worst team in the B1G?
September 8th, 2013 at 11:42 AM ^
MSU isn't even close. Purdue is awful. MSU has a legit defense that is going to keep them in a lot of games. Purdue has nothing.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:32 PM ^
State is a middle of the pack team right now, and barring some miracle-in-the-river blessing on one of their quarterbacks, they're gonna just hope they end up even in conference play.
Purdue, however, is making Notre Dame very happy for the future.
September 8th, 2013 at 3:13 PM ^
Is suddenly very empty.
September 8th, 2013 at 3:13 PM ^
Is suddenly very empty.
September 8th, 2013 at 11:44 AM ^
Purdue. Easily.
September 8th, 2013 at 11:47 AM ^
As bad as MSU's offense is, it's probably better than Purdue's and Iowa's.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:41 PM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 1:41 PM ^
Losing to Northern Illinois and struggling in a 4th quarter, one possession game against FCS Missouri State?
September 8th, 2013 at 2:26 PM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 11:48 AM ^
A team comprised of MSU's offense and Nebraska's defense.
September 8th, 2013 at 2:31 PM ^
I'm actually really looking forward to that matchup this year.
September 8th, 2013 at 11:48 AM ^
Purdon't
Purdue
Purdue again
MSU
IU
Iowa
Minnesota
Ill
PSU
Neb
Wisc
NW
OSU
M
September 8th, 2013 at 1:53 PM ^
13. Purdue
11. Iowa
9.IU
9.Minnesota
7.Ill
7.MSU
6.PSU
5.Neb
3.Wisc
3.NW
2.OSU
1. M
September 8th, 2013 at 6:13 PM ^
I looked at this for way too long before I realized what you did there.
September 8th, 2013 at 11:49 AM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 11:50 AM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 12:02 PM ^
both teams they have played lost, and convincingly so, to I-AA teams. MSU is having dog fights with these teams till the 3rd Qtr when they get a Defensive TD.
Let this sink in for a few seconds. I mean, just read it and don't do anything but digest it for 20-30 seconds.
1) MSU played 2 teams whose defenses allowed their I-AA opponents to score a combined 80 pts.
2) against those same defenses, the MSU offense scored 13pts in BOTH games combined.
unless they improve DRAMATICALLY, they will go 2-6 in the B10.*
* Assuming they play Purdue twice
September 8th, 2013 at 12:10 PM ^
That is certainly something. I still think that they will beat a few teams this season because of their defense alone... but my original 9-3 prediction is lookin pretty dumb right about now.
September 8th, 2013 at 11:54 AM ^
Is better than Purdue, Iowa, or MSU's offense. But Iowa and Purdue don't even have very good defenses. MSU is probably middle of the pack. Teams like Purdue, Iowa, Minnesota, are all clearly worse at this point because MSU does, in fact, have a great defense.
September 8th, 2013 at 11:55 AM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 11:55 AM ^
Championship tier - UM, OSU
Contending tier - NW, UW
Probably good - NE, PSU
Bad - Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, MSU, Indiana
Craptastic - Purdue
September 8th, 2013 at 12:00 PM ^
Honestly impossible to evaluation Wiscy or Nebraska. Nebraska beat an 0-12 team last week after getting tested by Wyoming. Wiscy has beaten UMass and Tenn....Tech. I have no idea what Wisconsin is. Northwestern has been impressive, going on the road for a game that usually teams from the Big 10 lose - the early Pac 12 matchup then blasting Syracuse. The final score is not indicative of how dominating NW was yesterday. UM and OSU are really the only 2 balanced teams - all the others are very weighted on one side of the ball or the other. Purdue sucks.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:58 PM ^
They couldn't block, they couldn't tackle, they had nothing. The BT played almost all wuss teams yesterday that didn't test them at all, so I don't think we can judge much. Except that Purdue really sucks. NW is solid and well-coached, but hey...Portland State scored 30 against Cal.
