Picks for the BIG title game?
Now that we have seen a few weeks of football, it looks like both divisions are pretty wide open. I still think M and MSU are the major contenders in the legends division but I wouldn't be surprised to see Northwestern get into the mix. The leaders division seems a lot more in doubt for Wisconsin now after the last 2 weeks.
I can't believe I'm saying this but my prediction:
M vs Purdue
Thoughts?
September 16th, 2012 at 12:04 AM ^
Michigan vs Purdue is a pretty solid pick. Ohio and Penn State Ohio'd and Penn State'd their way right out of the conversation, Wisconsin has plummeted back to dairyland with the loss of whatever they lost, etc etc. I laughably can't think of a good reason for Purdue to not win the Leaders division this year.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:21 AM ^
September 16th, 2012 at 12:04 AM ^
State v Purdue(and their 3 or 4 Big Ten losses)
September 16th, 2012 at 12:07 AM ^
Who is Michigan State going to beat? Anyone who can put two touchdowns on the board is a major threat to MSU. Their defense is pretty good and all, but the whole "defense wins championships" spiel is contingent on atleast fielding an offense.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:13 AM ^
There's a thing called improvement...it's possible for them to get better as the season goes.
Who makes a thread about this after week 2 anyway?
September 16th, 2012 at 12:16 AM ^
That, and, name me a B1G defense that has a front 7 like NDs to stop the MSU run game.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:21 AM ^
Last week, CMU (which doesn't exactly have ND-level talent) held Bell to 70 yards on 18 carries. MSU isn't quite the offensive powerhouse you're making them out to be.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:39 AM ^
/sssss
September 16th, 2012 at 12:30 AM ^
At this point I have to wonder who wont shut Sparty down, but Ohio will totally negate Spartys only offensive weapon in 2 weeks. Big John Hankins (why the fuck did we not land him???) and the other DTs get great pressure and stuff the run well, Curtis Grant was the #2 prospect in the country in 2011, and Shazier played better than Grant at times as a true freshmen last year.
Worth noting they run almost an entire separate 2 deep along their front for Nickel packages.
Know thy enemy.
Sparty will be a 2 loss team coming in to 2A.
September 16th, 2012 at 9:35 AM ^
I'm not looking to be flamed, but the way our D-line is CURRENTLY playing, I really don't see us stopping Sparty's running game. Forget about Bama, we didn'[t stop AF and U-Mass wasn't a test. I know, AF' had an O that most teams dread, , but still. I'd feel much more comfortable making claims after next Saturday's game.
Wisconsin is not going anywhere. They dogded another loss last night when an easy field goal went wide. Montee Ball's Heisman;s hopes are all but gone. They are not the same team as last year, not anything close.
September 16th, 2012 at 11:48 AM ^
As long as MSU fails to develop a downfield passing game, we (and everyone else) will bring our safeties closer to the line of scrimmage to stop the run, and that will make it difficult for them. You can't compare them to Air Force; there isn't the same level of deception in MSU's running game.
September 16th, 2012 at 9:54 AM ^
îm not sure ohio will shut them down. that defense is highly over rated and cals running back had 4 carries for 167 yards against ohio. ohio looks more and more beatable as long as you contain miller and devin smith.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:19 AM ^
Oh no way! You can do that?
It's not like Michigan State is trying to run the zone read with Maxwell and will eventually figure out "Oh wait, this is your typical statue-esc passer" and change their offense to something that they're actually equipped to do. They can't even execute a passing play. Sure, you can expect towards the end of the season that Maxwell will strike gold with someone running around wide open once a game, but if you're anticipating them stringing together drives with 3+ completions to receivers you'll be waiting for a long time. All improvement is margainal, and they're in the parking lot adjacent to "Forward passing mountain" right now.
