B1G: Which Teams are Better, Worse and the Same as Expected?
At about the midway point of the season, I’d put them into these three buckets. I was most conflicted about Nebraska and Rutgers (maybe they should be in the Better bin, because the bar was so low). And maybe Penn State should be in the Better bin, too.
Rank them however you like. This is one man’s opinion.
BETTER THAN THE WORLD EXPECTED
Michigan
Michigan State
Iowa
Maryland
WORSE THAN THE WORLD EXPECTED
Ohio State
Wisconsin
Indiana
Minnesota
Northwestern
SAME AS THE WORLD EXPECTED
Penn State
Nebraska
Rutgers
Purdue
Illinois
October 5th, 2021 at 10:30 AM ^
I don't know if anyone expected Penn St to be this good, or Nebraska to be that bad. No one thought they would lose to Illinois and MSU, and PSU to actually be undefeated.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:40 AM ^
I don’t think we know if PSU is any good yet. Wisky should’ve beat them and Auburn is just ok. They might be really good, but we haven’t seen enough to know at this point
October 5th, 2021 at 10:42 AM ^
I disagree. PSU is good.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:48 AM ^
Even though Iowa seems like maybe the worst top 5 team in recent memory, i think this week will provide some clarity on PSU. Weird stuff happens at Kinnick, so if PSU wins it’d definitely say something.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:13 AM ^
I think PSU has already proven they are good by beating a Wiscy team early when wiscy still had their head up, and Auburn, who i think is a pretty good team themselves. But yeah, beating Iowa only verifies they are good. But even if they lose a close game to Iowa at Iowa, that also verifies PSU is very good.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:26 AM ^
We all have our opinions, I think PSU is average. Their qb will stink against Iowa because that's what he does under pressure. They don't have much of a running game from what I can tell. They seem to be on par with MSU to me.
October 5th, 2021 at 3:32 PM ^
That Penn State defense is legit. Probably the best we will face all year imho.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:16 AM ^
Interesting you say that as I think they look solid as hell. Yes they are boring, but they play darn good football in every phase. I guess we will find out more about both Iowa and PSU, but I expect Iowa to win that one.
If you want to go with recent memory of the worst top 5 team, my vote goes to Oklahoma.
October 5th, 2021 at 2:58 PM ^
That’s fair - I agree they’re solid and a good team; just don’t think they’re great/terrifying. Definitely hoping they destroy penn state this week, but I guess we’ll all see soon enough.
October 5th, 2021 at 12:02 PM ^
I think PSU is good, but I don't if they are capital G Good yet. The Wisconsin and Auburn wins don't look as sexy in hindsight. If we'd gotten to Wisconsin before Penn State did, people would've thrown us into the top 4 as well so I need to see more from them. Basically I need to see them vs OSU but I'm not convinced Iowa and their bad offense are capital G Good either
October 6th, 2021 at 7:21 PM ^
Wisconsin outgained Penn State. What did them in was the -3 turnover margin. Despite that advantage, Penn State barely won.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:42 AM ^
MSU is in a similar spot to Michigan. Better than expected, but also no quite sure how good yet because the marquee opponents on their schedule to date (uhhh... Miami?) have been bad. I'd take the @Wisconsin win over any of theirs at this point though.
PSU was #19 to open the season but yeah, I don't think many expected to beat Wisconsin and Auburn. Though the Auburn wins doesn't look as good now since they barely survived GA St.
The Illinois loss is what's dragging Nebraska down. That loss to Oklahoma was expected and the MSU loss isn't bad given their record. It's bad because they shit the bed and should have won that game though.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:06 AM ^
Auburn also has a win at LSU which is a tough outing even in a down year. Penn St passes the eye test. @ Iowa, @OSU, vs UM, @ MSU... we'll know soon enough if they're a legit playoff contender or not. I think they're a top 15 team even if they drop a couple. I also think the same for us. But I'm also an idiot.. ask anyone
October 5th, 2021 at 1:17 PM ^
ehh..kinda..LSU was dominated by UCLA who we now see isn't very good.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:44 AM ^
Nebraska is better than their record would suggest on offense and defense. Their special teams have been bad. Take away their week 0 sludge fart and a MSU punt return and they've been pretty good this year. S&P has them as a fringe top 25 team. A night game in Lincoln shouldn't be taken lightly.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:18 AM ^
Michigan is favored by 3 if that is any indication of a game that should not be taken lightly.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:30 AM ^
You realize a betting line has nothing to do with whether a team should or shouldn't be taken lightly, right? It's to create betting interest in the game for bookies to make money.
October 5th, 2021 at 12:04 PM ^
Don't stata facts and truths. It upsets many here on the blog.
October 5th, 2021 at 12:37 PM ^
except that not the truth at all. If it were that simple sports betting would be easy money
October 5th, 2021 at 12:27 PM ^
If this were true, there would be a lot more professional gamblers and they would be a lot richer. MGM isn't manipulating the line to get your $200 bet and risk being on the wrong side of a $20,000 bet. This might be one of the dumber comments I've read on the blog this year.
October 5th, 2021 at 12:43 PM ^
You serious, Clark? It’s risk management for the casinos. They want the same amount of money on each side, not the same number of wildly varying bets. They are getting at least 10% of every bet, & they want to pay the winners with the losers money, pocketing the juice.
October 5th, 2021 at 1:00 PM ^
Yes, I understand this. Getting a 50/50 split of money and setting lines by team strength are not mutually exclusive ideas.
