Indiana....INDIANA...in the B1G championship game? And do so at 8 am? Almost unthinkable
October 29th, 2012 at 8:11 AM ^
October 29th, 2012 at 8:13 AM ^
Simple: Nebraska fan posts because his team now has the inside track to the B1G championship game and his mind is racing with the delicious possibility of facing IU in the game for a shot at the Rose Bowl. UM fan (me) posts because it is the only way to keep my mind from running on a permanent loop of Bellomy's 3-16, 3 INT performance that cost UM a chance to play (possibly Indiana) for the Rose Bowl.
October 29th, 2012 at 8:04 AM ^
The last thing this conference needs is for Indiana to play in the Rose Bowl.
October 29th, 2012 at 10:12 AM ^
haha...although, it would be very symbolic of the overall quality of the Big Ten this year.
October 29th, 2012 at 11:25 AM ^
If Indiana makes the Big Ten championship game they should probably forfit for the good of the conference. This conference needs the good pub that will come from Mich/Neb losing by <30.
October 29th, 2012 at 11:30 AM ^
Do you really think they'll need to forfeit? I think they can handle losing it all on their lonesome.
October 29th, 2012 at 8:05 AM ^
BIG TEEEEEENNNN!!!!
October 29th, 2012 at 8:14 AM ^
They could make the championship for sure since Wisconsin has Ohio State and Penn State to finish the season giving perhaps a couple more losses.
That is really because Leaders is going to put the third best team up because of the sanctions against OSU and PSU.
I do not see the third best team in Leaders beating the best teams in Legends. I see the Legends team in the Rose Bowl.
October 29th, 2012 at 8:19 AM ^
October 29th, 2012 at 8:25 AM ^
I agree; which makes UM's loss at UN this past weekend that much more frustrating. If Denard doesn't go down, UM would have had a good chance of winning that game based on the way the defense shut down Nebraska (UN's first two FG's of the second half came on "drives" of 2 and 5 yards).
I feel bad for Bellomy because he was placed in a terrible situation but I will be doing that George Costanza "KAAAAHHHHHNNNNN!!!" scream with Bellomy's name in place of Kahn for the next several years.
October 29th, 2012 at 8:51 AM ^
Rather than looking at Bellomy being placed "in a terrible situation" I think he was given the opportunity of a lifetime. He could have helped assure himself the inside track to the job of starting QB next year. He should have been prepared to go in at any time in any game.
When Braxton Miller went down against Purdue his back up led OSU to a TD and 2 point conversion with 5 seconds left and then an OT win. That is what I would expect of the backup QB at Michigan too.
October 29th, 2012 at 9:05 AM ^
I think the comparison is a little unfair to Bellomy for the following reasons:
1) Guiton is a RS Junior while Bellomy is a RS Freshman.
2) Guiton was playing in front of the home crowd while Bellomy was playing on the road, at night.
3) Guiton was going up against Purdue while Bellomy was going against Nebraska.
Bellomy should have performed better than he did (h^ll, I think I could have put up numbers like Bellomy's and I have never played organized football in my life outside of Pee-wee football), but I sincerely doubt that Guiton would have led OSU to a win over Nebraska in Lincoln at night.
October 29th, 2012 at 12:55 PM ^
to add to this, how many balls hit the recievers in the hands and they just dropped them? the first few at least were catchable balls that got dropped
when a new young qb comes into the game in situation like that everybody needs to step up and the recieving corp didnt do that.
October 29th, 2012 at 8:31 AM ^
If the B1G wasn't already considered the weaker of the major conferences, Indiana playing for the Rose Bowl would surely change most peoples minds.
October 29th, 2012 at 8:41 AM ^
i don't think this idea is as absurd as others.
Living in Wisconsin, I watch a lot of the Badgers due to friends and family forcing me to... and Danny O'Brien is abysmal. Like, almost as bad as Bellomy looked this weekend. Scratch that, he is AS BAD as Bellomy looked against Nebraska.
And as Utah State demonstrated, when you can load the box and devote 8 men to stopping Montee Ball, Wisconsin is exceedingly beatable.
Im not saying it will happen because it requires Indiana to have a winning record against teams that historically woop them... it is not an insane notion.
October 29th, 2012 at 8:53 AM ^
If Indiana does make it to the Rose Bowl I wonder if the Pac 12 champ (or runner up) will give their players a very long Christmas break.
October 29th, 2012 at 12:53 PM ^
Since Oregons spot will likely be vacated, how about slotting ND in vs Indiana. Haha oh man. So delicious. Bowl selection would be Sugar, Rose, Fiesta. a 12-0 ND team not in the NCG would be hard to turn down.
October 29th, 2012 at 8:56 AM ^
Is any one else concerned that Brady Hoke emphatically said that Gardner is our third string QB but would not have gone in because he has practiced very little at QB ? Yikes.
October 29th, 2012 at 9:01 AM ^
I'm concerned with pretty much everything on the offensive side of the ball. Very little to feel good about there lately.
October 29th, 2012 at 9:07 AM ^
This is all Rich Rodriquez's fault
October 29th, 2012 at 9:21 AM ^
The Q in Rodriguez is part of the joke....right?
