Big Ten Bowl projections:
I find these projections very interesting. They have us going to Cap one and Northwestern in the wild wings bowl. We are still getting a lot of respect coming from the struggles we have had. I think the perception of this coaching staff has the media believing they will right the ship. I definitely think the Ohio vs Northwestern game will be a huge decider of the BIg's fate. I honestly want to see a shake up that creates a tight race. I dont want Ohio having an easy run to the Big Title or a Naty title either. I dont think Ohio makes it out of Big unbeaten and I dont think they make it to the Big house unbeaten. I think Northwestern upsets Ohio saturday night.
http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/83935/big-ten-bowl-projections-week-5-3
September 30th, 2013 at 9:39 AM ^
Northwestern is better than the Ceaser's Pizza TaxSlayer.com McChicken Bowl.
September 30th, 2013 at 9:50 AM ^
pulled out the win... Who doesn't love to see this happen?!?
September 30th, 2013 at 9:49 AM ^
I thought Ohio caught quite a few breaks against Wisconsin that could have spelled disaster for them. Wisconsin dropped an INT at the end of the 1st half and Ohio scored a touchdown that was the difference. They also had 2 fumbles that were nullifyed by penalties committed by Wisconsin.
Ohio isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination. They are actually very good... but they are in no way, shape, or form, world-beaters.
Look for NW to test the secondary and score a LOT of points. Christian Bryant is out for the year with an ankle injury and Abbredaris made Roby look silly all saturday night. It won't be easy for Ohio against NW.
September 30th, 2013 at 2:17 PM ^
Right now, I think this is OSU's best chance at getting a loss. They're coming off a hard-fought win against Wisconsin, and now they have to go on the road against an opponent who's offense is much more difficult to prepare for. And who's also fresh off a bye week.
I'm giving an edge to OSU, but I would not be shocked to see them lose this game. Either way, this game will come down to the 4th quarter. This is the biggest game of Pat Fitzgerald's career, and he knows it, too. Not to mention Venric Mark is coming back, and that guy is a nightmare with the ball in his hands. If Roby got exposed and embarressed by Abberderis last week, it'll be interesting to see what happens with him against a team with a competent passing attack.
Northwestern will need some luck in this game if they want to force the upset, and their offense will have to keep pace with OSU all night. But its certainly doable. If Northwestern wins on Saturday, you can bet USC will be knocking on Fitzgerald's door come Sunday.
September 30th, 2013 at 9:53 AM ^
Who is this Urban Liar of whom you speak?
September 30th, 2013 at 9:58 AM ^
If you're going to root tactically, you should always root against our fellow Legends division teams when they're playing a Leaders team. But naaaaah. Let's go, nerds!
September 30th, 2013 at 10:46 AM ^
We need NW to lose. Best if they take OSU to the wire, and the game exposes many weaknesses on both sides.
September 30th, 2013 at 12:27 PM ^
September 30th, 2013 at 1:01 PM ^
We don't need NW to lose as long as we beat them ourselves. We do, however, need OSU to lose unless we want to possibly play them two weeks in a row. I'm 100% for the Wildcats.
September 30th, 2013 at 2:21 PM ^
I am with you. Fuck Ohio, Go NW. I'm not worried too much about playing NW, as we should beat them. I do not, however, want to play Ohio in back-to-back weeks (assuming we win the division).
October 1st, 2013 at 12:37 AM ^
We should beat them based on what?
September 30th, 2013 at 9:59 AM ^
From what I saw of Ohio on Saturday, they should have won by at least two touchdowns. They got really conservative in play calling towards the end. Seemed like they just wanted to escape with a win. Wisconsin is a very good football team that should only have one loss. They might be the second best in the BIG. NW will have an edge in the passing game against Ohio. I think NW will have a chance to win this game (with some takeaways), but Ohio should outscore them. To summarize NW, I believe they are our biggest threat for the Division.
