B1G Division Tie Breakers

Submitted by mark5750 on

With all the recent prognasitications over what our overall record will be I decided to start looking at tie breakers in what should be a highly competitve B1G East Division.

 

If Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State all finish the year 11-1 with losses against each other the tie breaker goes to who is the highest ranked in the first College Football Playoff rankings released after the completion of the regular season.

 

Additionally, the Rose Bowl isn't tied to select a specific B1G team in the event the B1G champion is in the playoff.

 

So with that being said, would this season be a failure if we went 11-1 and wound up in the Citrus Bowl for the second straight year or the Outback Bowl as an alternative? (MSU / OSU in the Playoff the other in a big name bowl like the Orange and the B1G West Champion in the Rose essentially relegating us to the fourth choice in the B1G)

 

The Citrus bowl must have five different teams in six years starting with Minnesota two years ago and Michigan last year which makes it most likely under these circumstances that Michigan would play in the Outback Bowl which is the next highest ranking bowl.

 

http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/archive/081011aaa.html

 

Blau

August 14th, 2016 at 9:43 PM ^

I used to watch games sitting in the same position, holding or tapping the table the same way through the game as though it was some "good luck charm" being sent telepathically through my tv to the players on the field.

Yes, is it crazy and borderline OCD? For sure but however we won/loss games, especially close ones, I'd somehow find a way to pin it on my superstitions or mantras. I've found that drinking helps...

carolina blue

August 14th, 2016 at 9:52 PM ^

I agree we all have superstitions. That's fine. There's a limit, though. I don't know where that limit is and it is arbitrary, but I think we can all agree there is a line of some kind. WD said the other day that he needs to focus on Hawaii because the last time he lost focus was Akron a couple years ago and he's not going through that again. That is definitely over the line from harmless fun and fandom into crazy.




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

GoBlueRandy

August 14th, 2016 at 7:39 PM ^

Michigan State would be the team left out of the playoff/NY6 game in my opinion. Those things have a funny way of working out so that the money makers (OSU and Michigan) would be in those games.




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

TruBluMich

August 14th, 2016 at 7:43 PM ^

If we are 11-1 and don't play the CCG that means we lost to MSU on the road and beat OSU on the road. In that scenario there's no way we are not ranked higher than Sparty. The other way around and We would almost be a lock for the Rose Bowl.

mark5750

August 15th, 2016 at 8:38 AM ^

In that scenario we would win the tie breaker.

 

But that would also mean that one of OSU and MSU would have two losses due to us beating both of them and they also have their own head to head matchup.  That would invoke the first division tie breaker of head to head result and we would have the win.

tlo2485

August 14th, 2016 at 7:49 PM ^

Worst case scenario would be in this case if a multiple loss West team beat the 1 loss East champ. B1G would probably be left out of the playoffs and some of these teams would drop even further down in the pecking order. With that said, Michigan generally comes out of these situations with the best possible invite when it comes to bowls. If we have a great season but fall short of the playoffs, there are a bunch of elite bowls that we haven't been to in awhile, but I haven't read all of their new selection rules, so I'm not sure which are possibilities for B1G teams (Fiesta, Peach, Sugar, Orange, Cotton, etc. Whichever aren't hosting playoffs)

mark5750

August 14th, 2016 at 7:53 PM ^

With the start of the College Football Playoff the B1G renegotiated their bowl tie-ins.  The Bowl tie-ins we have now are in order

1. Playoff

2. Rose Bowl (if not in playoff)

3. Orange Bowl (if not in playoff)

4. Citrus Bowl

5. Outback Bowl

 

The Cotton and Sugar are no longer available like they were in the BCS.