October 29th, 2012 at 9:50 AM ^
That is guite observant.
October 29th, 2012 at 12:24 PM ^
qood qod, this had qot to stop at some point.
October 29th, 2012 at 9:17 AM ^
It's an interesting situation for the Leaders Division, to be sure.
Indiana is going into a stretch where quite literally they are the more productive team on offense when compared to the teams left on their schedule, but as the Hoosiers have the worst defense in the conference, they would have to find ways to at least slow down opponents (Iowa, for example, does a good job of slowing down themselves, so there is that).
Wisconsin walks into three games where the opposite is true for them. They are statistically the better defensive team than anyone left on their schedule (albeit only slightly better than Penn State), and the worst offensively, comparatively speaking. With Stave out, the Badgers will have to start inventing ways to score that may or may not involve Ball, depending on the defense.
| TOTAL OFFENSE (AVG. YARDS) | TOTAL DEFENSE (AVG. YARDS) | |
| Indiana | 444.4 | 438.5 |
| Iowa | 325.8 | 355.0 |
| Wisconsin | 361.2 | 311.3 |
| Penn State | 400.5 | 329.5 |
| Purdue | 381.5 | 409.0 |
| OPP. AVERAGE | 367.3 | 351.2 |
| TOTAL OFFENSE (AVG. YARDS) | TOTAL DEFENSE (AVG. YARDS) | |
| Wisconsin | 361.2 | 311.3 |
| Indiana | 444.4 | 438.5 |
| Ohio State | 431.8 | 389.6 |
| Penn State | 400.5 | 329.5 |
| OPP. AVERAGE | 425.6 | 385.9 |
October 29th, 2012 at 9:24 AM ^
This may be the first time Indiana and championship have been mentioned in the same sentence when talking about football.
October 29th, 2012 at 12:27 PM ^
About every 20-30 years they make a run at it. They were Big Ten champs in 1945, they were Big Ten co-champs (with Purdue and Minnesota) and went to the Rose Bowl after the 1967 season and lost to OJ Simpson's USC team, and they could have gone to the Rose Bowl in 1987 had they beaten Michigan State in November.
October 29th, 2012 at 9:52 AM ^
I think it's safe to say that the Legends division has 4 teams better than the eventual winner of the Leaders division. Nebraska, Michigan, Northwestern, MSU. And Iowa is a toss-up with Indiana and a Stave-less Wisconsin IMO.
October 29th, 2012 at 10:28 AM ^
How long is Stave going to be out? I did not see anything on what his injury was.
October 29th, 2012 at 10:29 AM ^
Broken collarbone. Out for the season
October 29th, 2012 at 10:09 AM ^
Is it possible that we will see Indiana in the B1G championship game? Would they even be eligible to play if they finished first in the conference but with a losing record overall?
Case for the impossible happening:
Indiana's remaining games are Iowa, Wisconsin, @ Penn State and @ Purdue.
Wisconsin's remaining games are @Indiana, Ohio State and @ Penn State.
If Indiana beats Iowa and Wisconsin in Bloomington while losing on the road at PSU and Purdue, they would finish 5-7 overall and 3-5 in B1G play.
If Wisconsin loses out, they will also finish 3-5 in B1G play but would lose the head-to-head tiebreaker with Indiana (NOTE: for the sake of this hypothetical, I am assuming that neither Illinois nor Purdue finishes better than 2-6 in B1G play).
It could happen, people...
October 29th, 2012 at 10:18 AM ^
Wisconsin will grind the Hoosiers bones to dust with their running game....
.....Fie Fi Fo Fum.....
October 29th, 2012 at 10:57 AM ^
I guess we're looking at Iowa vs. Indiana for the Big Ten Championship.
Of course, after that last post, Iowa tanked...so I'm hoping the next post is "The case for Nebraska winning the Big Ten Legends...don't laugh."
I mean, it'd be ok for the OP to jinx the Cornhuskers, wouldn't it? We all know that Nebraska posters on here are really just Ohio State fans in disguise...
October 29th, 2012 at 11:07 AM ^
Except Indiana regressing to being Indiana whenever it appears they might actually exceed Indianan expectations is one of the most fundamental laws of the universe.
Michigan has done it to them plenty, whether with Warren's game-sealing interception in '09, or Tae Odoms's long TD in 2010, or the 3-point victory in 1999. Indiana could be on the verge of a tie at Michigan Stadium, only to have a guy "fumble" the ball out of bounds to stop the clock, then watch Anthony Carter take a pass at the 20 and zip between the entire secondary for a horn-honking, Yost-in-football's-Valhalla-invoking last-second touchdown.
Don't believe me?
Indiana, man. It's like gravity.
October 29th, 2012 at 1:22 PM ^
possible? yes, but probable?... absolutely not
October 29th, 2012 at 11:18 PM ^
I'm actually entertained by the fact that Indiana has a chance to go to the B1G title game. While it probably won't happen, Indiana needs to keep this idea going. I would however be excited if Indina beats Wisconsin after Bret hung 80+ on Hoosiers.