September 30th, 2013 at 10:02 AM ^
I'm a little surprised at how much respect we continue to get, but maybe we should treat that as a reminder that, despite our feelings of panic, this is in fact a very talented team, and still an undefeated one. Gotta agree on the NW game as well - they could well give Ohio a run for their money, given their potent offense.
Also, a small nitpick. Can we please stop saying "Naty Title"? It grates horribly on the ears, and sounds like something a Sparty brah would say (probably while drinking Naty Light). National Title sounds much more like something I want.
September 30th, 2013 at 10:07 AM ^
"Naty" reminds me of Natty Bumppo. JFC anybody?
September 30th, 2013 at 11:29 AM ^
Wow... dropping a James Fenimore Cooper reference. The literary/scholarly depth and breadth of this board just boggles the mind.
Come for the mgo knowledge... stay for the erudite discourse ;-)
September 30th, 2013 at 12:47 PM ^
If it makes you feel any better, it reminds me of Natty Light. Erudite that!
October 1st, 2013 at 10:11 AM ^
Now you have Natty Daddy.
September 30th, 2013 at 10:07 AM ^
September 30th, 2013 at 10:17 AM ^
September 30th, 2013 at 10:34 AM ^
These projections seem easy to explain as the combination of two things: current records and the bowl selection process.
As far as current records, Michigan is one of only three undefeated B1G teams (Ohio and Northwestern are the others) and our win against ND is probably the biggest nonconference win of any B1G team. So, struggles against cupcakes aside, it makes sense to put us currently in one of the top three slots ahead of Wisconsin and Nebraska. This doesn't mean that we're a stronger team, only that we've had a better season so far.
Northwestern looks to be very good this season, but the bowl selection process is designed to screw them over. Unless they win the conference and get the automatic BCS bid, bowls know that Northwestern's fans won't travel as much as Ohio's, Michigan's, Wisconsin's, or Nebraska's. So even if Northwestern looks like a superior team, they might drop a few slots in the bowl pecking order (likewise, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Michigan hitting above their weight).
Add those together, and it's not surprising to find Northwestern projected to end up in a depressing bowl.
September 30th, 2013 at 11:19 PM ^
Maybe Illinois beating Cincy or OSU/NW over Cal?
There is always Wisconsion beating ASU on the road... too soon?
The B1G turned in another pretty weak nonconference.
September 30th, 2013 at 10:35 AM ^
There is no doubt in my mind that Ohio State will beat Northwestern.
September 30th, 2013 at 11:46 AM ^
September 30th, 2013 at 10:41 AM ^
NW has a brutal schedule - by far the worst in our division. They could be the 2nd best team (or the best) in the end but have more losses than the other 3 teams seen as leaders. Heck maybe they might finish with the same record as Iowa in the Big 10 due to their schedule. p.s. let's hold off on calling NW anything but a cool offense with an average defense until we see them play someone valid. I think their defense will get exploited big time by OSU. But I think they will also put up some points on OSU. I could see that one 38-28 OSU. As for Michigan standing in the bowls if all things are equal UM will usually get a nod due to TV and national draw. No one in this division is going to run away with it so you will see a lot of teams who are very even record wise and the bowl will take teams like UM and Nebraska over NW and MSU due to how fans travel.
September 30th, 2013 at 11:20 AM ^
Rose bowl or bust for me. Im tired of waiting two years. Every year the expectations are moved two years ahead. I am no longer willing to constantly follow these recruits through their High School career waiting for what they may or may not bring to the table. The time is now. That is all.
September 30th, 2013 at 11:42 AM ^
September 30th, 2013 at 11:58 AM ^
Well its a bust for everyone right? A total let down based on expectations that were built during the off season and the pre season. This team is talented and will find its stride. I just hope its sooner than later so that we can move past waiting on players like hand, or Peppers to come through. I want to be blinded by the current talent. I also hate Ohio and how stupid they are. Everything about them makes me cringe. I honestly threw a party and rooted for wisconsin saturday night and plan to cheer on Northwestern this saturday. We have to quit playing second fiddle.
