Wisconsin vs Nebraska Game: The Michigan Perspective
With this big game coming up between to ranked Big Ten teams, probably the two expected to make it to the championship game, what are we thinking as Michigan fans?
Personally, I think I want Wisconsin to win. A Nebraska loss will be incredibly helpful in the long run as we try to win our division. Sure, it makes our division look worse, but I think making the championship game is much more important. Second of all, I think Wisconsin will win. Nebraska may put up a fight, but they are not ready for a Big Ten game like this, especially not in Camp Randall.
What do you guys think?
September 28th, 2011 at 12:54 PM ^
go badgers
September 28th, 2011 at 5:08 PM ^
we need the badgers to take this....for our division and to show those huskers you aint in Kansas no mo....well you knwo what I mean
September 29th, 2011 at 1:29 AM ^
You need to listen carefully. I am from the future, and I have come back to the past to warn you about the coffee that is presently sitting next to your computer. Later on tonight you're going to spill that coffee and attempt to post, causing a tear in the spacetime continuum that will result in the most epic multi-post catastrophe MGO has ever seen. If you can prevent the spill, then by all means do so, however if you cannot, reboot your computer and wait until the coffee dries. Whatever you do, don't post!
-Your friend, the time traveler.
September 28th, 2011 at 12:55 PM ^
Gotta go Wisconsin on this one. For all your reasons, plus I don't want Nebraska to roll in to the Big Ten and rack up wins. It's just a Big Ten pride thing.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:33 PM ^
Plus, PSU started strong in the Big Ten and their fans (when I lived out East) were a pain until we started routinely beating them (for a while). We want no such joy for Nebraska.
September 28th, 2011 at 2:21 PM ^
September 28th, 2011 at 3:46 PM ^
This technically doesn't make sense. Both teams are in the Big 10 now. A victory by either spells glory for the conference. Or something like that.
September 28th, 2011 at 12:57 PM ^
except now it's all about "THE DIVISION THE DIVISION THE DIVISION". It's all about winning the division so whenever there is an inter division game you want ours to lose.
Yeah.
September 28th, 2011 at 6:44 PM ^
Can I still root for the meteor?
September 29th, 2011 at 1:06 AM ^
September 29th, 2011 at 1:04 AM ^
Forget your emotional ties regarding other teams in this or that division. Your emotional tie is to winning the B10.
1) Root for the B10 against non-conference foes.
2) Root for the West against the East.
3) When the East teams play each other, resume your proclivities.
September 28th, 2011 at 12:57 PM ^
Nebraska has been suspect on defense so far this year with injuries, although I believe Crick and Dennard are returning for this game. It should be very interesting to see how the Nebraska D steps up. I think this is a game in which the better defense wins. This time it will be Wisconsin.
September 28th, 2011 at 12:58 PM ^
Polish sausage.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:17 PM ^
God...but by one stroke
September 28th, 2011 at 1:36 PM ^
Ditka isss gahd.
September 28th, 2011 at 12:58 PM ^
If Nebraska drops this one, we can lose to them and still go to the championship provided they have one more conference loss, right? So if we were to drop that game (but say, win against OSU when they lose to Iowa) we get the nod over them right?
Either way, down with Illinois and down with Nebraska for the rest of the year.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:01 PM ^
Yep, first way to determine division winners is overall conference record. Then head-to-head. Then division record.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:04 PM ^
If we each go 5-1 in the division, Nebraska will win on head to head, regardless of their record outside of the division. At least that's how it should be, if it's not, then that's just wrong.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:33 PM ^
Nebraska could win our head to head, we could be 4-1 in division and them 5-0, but if we win our cross divisionals and they drop to OSU and Wisconsin, we go (or any other combination that makes them 6-2 and us 7-1 would also send us).
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/23622/the-basic-big-ten-divisi…
September 28th, 2011 at 6:21 PM ^
Nebraska will lose our head to head.
Go Blue!
September 28th, 2011 at 6:45 PM ^
Yea, I'd love to see M go 14-0 every single year. The fact of the matter is that there are years that won't happen. I still want Michigan in the best position to win the division and go to the Big Ten Championship Game so we can play for a title. Rooting for Nebraska to beat Wisconsin makes that harder on us, so I'd like an insurance policy in case things play out like they did in my comment.
September 28th, 2011 at 7:48 PM ^
I hope Wisconsin destroys Nebraska as a simple "Welcome to the B1G". I don't see this Nebraska team anywhere close to as good defensively as 2 years ago ... we can beat them at home with a decent effort (we don't need to be spectacular).
Go Blue!
September 28th, 2011 at 8:00 PM ^
Yea I definitely hope so. Especially with the Big Ten being down this year, having Wisconsin be a legit top five team would help, as would seeing Nebraska's hopes and dreams get destroyed by Wisconsin, us and a few others.
I haven't seen them play at all, the only thing I know about them is they're giving up way more points than they wanted. Obviously with Denard that can't be bad for us.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:07 PM ^
4-1. Teams don't play themselves.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:10 PM ^
Nope, it's overall Big 10 conference record.
Think of it this way, if division record was the first standard, then the Big 10 wouldn't really exist as a conference. Instead, we would have two small conferences with an agreement to play a championship game at the end of the year. The overall conference record is how it works in every league split into divisions.
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/23622/the-basic-big-ten-division-tiebreakers
September 28th, 2011 at 1:18 PM ^
I see that point, but now I don't see the point of having divisions at all. Just have the number 1 and number 2 teams play for a championship since your division record ultimately doesn't matter (except for some tie breaker I'm sure). For scheduling, I guess it gaurantee's you play these 5 times every year, but in the end, if your conference record is what matters, what's the point?
