Inter-Division Degree of Difficulty, Legends
Likely out-of-division easy-turkeys for Nebraska and MSU put them in the Legends contention discussion. Northwestern could be 0-2 after a trip to Wiscy next week. Of course, Michigan is ALWAYS in the discussion on MGoBlog. In terms of out-of-division degree of difficulty, Michigan hosts THE GAME but does not face Wisconsin.
Rank | Team | Toughest | Middle | Easiest |
1 | Northwestern | Ohio State (L) | @Wisconsin 10/12 | @Illinois 11/30 |
2 | Iowa | @ Ohio State 10/19 | Wisconsin 11/02 | @Purdue 11/09 |
3 | Michigan | Ohio State 11/30 | @ Penn State 10/12 | Indiana 10/19 |
4 | Minnesota | Wisc 11/02 | @Indiana 11/02 | Penn State 11/09 |
5 | Michigan State | @Illinois 10/26 | Indiana 10/12 | Purdue 10/19 |
6 | Nebraska | @ Penn State 11/23 | @Purdue 10/12 | Illinois (W) |
October 6th, 2013 at 1:33 PM ^
October 6th, 2013 at 1:40 PM ^
I think it's the difference between playing at home and on the road.
October 6th, 2013 at 2:22 PM ^
I originally listed them as equally difficult, but then I took away the extra labeling for simplicity.
To be honest, I wasn't sure what to do there.
October 6th, 2013 at 1:45 PM ^
If you insert the projected probabilities over at Massey, these would be the estimated chances of each team winning all three of those games given the OP's table. Of course, Northwestern (*) could only go 2-1 at best, so theirs is the probability of going 2-1. Nebraska has already played and won one of these, hence the 1.00
Toughest | Middle | Easiest | ||
Northwestern | 1.00 | 0.27 | 0.65 | 17.55%* |
Iowa | 0.10 | 0.30 | 0.84 | 2.52% |
Michigan | 0.29 | 0.38 | 0.55 | 6.06% |
Minnesota | 0.13 | 0.12 | 0.31 | 0.48% |
Michigan St. | 0.68 | 0.64 | 0.98 | 42.65% |
Nebraska | 0.44 | 0.88 | 1.00 | 38.72% |
October 6th, 2013 at 2:44 PM ^
Massey doesn't think much of Michigan's chances. Any numbers-based ranking isn't going to smile on what Michigan's done thus far.
Sagarin has us at #30 with victories over
#27 Notre Dame
#83 Minnesota
#111 Connecticut
#147 Central Michigan
#148 Akron (still FBS winless)
October 6th, 2013 at 2:10 PM ^
October 6th, 2013 at 3:22 PM ^
October 6th, 2013 at 5:10 PM ^
Their offense is pretty good. Michigan will need to take care of the football in that game or it could find itself in trouble.
October 6th, 2013 at 2:35 PM ^
October 6th, 2013 at 2:38 PM ^
That makes no sense what so ever. If a we run the ball a lot it decreased the amount of possessions both teams get.
October 6th, 2013 at 4:24 PM ^
Um can throw the ball on Indiana as much as they want. The fact they didn't have to against Minny shouldn't be misconstrued as an inability.
October 6th, 2013 at 2:52 PM ^
Seeing that 44-24 score on the board yesterday at the game, certainly created a buzz in the section. indiana is going to be more difficult of a game than penn state.
October 6th, 2013 at 3:13 PM ^
October 6th, 2013 at 4:04 PM ^
I think we are starting to see penn state's sanctions catch up to them finally.
October 6th, 2013 at 2:59 PM ^
October 7th, 2013 at 1:47 AM ^
with OSU, Penn State, and Wisconsin cross-overs. They rolled off the Husker schedule this year. Jim Delaney wanted Nebraska in as many marquee games as possible right away.
October 6th, 2013 at 3:25 PM ^
October 6th, 2013 at 4:20 PM ^
That can't happen. If OSU loses again their NC title hopes are over so they would be in the Rose Bowl.
October 6th, 2013 at 4:39 PM ^
That degree of interdivision schedule imbalance is outrageous. Good riddance, Legends/Leaders nonsense.
October 6th, 2013 at 4:53 PM ^
thinking is we'd better be ready for State. to me, that and Ohio are our toughest opponents left. State has improved greatly, i don't know if gardner can handle that defense at all, if we can't stop their run, that will be a long shitty day in lansing.
October 7th, 2013 at 1:51 AM ^
our offensive line allowed ND to apply to Devin. Few QBs would have been successful in that situation.
Hopefully, we've got Good Devin back, and our O-line will have improved markedly by then.
October 6th, 2013 at 8:04 PM ^
After Notre Dame, I was looking ahead to Ohio, feeling like the rest of our games were winnable.
Now every week is a game that could break us. Not saying it will but the probabilities are there that make me sweat.
1. Penn State, needle can swing from great to bad in my opinion. Depends which team shows up.
2. Indiana has shown they can put up a load of points on a couple of occasions.
3. Michigan Staee, we're always going to get their best game, its always going to be a grinding game. Their defense could wreak havoc on our rush and pass game.
4. Nebraska..if martinez is healthy look out. Their defense has been labeled terrible but it seems to boil down to tackling issues and not experience, my quick opinion is those can be coached out and their D could rise up at any time.
5. Northwestern...we showed terrible trouble containing Venric Mark's speed. Not sure how we will do against the spread. NW has a historical record though of only having 3 quarters worth of gas in the tank as last year and Saturday showed.
6. Iowa..also scares me as I consider us equal to them at this point in time. Big front 7 who can squish the run. Better offense than Staee. Bad memories of last trip to Kinnick with 0 for 4 from the 2 yd line.
7. Ohio...I can see gaps and chinks in their armor. But if Hyde gets loose one way and Miller the other its going to be a long afternoon. They rushed 3 and blew up NWs pocket all 4th Q long. It would take a perfect game on our part to pull this out. I like the way we've played smashmouth with Miller, it seems to tax him as the game goes on. I feel certain they are going to be undefeated when they bus it up to Ann Arbor and a late season loss by either team is going to tank national standings with no chance of recovery. The possibility of a rematch the next week isn't good either. I'll worry about that one when its presented.
Bottom line is its week-to-week for me now. I have no expectations other than to fight for 4Q and see what happens, maybe that's healthier in the long run rather than having a high flying blimp everyone's gunning for.
October 7th, 2013 at 1:54 AM ^
The coaching staff has its work cut out for itself to improve this team as we go.