Dg

August 14th, 2016 at 7:47 PM ^

We don't have to worry about this scenario this year bc we will beat them both I don't really care.  Let those peasants decide what they're going to do with their season.

superstringer

August 14th, 2016 at 7:56 PM ^

we are counting waaaay too many chickens. All the bets on us this year.... the national pundits picking us... the attention we had in the offseason... the bowl game blowout over a totally disinterested opponent... There is all this momentum but none of it means jack. I am SURE the coach is not letting our team think 10-2 or 11-1 is a foregone conclusion. Can we just beat the Hawaii first?




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Bocheezu

August 14th, 2016 at 8:16 PM ^

1.  Our out-of-conference schedule is trash

MSU plays ND and BYU

OSU plays Oklahoma

We play nobody.  So our SOS should be the worst of the three

2.  As always, it matters when you lose.  Losing to MSU early and beating OSU late (with OSU beating MSU the 2nd-to-last week of the season) would be the best scenario with a 11-1 record. 

D-Rob4Prez

August 14th, 2016 at 8:43 PM ^

What defines a division winner? My assumption is the records used are in the following order:
1) B1G record
2) B1G East record
3) Overall record
4) other tie breakers




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

D-Rob4Prez

August 14th, 2016 at 9:27 PM ^

I didn't phrase my question well. I was wondering how division winner is decided in the first place.

Who wins east if we are 10-2 with losses against Wisconsin and Iowa but OSU is 11-1 with a loss agains us. I assume Big 10 record trumps Big East record so OSU represents the East. However, if our 2 losses were Colorado and UCF, we represent the East. Is that correct?




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

drzoidburg

August 14th, 2016 at 8:56 PM ^

I look strictly at on-field results. 11-1 and no playoff is still a good year, 10-2 with this schedule is pushing it, and 9-3 or worse is just a bad year

Tiebreaker? It'd go to Ohio or MSU if either can beat Oklahoma or ND. We flatly play no one comparable to deserve a higher playoff rank if records are the same. If they both lose though...I honestly think a coin toss is appropriate

UMfan21

August 14th, 2016 at 8:57 PM ^

michigsn is the "hot team" with all the buzz. we haven't been to the playoffs. our fans travel well.

I have to think in the event of a toss up, we have good odds of moving on. unless we get completely pantsed by OSU again as our one loss.

Mr. Elbel

August 14th, 2016 at 10:22 PM ^

if we lose to either rival I will consider this year a failure. barring that we lose to one but then end up winning the NC. Even with a B1G championship, to still have one of those monkeys on our backs would be insufferable.

MichiganForever

August 14th, 2016 at 10:22 PM ^

I want a Big Ten title. I grew up during the Carr years and the expectation was always Big Ten title. If our rivals beat us out for bigger glory again I would not be happy, and I think Michigan fans are tired of playing second fiddle to those jackwagons.

brad

August 14th, 2016 at 11:52 PM ^

There is no chance in hell that a 11-1 M team gets stiffarmed by every NY6 game. In fact, you've probably described the Rose Bowl's ideal scenario.




Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

tlo2485

August 15th, 2016 at 10:31 AM ^

I agree. But what about this scenario:

9-3 Iowa barely beats 11-1 MSU in Conference Champ.

11-1 OSU/11-1 UM are idle after losing tiebreakers.

Bama, Clemson, Oklahoma, Stanford all finish as conference Champs with 1 or fewer losses.

Iowa to Rose Bowl. Then what? I think MSU is out of the NY6 picture, but they won the East. 

I think our current storyline gets us in the top bowl every time, but who knows. In this scenario OSU would have a win over OU and MSU over ND.

The 4 non playoff bowls:

Sugar: B12 v SEC

Orange: ACC v B1G/SEC/ND

Cotton: At-large v At-large

Rose: B1G v PAC

...The Orange Bowl will be extremely competitive to fill that other spot, so that only leaves 2 open spots in the Cotton. One of those spots, I believe, has to go to the highest ranked Group of 5 school. So, based on my calculations, this leaves only 1 true at-large spot this coming season, plus the flexible spot in the Orange bowl.