October 5th, 2021 at 1:52 PM ^
I am well aware of what the line means. I stand by my original statement.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:04 AM ^
I personally think Penn State is similar to us. In Preseason, wins over Washington and Wisconsin would've made me think we were top 5, but both of them are terrible. Penn State has the win over Wisconsin, which doesn't look as good anymore, and a win over Auburn. Auburn really hasn't played anyone yet, even though they have a win over LSU who looks terrible.
I'm torn on Nebraska. They kept up with Oklahoma, should've beaten MSU, and made stupid mistakes to lose to Illinois. There are way too many what-ifs this season, and the rankings in a few weeks are going to look so different than today.
October 5th, 2021 at 12:06 PM ^
I could see Nebraska being a laugher if we keep up the mojo from this past weekend or I could see it being a dogfight. Really not sure what to expect. Martinez could give the D some trouble if he starts finding room to run around
October 5th, 2021 at 11:16 AM ^
Nebraska is not a bad team at all. They have been unlucky, but not bad. Michigan is a Top 10 team by any measure after 5 weeks, and UM is only favored by 3 this week. I think most expected NU to be worse by some measure.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:22 AM ^
Nebraksa isn't that bad. They lost a stupid game against Illinois and also a stupid game against MSU but they're a solid team.
And this is what people expected of PSU. They're undefeated not because they're better than expected but because Wisconsin, IU and Auburn are all way worse than expected. Granted, they're not a top 5 team. They only have that ranking because it wasn't known how bad Wisconsin was when they won that game in Madison. They're ranked 11th in FPI and that's about right. They'll lose at least 2 games, maybe 3.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:37 AM ^
Scott Frost's mom is in agreement
October 5th, 2021 at 10:32 AM ^
All of them
October 5th, 2021 at 10:33 AM ^
The Big Ten is fools gold...the SEC is king...Paul Finebaum knows all!!!! -Sincerely ESPN
October 5th, 2021 at 10:47 AM ^
I was listening to ESPN radio on the way in, and Paul Finebaum was a guest, and went absolutely off on Urban Meyer. I was actually surprised how hard he was on public radio. I cannot remember exact verbatim, but it was something along the lines of "does this shock anyone? It shouldn't. Meyer was and still is a fucking scumbag and will always be trash going forward". And i might be conservative in summing up what he said. I was shocked how hard he was on public radio.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:10 AM ^
Well, he's not wrong. The problem is not that Meyer is trash, though. It's that he keeps--to extend the metaphor--being recycled.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:26 AM ^
i'm sure he called urban a saint when he was at Fla, since he was leading an SEC team.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:27 AM ^
Finebaum is just a hillbilly version of Beano Cook with nothing very noteworthy to add And while he is right about Meyer (even a broken clock is right twice a day), he would be making excuses for him if he were still the head coach at Florida. So, take it with a grain of salt.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:37 AM ^
On a related note which Pizza toppings are better, worse and same as expected?
Better:
Sausage
Onions
Red Peppers
Double Cheese
Same:
Pepperoni
Green Peppers
Ham
Jalapeno Peppers
Sweet Peppers
Worse:
Pineapple
Anchovies
Mushrooms
October 5th, 2021 at 10:40 AM ^
fair list. I think Green peppers need to be in the better than expected category. Maybe banana peppers too.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:57 AM ^
I'm totally on that banana pepper train
October 5th, 2021 at 11:12 AM ^
Likewise - banana peppers are a fave in my house.
Forgot to put black olives in the "trash" category - those ruin a pizza and pretty much anything else they touch
October 5th, 2021 at 11:19 AM ^
Your black olives comment is the most accurate thing I have ever read on this board.
October 5th, 2021 at 12:38 PM ^
However, salty green olives are great on pizza as long as they don’t dump a pile on the pie like one of my local fav pizza places. Gotta throttle them back.
October 5th, 2021 at 12:54 PM ^
Onions/MSU make me gassy.
October 5th, 2021 at 1:19 PM ^
totally agree here - gourmet/high-quality olives on a well composed pie are absolutely delicious
October 5th, 2021 at 1:40 PM ^
Black olives fall into the "same" for me. Kalamata olives are downright excellent on pizza, though. Also, when sliced thinly, tomatoes are also a pleasant surprise.
That said, the best pizza has the following toppings - sausage, onions, and jalapenos. That is an objective fact...or, maybe just my opinion.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:41 AM ^
Mushrooms are an excellent pizza topping. The rest of your list is acceptable.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:45 AM ^
I expect pineapple to be trashatola. so... Same.
Also, mushrooms on pizza is great, but they have to be COOKED... cant be just sorta steamed on top ... need that hot oven to really cook them.
Best Combo:
Pepperoni, mushroom, onion. Boom. i said it.
Onions on pizza is a must.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:57 AM ^
Onion is the clear winner in the better than expected category. Most of the toppings play out as you'd expect, But I would think onion on a pizza would be rubbish, but it actually adds a lot.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:11 AM ^
Canned mushrooms on pizza are terrible. Fresh mushrooms on pizza are amazing.
Onions and mushroom on pizza is my go-to. I honestly prefer no meat on my pizza most of the time.
October 5th, 2021 at 11:43 AM ^
You must have never had a Windsor Pizza. Canned mushrooms only.
I love them. I make them at home all the time.
October 5th, 2021 at 10:48 AM ^
Sausage is disgusting.
October 5th, 2021 at 5:18 PM ^
I think sausage is a high variance pizza topping. Some sausage is good. Some is like little rabbit turds.