B1G Division Tie Breakers
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
August 14th, 2016 at 7:36 PM ^
I'm only interested in playing a game at Raymond James Stadium on January 9th.
August 14th, 2016 at 8:11 PM ^
Nothing in your actual life that you can control interests you. Sounds about right to me.
You are a parasite.
August 14th, 2016 at 11:41 PM ^
Hey, Ronnie Kaye:
I wish mods had electric chair power. Go shit in a cooler and drink it down your windpipe.
August 14th, 2016 at 9:02 PM ^
You have established that you think that if YOU lose focus that players on the actual team may not play well enough to win. Your opinion is invalid.
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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...
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.
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August 15th, 2016 at 3:06 AM ^
Oh, shut the fuck up you judgemental bastard.
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.
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August 14th, 2016 at 7:43 PM ^
Your point is completely valid and would be the likely scenario, but for the sake of argument let's say MSU ended up the highest ranking of the three of us and found their way back into the playoff.
August 15th, 2016 at 7:44 AM ^
And...????
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.
August 14th, 2016 at 10:24 PM ^
that lost the CCG game would go to the Rose Bowl is far fetched. Only Pudue and Minny avoid OSU, MSU and us. Everyone else would have had more losses and fewer good wins. (Of course Purdue and Minny will too.)
August 14th, 2016 at 11:53 PM ^
What if we beat both rivals and lose to Iowa?
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.
August 15th, 2016 at 10:01 AM ^
Iowa is not as good as most people on this blog and otherwise think.
August 14th, 2016 at 7:44 PM ^
If we go 11-1 but still don't play for the Big Ten Championship, I'd imagine we'd still have a shot at a New Years Six bowl. Citrus/Outback are huge flops for an 11-1 team.
August 14th, 2016 at 8:51 PM ^
I don't want to think about that because that means we will have lost to OSU (...again).
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)
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.
August 14th, 2016 at 8:17 PM ^
Thanks. It seems Fiesta or Peach could select a B1G at-large some years as well, like OSU last year to Fiesta. Peach might be less likely, with their pretty long tradition of ACC/SEC.
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.
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?
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August 14th, 2016 at 8:02 PM ^
Very close to having a three way tie last year if that one play worked out...Let's take one game at a time and that game is Hawaii.
August 14th, 2016 at 8:54 PM ^
would win the tiebreaker and get to go to the B1G Championship game.
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.
August 14th, 2016 at 9:50 PM ^
If all three teams wound up 11-1, yes, we'd be at a disadvantage. But that would require all three to escape September undefeated. So for now, the nonconference schedule is greatly in our favor.
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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
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August 14th, 2016 at 9:00 PM ^
If two are tied it's head to head.
For three:
1. Records against each other
2. Division Records
3. Record of comparable teams in division
4. Record against common opponents
5. Playoff Rankings
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?
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August 14th, 2016 at 9:47 PM ^
The way the B1G tie breakers are written it looks the same. OSU with a better record would win the division even though we would have less division losses in scenario 1 in scenario 2 we would win.
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
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.
August 14th, 2016 at 9:45 PM ^
Do M fans really travel well? It always seems they travel well for the biggest games but aren't so impressive (compared to other major programs) with more average games. For example, Wisky and Neb fans seem to travel well to all games.
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August 14th, 2016 at 9:04 PM ^
An 11-1 Michigan team would make a New Years 6 bowl 100% of the time
August 14th, 2016 at 9:14 PM ^
But we shouldn't be taking about tiebreakers until we beat OSU and MSU.
August 14th, 2016 at 9:25 PM ^
False. In this case it is only necessary to beat one or the other. Otherwise the OP's scenario is not possible
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August 14th, 2016 at 10:09 PM ^
omg so funny. /s
August 14th, 2016 at 11:37 PM ^
The more it bothers you, the funnier it becomes to me.
November is a long way off. Enjoy!
August 15th, 2016 at 3:53 AM ^
Coming from the guy who has been posting a countdown to kickoff for almost 1/3 of the entire year.
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August 15th, 2016 at 6:52 AM ^
First of all, it is a blog tradition you clearly are not aware of. Second of all, at least those threads are relevant, unlike the same tired joke that many people are bored with.
August 15th, 2016 at 10:33 AM ^
It's the definition of tired
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August 15th, 2016 at 9:48 AM ^
Or even posting for that matter.
The blog goes into hibernation until we beat them both.
August 14th, 2016 at 9:19 PM ^
That's so dumb -- why wouldn't use a non-objective criteria, like points difference?
August 14th, 2016 at 10:01 PM ^
for 2016 or 2017?
August 14th, 2016 at 10:14 PM ^
This is for 2023 with John Smith starting at Guard.
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.
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.
August 15th, 2016 at 6:01 AM ^
Yep. It's time. We have our guy. We have the talent. There are no excuses.
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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.
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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.