The Path of Least Resistance (to the B10 Championship Game) for Ohio State - Since 2014, Intentional?
There are only 5-6 stadium environs in the Big Ten that are legit, hardcore "road tests" for the visiting team, no matter the rankings, the talent "disparity", the coaching, etc. This was true in 2004. It was true in 2014. And will be true in 2024. These places are difficult to win and rank among the loudest, most inhospitable road environs in all of college football. I would class them (in no particular order) as: Ohio State's stadium, the Big House, Iowa's Kinnick, Madison / Camp Randall, Happy Valley. In certain years, Michigan State's hulking steel mass and maybe Nebraska... if Nebraska's program ever shows a pulse.
Since the divisional split in 2014:
2014 OSU: Wins @ PSU and @ Michigan State. Squeaked by PSU in 2 OTs. Doesn't travel to either Madison or Iowa. Won the National Championship this year. Do they win at both Iowa and Madison if scheduled?
2015 OSU: Gets PSU and MSU at home. Shockingly loses to Sparty. Crushes U-M at Ann Arbor. Again - no Iowa no Camp Randall.
2016 OSU: Got to give this team credit. Went to Oklahoma and won, went to Happy Valley (loss), went to MSU and went to Madison (close wins). Made the CFP without winning the Big Ten Championship.
2017 OSU: Went to Iowa (got crushed) and then went to Ann Arbor and won by 11. Once again, no trip to Madison.
2018 OSU: Traveled to Happy Valley and to East Lansing. Both wins. Stunning loss @ Perdue. Again, avoids 2 of the toughest places to play in the B10 (Kinnick and Madison).
2019 OSU: They travel to Michigan to end the season. 7 homes games. Avoid Madison and Kinnick again.
2020 OSU: HOME to Iowa and @ PSU and @ MSU per normal. No Wisconsin!
2021 OSU: @Michigan. @Nebraska (if you think they'll be semi-functional at this point). Again, no Kinnick and no Madison.
2022 OSU: HOME to both Wisconsin and Iowa
Over a span of 9 seasons: IN ONLY 2 SEASONS THEY PLAYED / WILL PLAY @Wisconsin or @ Iowa... 2 of the very toughest away environs in this conference.
Michigan meanwhile: 2016 @ Iowa (a loss), 2017 @ Wisconsin (a loss), 2019 (@Wisconsin, a loss), 2021 @ Wisconsin, 2022 @ Iowa.
With prior posts / discussions mentioning that you essentially have to go 5-1 in your division and 3-0 in your "West" cross-overs in order to have a prayer of representing the Big Ten East... at what point does it become clear that the Big Ten scheduling is very very favorable to Ohio State?
Oh and PSU? They have to open AT CAMP RANDALL in 2021.
October 22nd, 2019 at 1:54 PM ^
Quit drinking and go to bed
October 22nd, 2019 at 1:58 PM ^
Stone cold sober. I want to know why Michigan has to "run the road" gauntlet of Kinnick and Wisconsin and OSU does not? How is this "fair"? This is junk!
These two places have been, are and WILL ALWAYS BE tough places to win road games. Does OSU have this level of success if they are actually forced to compete at these venues? I would venture NO. Instead of making the College Football playoff and the Big Ten Championship game year after year after year... they would be forced to compete like the rest of us. They wouldn't get the de-facto national recruiting exposure they get right now.
The scheduling is trash and a real Michigan AD would fight tooth and nail against this blatant un-level playing field. Our program deserves better. By the way, it is also garbage for PSU as well, who as I mentioned, have to travel to CAMP RANDALL to open 2021. Who on earth thinks they are winning that game? Would OSU ever be subjected to such nonsense?
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:07 PM ^
I'll distill this down for you: over the past five, ten, twenty years Ohio State has been one of the top five teams in the country. Michigan has not been. That's why OSU wins on the road, and Michigan doesn't.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:14 PM ^
But that is my point... they aren't being tested on the road. They haven't been scheduled to go to KINNICK except for ONE TIME in the past decade basically. That one time? They got CRUSHED.