September 16th, 2012 at 2:37 AM ^
September 16th, 2012 at 12:24 AM ^
I wouldn't be fooled into thinkning that msu can't simply run over weak B1G defenses. ND might not be a top10 team, but they're also not Indiana or Minny.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:26 AM ^
What about CMU? They stuffed MSU on the ground too. I get your point about talent disparity, but when you can afford to simply have more bodies defending the run than they have to block people you're going to stuff the ground game.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:34 AM ^
Very true. The word is out that you beat Sparty by selling out on the run. Man coverage is all you need to guard against their pass. Whatever gains they manage thru the air are acceptable if you're Iowa, or Nebraska, or Northwestern this year. If all Wisconsin has to do is stop 1 running back and 1 TE then maybe even they can make a game of it. They scored 0 touchdowns against NDs (now even more) depleted secondary.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:08 AM ^
I wouldn't be surprised to see State in the title game but I think Maxwell and their offensive line were exposed tonight against ND. I also think that the Alabama game caused people to underrate Michigan's offense. Look at what they did against Arkansas. I don't think anyone stop our offense, especially if Denard limits his mistakes passing. Next week against ND will be very telling.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:12 AM ^
to flip flop with a big Michigan victory next weekend. I would like nothing more than Denard to put the stamp on his label as an "Irish Killer" with another 400 yard performance.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:16 AM ^
I thought MSU was exposed against Boise. This game seems to confirm that they've got serious issues on the offensive side of the ball.
People are massively overrating MSU's program because of the last two seasons, which were not a sustainable level of success given their very average recruiting classes. Kirk Cousins carried them offensively those years. Now that he's gone, they look very much like a team that recruits middle-of-the-pack talent.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:22 AM ^
I really don't think Cousins did as much as people think. The big thing they were missing tonight was a downfield threat. No receivers outside of Sims and Bell (if you call them receivers) got any separation and even when they did, they rarely could catch anything. I don't think Maxwell is great, but he's nowhere near as bad as he looked tonight.
Plus, what games did Cousins really win as "nail biters"? I really can't count a hail mary over Wisconsin as something he was responsible for doing and none of his wins over Michigan were really specifically from his making. I guess the 2010 game against Northwestern? That's all I can really think of off the top of my head. I don't think he was nearly as "clutch" as many try to make him seem.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:41 AM ^
Cousins was very good. Yeah, he had solid receivers, but they weren't superstars like Braylon Edwards. The best WR he had was probably B.J. Cunningham, and he was a 6th-round NFL draft pick. Cousins helped his receivers out by consistently finding them when they got open and delivering the ball on time. Look at the numbers he put up last year:
He completed 63.7% of his throws for 3,316 yards, 25 TDs, 10 INT, and only took 15 sacks in 14 games (and he did not have a great pass-protecting OL by any means).
http://stats.washingtonpost.com/cfb/players.asp?id=157972
That' season compares favorably to what Chad Henne (and pretty much any other QB we've had) did when he was here - and MSU isn't a program that can easily reload with 5-star recruits. Cousins was a diamond in the rough. They might not have another QB that good for years.
September 16th, 2012 at 9:00 AM ^
You throw out him completing 63.7% of his passes and completely dismiss the receivers having anything at all to do with that. MSU lost its top 4 receiving threats from last season. FOUR. I don't care what kind of talent you have at WR or QB, but when you're replacing that many WRs, there is going to be a huge droppoff in production at the QB spot regardless of who is playing. And given the number of passes that the MSU WRs dropped last night I'd say there's plenty of evidence to back that up. If the ball goes through your hands, that's on the WR -- not the QB.
And since you love to cite stats, Maxwell's stats last night ar absolutely indicative of a team that had no down field threat. He was 23/45 for 187 yds (4.2 yds/completion). Completion wise, that's not even that bad (51%) considering all of the drops (7+).
September 16th, 2012 at 11:58 AM ^
Easy there. I'm not sure what I said that made you so upset. They had a good WR corps last year, but they weren't superstars. Here's what happened to those guys in the NFL Draft:
B.J. Cunningham - 6th-round pick
Keshawn Martin - 4th-round pick
Keith Nichol - undrafted
Cousins was very good. I don't know why it's so hard for people here to admit that. Yes, he made some dumb comments about the BCS game, but on the field he was possibly their best QB ever.
Completion percentage is not as important as yards per attempt. Cousins averaged 7.9 YPA last season, which shows that he not only was completing a lot of passes but was throwing for significant yardage. Last night, Maxwell threw for 4.2 YPA, which is just abysmal. That is Sheridanesque. That's a sign that MSU has no confidence in his ability to throw downfield.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:29 PM ^
middle of the pack talent that complete out shines our team on D right now... i wouldn't doubt they run all over us at home this year..