September 8th, 2013 at 11:56 AM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 12:05 PM ^
Purdue by far... but it's close. I lold
September 8th, 2013 at 12:40 PM ^
Ferentz is never getting fired. See this for more detail, but the skinny version is that his buyout is way too huge to be fired
September 8th, 2013 at 1:51 PM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 1:57 PM ^
Other than an allowance for travel expenses, the bowl payouts are shared equally among conference members. Iowa making a bowl would only net them 1/12 (about to be 1/14) of whatever the remainder of their bowl payout is after paying for a 737 and hotel rooms and whatnot. On a low tier bowl that might end up in the $30-50k range.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:00 PM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 3:11 PM ^
apparently (had to look it up)
Though they may still suck because I've never heard of the teams they played.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:01 PM ^
I think the praise for Sparty's defense is a little premature (and the panic about the offense is, if anything, understated). They've beaten WMU (lost to FCS Nicholls State) and South Florida (blown out by FCS McNeese State 53-21). We won't know much about them until week 4 at ND, but I have a feeling the Irish are going to destroy them.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:23 PM ^
There is nothing that leads me to believe that MSU's defense won't be anything but very good. They didn't lose a ton from last year and have pretty good depth everywhere but the DL. And if there's anything that Dantonio knows other than how to be grumpy, it's defense. Their offense will put their defense in position to give up some points. I see a score similar to last year's MSU-ND game.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:30 PM ^
the praise for MSU's defense started long before those cupcake games. It's a known commodity and it would be a major surprise if they weren't very good this season. Maybe if their offense continues their struggles they'll get frustrated, but I fully expect MSU to be a tough team that plays some ugly games.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:02 PM ^
Purdue. Not close.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:04 PM ^
I graduated in 2006 from Purdue, Masters from Michigan hence my presence on this site. This Purdue team is the worst in the Big Ten, and the worst Purdue team in at least 20 years, probably 30 years.
Next worst is probably either iowa or IU.
Minnesota, Illinois, MSU in the next group.
NW, Wisco, Neb, PSU. They c
Ohio and Michigan on top.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:06 PM ^
Holy hell they are bad. I would put Iowa in just barely above that... with Indiana/Minnesota duking it out as the token "mostly bad team but will probably upset a team they shouldn't" team. Illinois might actually not be a complete tire fire, and MSU's defense alone will keep them hanging around most games they play.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:12 PM ^
Well, it doesn't get much worse if you are Purdue. It's only 2 games and a few things are in the "middling range", but in Division I right now, they are:
- 116th in total offense
- tied for 55th in total defense
- tied for 111th in red zone offense
- 49th in rushing defense
- 70th in passing yards allowed
- tied for 79th in scoring defense
- 99th in passing offense
-103rd in rushing offense
- 100th in 3rd down conversion percentage
Well, you get the picture...
September 8th, 2013 at 12:15 PM ^
Or does their dominating victory over mighty Indiana State automatically disqualify them?
September 8th, 2013 at 2:00 PM ^
Gopherquest (and Illiniquest last year) was all about conference games. Purdue could VERY easily lose all of them, by large margins. So yes, Boilerquest.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:36 PM ^
...they put those offensive numbers up against teams that have given up an average of 59 ppg against opponents other than Purdue.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:15 PM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 12:18 PM ^
But Purdue is epically bad - worst in the league and not close.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:22 PM ^
Worst-to-first
Purdue
Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa
MSU, Illinois
Penn St
N'W, Nebraska
Wisconsin, OSU
M (don't know if we're the best team, but I'm putting us here b/c we've played somebody with a pulse)
September 8th, 2013 at 12:25 PM ^
The way MSU plays defense, I would never count them out. Defensive touchdowns not only score points, but they can steal momentum.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:33 PM ^
MSU's offense is like a dementor that feasts on anything positive you do and sucks all the happiness from the MSU team. So unless the MSU defense can produce a patronus in the form of defensive TDs, they can only do so much with that momentum.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:28 PM ^
Purdue O plus Indiana D.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:29 PM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 12:37 PM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 12:41 PM ^
If Purdue wins another game the rest of this year I'll be surprised. There is no other possible answer.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:42 PM ^