B1G East race

At the beginning of the season the predominate expectation was that there would be a 3-team battle for the B1G East Division title between Michigan, PSU, & OSU. That means that there are 3 quasi-division title games. One, of course, on Nov. 25, the other two involving PSU when they play Michigan & OSU in consecutive weeks, today being the first of those 3 quasi-division title games. How PSU performs tonight and next week will go a long way in determining where they finish in the division standings.

With MSU's surprising play thus far, are they going to emerge to make it a 4-team race? I don't think any one of us is yet convinced that they are for real as a division contender. But we do have to acknowledge that they don't yet have a conference loss, which keeps them in the race whether or not we want to admit it. Sparty could lose to Indiana and they could lose @ Northwestern. But they're also capable of winning both of those games and if they do win them they will be 5-0 when they host PSU.

If MSU does stay in the race, the 4 teams have a combined 6 games against one another. Only 1 of those 6 games has been played. We're entereing an exciting portion of the schedule because, beginning with today's games, each of the next 4 Saturdays feature a matchup between 2 of those 4 teams. PSU plays Michigan, OSU, & MSU in consecutive weeks and then OSU plays MSU. Two weeks later is Nov. 25. Also, the week prior to The Game, as you know, is Michigan's game @ Wisconsin.

Therefore, each of the next 6 Saturdays feature a game that will play a major role in the outcome of the East Division race:

Oct 21: Michigan @ PSU

Oct 28: PSU @ OSU

Nov 4: PSU @ MSU

Nov 11: MSU @ OSU

Nov 18: Michigan @ Wisconsin

Nov 25: The Game

BUCKLE UP! This should be an exciting ride!