October 1st, 2013 at 6:39 AM ^
Hoke's first full recruiting class are currently redshirt freshmen and sophomores. Wait we must.
September 30th, 2013 at 11:30 AM ^
Our team has shown inconsistent flashes of brilliance on offense. It is evident that we have a high level of talent in the roster.
But there is a tendency to make offensive mistakes that will cause losses against well-coached teams. I have to question whether the offensive coaching is comparable to what we're seeing at NW, a team that plays beyond the level of its recruited talent, Wiscy, a team that consistently develops its players very well, and OSU.
It's easy to put the blame on Devin Gardner, or the O-line, and some of that is justified, but at the same time a consistent offense has something to do with good coaching, and we can all cite examples of how this translates to victories around college football.
Defensively, the coaching is obviously quite good, and the result is a consistent level of play.
I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see our offensive coaching staff taking the team to championships any time soon. I see 3-4 losses in B1G play if the ship isn't righted quickly.
So the ESPN bowl projections are hard to justify.
September 30th, 2013 at 11:40 AM ^
September 30th, 2013 at 12:51 PM ^
You do realize that the B1G is 5-4 against the other 4 major conferences, right? We can't be that bad.
September 30th, 2013 at 12:18 PM ^
Here are Jerry Palm's predictions for every bowl as of right now - HERE
His Big Ten picks:
Title Game - Ohio State vs. Alabama
Rose - Nebraska vs. Stanford
Outback - Wisconsin vs. Florida
Capital One - Michigan vs. Georgia
Gator - Michigan State vs. Ole Miss
Buffalo Wild Wings - Northwestern vs. Baylor
September 30th, 2013 at 12:30 PM ^
September 30th, 2013 at 12:58 PM ^
Bad pick, but it might make some kind of sense if he had either Northwestern or Michigan going higher. Picking the Legends winner (title game loser) to get passed over for the BCS bid makes sense, but if Northwestern and Michigan are 7-5, 8-4 type teams Nebraska basically has to win the division. They're not getting a Rose Bowl bid with a loss to OSU in the title game, not to mention they're just not a good team in the first place.
September 30th, 2013 at 11:23 PM ^
That was my exact reaction.
September 30th, 2013 at 1:38 PM ^
I'm somewhat surprised by the level of respect we're still getting. Maybe its because its Michigan, fergodsakes, maybe its because we're still undefeated. Who knows? This is still a very talented team that, if it can turn itself around and clean up some of the mistakes, can beat anyone on its schedule.
I think we should be alright against Minnesota next week. We're coming fresh off a bye and they're coming off of a demoralizing Homecoming loss, but we're going to learn a lot about this team when they go to Happy Valley next week. If we haven't cleaned up by then, we will not come out of there with a W. Hackenburg's looking pretty darn good, and he's only a freshman.
With regards to OSU, right now, I think this weekend is their best chance to lose. Northwestern is a tough team to prepare for with Venric Mark and that option. And they're getting it done with forcing turnovers right now. OSU is coming off a hard-fought win against Wisconsin and could be emotionally drained by the time they hit Evanston. If they win, though, I fully expect them to be 11-0 coming into Ann Arbor.
September 30th, 2013 at 1:43 PM ^
"Most of the bowl names are now so asinine that I can't discern one from another. If they weren't listed in an apparent hierarchy here, I wouldn't know which games were notable and which were destined to be battles of 6-6 squads."
I think we're Gator Bowl bound, assuming we can get there with 9-3 or 8-4.
September 30th, 2013 at 3:58 PM ^
October 1st, 2013 at 8:00 AM ^
I may cry myself to sleep if Michigan ends up in the damn Buffalo Wild Wings bowl.
Rose Bowl please.