BTN Thinks it has Solved the 1997 MNC Controversy: It Hasn't.
The Big Ten Network teamed up with WhatIfSports once again to "predict" the outcome of the last fifteen years of B1G play had Nebraska been invited in 1996. The big mystery of the 1997 MNC: OSU (or M/OSU split). FWIW they call Nebraska finishing third in the division with three conference losses.
Obviously this sounds crazy, but this is the same company that predicted a 3-9 finish in 2010 with 23ppg, a 95% chance of losing to UConn and a 19% chance of victory at Purdue. Also the same company that had Tennessee besting us in the opening round of the 2011 dance.
http://www.bigtennetwork.com/dpp/sports/football/BTN-Partners-with-What…
http://www.bigtennetwork.com/generic/sports/football/1997-Big-Ten-Legen…
August 15th, 2011 at 8:34 AM ^
The best part is the OSU vs Michigan championship part...
Says Boston racks up over 100 yards recieving and 2 TD's.. i highly doubt he does that against Woodson
August 15th, 2011 at 8:35 AM ^
My thoughts exactly. I'm 100% sure we could have beaten OSU three times that year just because Woodson would not let us lose those games.
August 15th, 2011 at 8:40 AM ^
Ahhhh, the BTN and its hard-hitting investigative journalism. I'm looking forward to next week's 30 minute expose entitled "Douche bag exposed: Danny Hope shaves his mustache". Sponsored by those new Summer's Eve commercials, of course.
FWIW: Our '97 Defense would have beaten all comers. Nebraska. OSU. Tennessee & Peyton Manning. I had complete faith in those guys.
August 15th, 2011 at 8:38 AM ^
I ofte wonder if the BTN feels it needs to make crazy perdictions because it is a smaller media network. You gotta stick out cant be like the big boy sports channels.
August 15th, 2011 at 10:00 AM ^
This is my thought.
It's like tabloids and 24-hour news. Say crazy shit, get readers/viewers.
August 15th, 2011 at 2:21 PM ^
We're discussing it, aren't we?
August 15th, 2011 at 8:44 AM ^
When your predictions turn out results like that it's pretty clear you've got some work to do on your algorithm. Why the BTN or anyone else would want to be associated with them is beyond me.
August 15th, 2011 at 11:23 AM ^
August 15th, 2011 at 8:53 AM ^
If there's one thing that irks me about Nebraska getting into the Big 10, it's the fact this 1997 thing is going to come up over and over and over again for eternity.
And that the BTN is probably going to play the 2005 Alamo Bowl pretty much constantly, causing me to want to break things on a regular basis.
August 15th, 2011 at 12:09 PM ^
I try to distance myself from the mouthbreathing OSU type fanbase. Unfortunately, my selective torrets force me to always refer to our former player as Tyler MFing Ecker. That play made me insane, still does...
August 15th, 2011 at 9:38 AM ^
All simulations are, in essence, someone's idea of how to mathematically model both teams and then have them play against each other X number of times and see who wins what %.
The assumptions and other data are hidden beneath the surface, so while it can tell you what you could expect to have happen over a bunch of games, it is worthless to tell you what will happen in a single game.
Remember, we lost in the coaches poll to finish 2nd only because some douchebag ranked us 3rd instead of 2nd at the end of the year......
August 15th, 2011 at 9:47 AM ^
What a joke.
August 15th, 2011 at 9:55 AM ^
I solved it a long time ago. We won because Nebraska cheated to beat Missouri. Problem solved, let's drink beer.
August 15th, 2011 at 2:22 PM ^
Thirsty Monday. One of my friends turns 21 tonight and we're going out to celebrate.
August 15th, 2011 at 10:10 AM ^
The thing that annoys me is that it overturns real results. In example, it has us lose to Wisconsin in years that we beat them and one week has 2 games where a team scores exactly 4 points - that happening is less than 1 in 1 Billion.
August 15th, 2011 at 10:49 AM ^
Ohio State's passing game looked flawless, despite the efforts of Michigan's secondary. The Buckeyes' air attack was uncontainable, as they torched the Wolverines for 315 yards and three touchdowns. Germaine completed 16 of 26 passes for Ohio State.
Ohio or anyone else had about as much chance of scoring 37 points on us as I really have a chance to turn in my MGoPoints in for a night of debauchery with Jessica Alba. Particularly by passing.
Frankly, the truth of the matter was that we played pretty badly in our first game (particularly offensively), and if we got a rematch the game probably wouldn't have been as close, because we'd have scored more points to go with our shutdown defense.
August 15th, 2011 at 11:06 AM ^
the '97 defense giving up 37 points
August 15th, 2011 at 11:19 AM ^
How good Washington State's offense was, and we shut them down.
Or forget how bad OSU's QBs were back then.
August 15th, 2011 at 11:47 AM ^
Still have Stanley Jackson on my Christmas card list...
August 15th, 2011 at 12:19 PM ^
I'm not just saying this because it's a thread announcing a bit that's unfavorable to Michigan, but the Big Ten Network sucks.
Great idea, good cash cow for the schools but awful execution. It often seems as if they are more interested in pleasing the schools with their programming than their actual viewing audience.