And the Big10 would still have a conference, you produce 1 winner and the cross division games would be tiebreakers rather than using the division games.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:50 PM ^
NCAA says to have a championship game, you have to have the winners of two divisions in which they play round robins.
September 29th, 2011 at 10:28 AM ^
Why don't they just have the best records in each conference seeded in the playoffs? Why have division winners? (Which are also determined by overall record first, not division). Because they do.
And for the record, I hope Wisconsin stomps them into regretting joining the Big Ten ("Whew, this ain't the Big 12....we're not in Kansas anymore..."). Not that I want them to leave or anything. Humbled a bit, maybe.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:06 PM ^
Yes, but that would have us at 11-1 at the end of the year. Really, we need to either beat them or hope they get two more losses. I can't see us winning all 4 road games. If we do, then I'd have to bet that Nebraska will have at most 1 loss going into the game against us, in which case the winner takes the division unless we beat OSU and Nebraska loses their last game.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:08 PM ^
Right. Obviously I'm not saying "let's go ahead and drop that game, it doesn't matter". My only point was that Nebraska losing this weekend could help us, Nebraska winning could hurt us.
September 28th, 2011 at 6:08 PM ^
Either way, down with Illinois and down with Nebraska for the rest of the year.Illinois? Did you mean Iowa?
September 28th, 2011 at 6:19 PM ^
And it's the second time in (I think) two days that I've done this. You'd think with the time I invest reading about Michigan and the Big Ten I'd be able to keep it straight, but apparently not.
September 28th, 2011 at 12:59 PM ^
Wisconsin for 2 reasons:
1) Nebraska is in our Division and they are good - so, they need losses
2) I don't want Nebraska winning the Big 10 in their first year, or even winning our Division in their first year.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:57 PM ^
will keep them from winning the Big Ten. They have never faced the type of gauntlet they will have to run this year. The Cornhuskers are paper thin at QB and Martinez was injury prone last year which could lead to disaster for them.
I believe getting them at the end of the year will benefit us tremendously. They will beat up and our D should have made drastic positive strides from where we are know. I also think Borges will have figured Denard out by then.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:57 PM ^
will keep them from winning the Big Ten. They have never faced the type of gauntlet they will have to run this year. The Cornhuskers are paper thin at QB and Martinez was injury prone last year which could lead to disaster for them.
I believe getting them at the end of the year will benefit us tremendously. They will beat up and our D should have made drastic positive strides from where we are know. I also think Borges will have figured Denard out by then.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:00 PM ^
It doesn't matter if your division "looks" worse. Always root for them to lose unless emotional feedback comes into play as with OSU/MSU, in which case there is room for exception.
September 28th, 2011 at 2:46 PM ^
Is it alright if I hold a grudge against Bret Bielema for ordering his O-linemen to chop block Mike Martin last year, then admitting it in the press conference afterwards?
Until Wisconsin gets the taste of humility, I will root for them to go 1-11 (2-10) forever, with their sole victories against Ohio State and Michigan State when they play.
September 28th, 2011 at 2:59 PM ^
Agreed. After living in Madison for a few years, I can never root for the Badgers unless they are playing ND. I root for every team that plays Cheeseheds of all varities (Pack, Bucky, bucks, brewers).
September 28th, 2011 at 5:43 PM ^
As you will. My stop-being-a-Sparty-radar doesn't really get triggered until there's a fairly direct and quantifiable impact on Michigan. For example:
- Rooting for Nebraska because Bret Bielema's a dick when it's early in the season and everyone's records are 0-0? Sure.
- Rooting for Nebraska because Bret Bielema's a dick when a Nebraska win would prevent Michigan from winning the division title? Sparty.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:04 PM ^
As a K-State I can tell you first hand that Nebraska fans are nuts and them winning the B1G in the first year will only make them worse.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:05 PM ^
Stupid iPhone
September 28th, 2011 at 1:10 PM ^
Stupid smart phone -- Does not compute.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:05 PM ^
but they are not ready for a Big Ten game like this, especially not in Camp Randall.
Because they never had big games in places like Austin or Norman?
September 28th, 2011 at 1:09 PM ^
They did. And they lost. Multiple times.
September 28th, 2011 at 1:16 PM ^
They lost because they weren't as good, not because they weren't ready or were surprised.
September 28th, 2011 at 5:40 PM ^
this years team looks ripe for a big loss. defense has been more porous than expected (allowed 29 to fresno, 38 to washington) and they can't pass to save their life (glass houses, i know). like MSU, if someone can shut down the run, they'll be stiffled on offense very quickly. I think wisconsin may actually win like 30-17 but nebraska will never really be in it
September 28th, 2011 at 1:08 PM ^
I think Wisconsin is the better team and takes this game, but I wouldn't say Nebraska isn't ready for a big game like this. Wisconsin is only a few games removed from embarassing themselves in Pasadena against a team that wasn't supposed to be able to handle the Big Ten style of play.
September 28th, 2011 at 5:30 PM ^
Embarrassing themselves? Against a team that was physically inferior? That's an interesting take. You realize TCU was actually favored right? And the game was pretty close? And TCU's strength all year was its defense?
Do actually watch college football?
September 28th, 2011 at 1:10 PM ^
Root for Wisconsin. Root for OSU. It directly helps Michigan. If anyone says they can't root for OSU, they need to ask themselves, "Am I a Michigan fan, or am I Mark Dantonio?"
September 28th, 2011 at 2:50 PM ^
Am I a Michigan fan, or am I Mark Dantonio?
That's taking a shot below the belt. If OSU beating MSU guarantees Michigan wins its division, then I will agree with you. But when Michigan still has the chance to control its own destiny (regardless of the outcome of this game), I will continue to root for tears of unenviable sadness in Columbus.