September 16th, 2012 at 7:25 AM ^
I think right now I'd go with MSU vs Purdue in the title game too. Though this coming week is going to go a long way in showing how much chance Michigan has of winning the Big Ten title.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:05 AM ^
It looks to me that Sparty's offense is worse than Michigan's defense but we shall see
September 16th, 2012 at 12:53 AM ^
I agree, with Nebraska as a dark horse.
Before the season, who would have thought that the 10/6 showdown in West Lafayette has a decent chance to be a preview of the championship game?
September 16th, 2012 at 12:08 AM ^
I'm still going with my preseason pick of Michigan vs. Wisconsin. UW will get its issues sorted out. They still have a lot of talent.
I think Nebraska is our biggest divisional threat. They're the only other team in our division that can score.
September 16th, 2012 at 1:26 AM ^
September 16th, 2012 at 12:00 PM ^
Given the way they've been churning out OL for 20 years, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. Their OL has been shockingly bad so far, but maybe that change in the positional coach will make a difference.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:10 AM ^
Michigan vs. University of Chicago
September 16th, 2012 at 1:49 AM ^
Maroon the Maroons!
September 16th, 2012 at 12:10 AM ^
Ohio vs. Mich
September 16th, 2012 at 12:14 AM ^
I think Nebraska has a good shot of getting there. Everyone's overlooking them for some reason
September 16th, 2012 at 12:47 AM ^
It might be those 650+ yards of offense they gave up to UCLA. UCLA isn't bad, but giving up 650 yards is never a good sign.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:16 AM ^
Northwestern over Indiana. Book it.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:27 AM ^
even with Marve hurt TerBush is very capable QB along with Hunt at RB and WR with Edison. MSU SUCKS. Even the Boilermakers put up 14 against the Irish and at home with "possible future Heisman trophy candidate" Bell DIDN'T DO SHIT. Maxwell looked horrifc on a majority of his throws and State's defense weathered down late in the game. I can see us having our way with the Spartans come October. It's unreal how much our conference sucks this year. It's really anybody's conference at this point. I am impressed with how well Purdue has played though and I can see them knocking off the Badgers in the Leaders. MSU is beyond overrated.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:28 AM ^
that has represented the B1G well so far.
September 16th, 2012 at 1:14 AM ^
If Alabama continues to shut out everyone besides us, at some point our game against them might not look that bad.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:28 AM ^
Any love for Indiana? Crazier things have happened before.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:40 AM ^
September 16th, 2012 at 12:43 AM ^
so for the sake of the remaining dignity the B1G has, I sure hope not
September 16th, 2012 at 12:29 AM ^
Still, I think the team that goes to the Rose Bowl will be decided by the UM-MSU game. If Maxwell can't make any improvements, they look very beatable.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:30 AM ^
Michigan and Wisconsin, but Purdue might have a chance. Wisconsin should have lost tonight against Utah ST.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:48 AM ^
besides maybe Northwestern or Purdue even deserve Rose Bowl hype talk? I'm ashamed to say this but from what I've seen OCC thus far we shouldn't even be considered a BCS contender conference right now.
Wisconsin beats UTAH STATE @ HOME 16-14. Really?
MSU LOSES TO Notre Dame @ HOME 20-3? What happened to all that Bell jive with defensive threat?!
OSU squeaks by one of the Pac 12's worst teams 35-28. Miller looked awful in the 2nd half of play as did Ohio St's DL and secondary.
PATHETIC! I am truly stunned by how poorly we have done in OCC play.
Michigan has the only valid excuse for their beat down by Bama. Alabama looks like the only great team in the nation right now next to Oregon and LSU. USC was exposed tonight also.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:49 AM ^
You missed one. Indiana has never been the standard bearer for the B1G, but they lost for the third straight time to fricken Ball St.
September 16th, 2012 at 12:54 AM ^
somebody throw me a "smack head on desk" GIF please......
September 16th, 2012 at 1:05 AM ^
Stupid MAC teams.
September 16th, 2012 at 1:30 AM ^