What is the B1G's signature non-conf win?
By current opponent ranking, Maryland is carrying the torch with a win over #18 Texas. After that it's.......OSU I guess? They beat the team that just lost to Texas.
Not a great non-conference season for the B1G.
It will be interesting how it plays out come playoff time. Assuming Clemson gets in, 2 SEC teams, that leaves one stop for Big XII champ, Pac 12 champ, and the B1G, and even possibly ND.
It will be difficult for a 1-loss B1G champ (presumably us) to get to the CFP without a signature conference win to boost the conference profile.
It would really bum me out if we go 12-1 and miss out on the CFP. But I guess I'll take it.:)
September 25th, 2018 at 12:08 AM ^
But if Stanford beats ND, the team they'd lose to is probably going to be Washington, in which case, they wouldn't win the Pac12 north.
I doubt they beat ND, and if they don't the PAC12 is almost certainly already eliminated which is crazy. If they do beat ND, then we can start to think about a 12-1 Pac12 team making it.
September 24th, 2018 at 11:50 PM ^
Texas may finish with a better record than TCU ---- but I don't think Maryland's win is the "signature OOC win for the conference" unless Maryland actually turns out to be a fairly decent B1G team (e.g., finishes with 7+ wins). If Maryland turns out to be a "4-win pumpkin", the narrative will be that the win was just a fluke.
In 2014, Indiana had a road win over SEC East Champion Missouri. That was certainly better than anything OSU (lost to VT), MSU (lost to Oregon) and Wisconsin (lost to LSU) did in the OOC season. Those 3 teams, the best the B1G had to offer in 2014, had no Power 5 wins at all OOC.
But nobody really talked about that Indiana game or remembered it come November. Because Indiana was 4-8.
If anything, people talked about Nebraska (4th best team in the B1G in 2014)'s OOC win over Miami as being the B1G's "signature" 2014 OOC win. A Miami team that finished 6-7.
September 25th, 2018 at 12:20 AM ^
Yes, it really only matters when teams get compared side-by-side, like OSU winning at OU to get in over PSU which lost big to M and to Pitt.
And if there's anything the committee has been pretty consistent about, it's that winning big games is more important than losing to meh teams. OSU 2014, MSU 2015, Clemson 2016 and 2017. Gotta win the games against the teams that you'll be compared against head-to-head.
September 24th, 2018 at 11:52 PM ^
Clemson won't be there by the end of the season. I suspect that the ACC will be left out all together, so that leaves the B1G champ (OSU is the heavy favorite), Alabama, Georgia (maybe, not sold on them) and possibly Oklahoma. There are only a handful of teams that have a realistic shot to make the playoff field every season. Those teams are the same ones, year in and year out so far.
September 24th, 2018 at 11:52 PM ^
I honestly wouldn’t GAF if UM got left out...we’d have won the B1G with the added bonus of possibility spurring guys to come back for another shot with a more favorable schedule.
September 25th, 2018 at 12:06 AM ^
Note: Northwestern still plays Notre Dame. Game is in early November.
It's still possible they can still get to 7+ wins w/ one of them over a 10+ win team Notre Dame.
Northwestern would have to get their crap together quickly, and pull at least one B1G upset (they're likely home dogs to U-M and Wisky, and road dogs to MSU and Iowa), but that could still happen.
That then likely becomes the "signature" OOC win for the conference as a whole.
September 25th, 2018 at 10:49 AM ^
"Northwestern would have to get their crap together quickly, and pull at least one B1G upset"
They can get started on that first thing Sunday morning.
September 25th, 2018 at 5:17 AM ^
Win out, and beat undefeated OSU (probably ranked #2 or #3 at the time) on the road and the conference championship game and you are in. No way around it.
September 25th, 2018 at 7:57 AM ^
So which conference has a bevy of signature non-conference wins to hang their hats on? LSU beat Miami, but no other SEC contender is playing anybody non-conference. Clemson played and defeated Texas A&M. Oklahoma beat UCLA. West Virginia beat Tennessee. Skimming the Top 10, none of these teams nor their conference has collected a pile of quality non-con wins.
I also think your assumption of Clemson getting in is premature given how bad the ACC looks this year. The only team currently ranked that remains on Clemson's schedule is #22 Duke. They don't play Miami or Notre Dame and FSU is a tire fire. If the Irish run the table and swipe one of the 4 playoff spots from a Power 5 conference, Clemson could easily be on the receiving end of that.
September 25th, 2018 at 8:20 AM ^
SEC, home of the 8 game conference schedule and an FCS game. Why does the playoff committee let them get away with that?
September 25th, 2018 at 8:33 AM ^
If B1G East stays this way, they probably should think of this strategy