There are road games and then there are ROAD GAMES. I stand by my statement: there are only 5-6 stadiums / environs in the Big Ten where you can throw talent, record and coaching out the window because those environs do make such a huge difference.
From Wikipedia:
Since 2008, Iowa is 4-1 against AP Top 5 opponents in Kinnick Stadium. In 2008, an unranked Iowa beat 3rd ranked Penn State on kicker Daniel Murray’s walk off field goal. The game-winning field goal capped an Iowa comeback in a game that Penn State led 23-14 with 9:21 remaining in the 4th quarter.
In 2010, 5th ranked Michigan State visited Kinnick Stadium looking to continue their undefeated season. The 18th ranked Hawkeyes would beat the Spartans by a final score of 37-6, in a game that Iowa led 30-0 at halftime. The Spartans would not put any points on the scoreboard until the 4th quarter.
In 2015, fans in Kinnick Stadium got to witness Iowa's most successful regular season in school history. The Hawkeyes went 12-0 and won the Big Ten West Division. After a loss in the Big Ten Championship Game to Michigan State, the Hawkeyes received a bid to the Rose Bowl, its first New Year's Six bowl invitation since the start of the College Football Playoff system.
In 2016, 3rd ranked Michigan was knocked off by an unranked Iowa by a score of 14-13, with kicker Keith Duncan’s walk off game-winning field goal. The game was televised on ABC Saturday Night Football.
In 2017, an unranked and 20 point underdog Iowa knocked off the 3rd ranked Ohio State Buckeyes by a score of 55-24. Earlier in 2017, it took a touchdown on 4th down on the last play of the game for the 3rd ranked Penn State Nittany Lions to beat the unranked Hawkeyes 21-19. The game was televised on ABC Saturday Night Football.
October 23rd, 2019 at 4:01 AM ^
That’s a take down! Bam!!
October 22nd, 2019 at 4:40 PM ^
They haven't been since 2016, where the preferential treatment they received resulted in the second straight embarrassing shutout for the B1G in the CFP.
It's not just scheduling. Had Ohio State not been gift wrapped the Michigan game by the officials, they wouldn't have made the CFP and would have had a postseason matchup that made sense. However, Kevin Schwartzel and Bobby Sagers gave them an early Christmas present, which resulted in being assblasted into outer-fucking-space by Clemson. This conference hasn't had a representative in the CFP since. Thanks, Big Ten!
October 22nd, 2019 at 4:53 PM ^
"Had Ohio State not been gift wrapped the Michigan game by the officials..."
Ok, everybody drink!
October 22nd, 2019 at 1:55 PM ^
None of this shit means anything if we beat them.
We have to get better.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:02 PM ^
WD - it doesn't matter if we beat them. That is kind of the point. With this kind of scheduling... we are playing at the toughest stadiums IN THE CONFERENCE at TWICE THE RATE as OSU. Nobody wins consistently at these stadiums. Nobody. We might win one or two. Great. That would still leave 4-5 of the last 9 were we have 1 loss in the conference and no margin for error.
October 22nd, 2019 at 1:55 PM ^
Sorry to keep popping up and posting this, but Michigan will CRUSH OSU's dreams at the Big House in just over a month....take it to the bank. I feel more confident about Michigan beating OSU then I do Indiana...
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:13 PM ^
Shut up.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:41 PM ^
It's hard to believe in you when you don't know how to use then/than.
October 22nd, 2019 at 3:19 PM ^
That's what Honorius said to Alaric.
October 22nd, 2019 at 5:24 PM ^
We are the Visigoths.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:45 PM ^
Are you saying Indiana is a tougher opponent than OSU? If that’s your argument, don’t expect anyone to take you seriously.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:51 PM ^
I'm not taking him seriously even without the bullshit about Indiana.
October 22nd, 2019 at 7:09 PM ^
Right now OSU is the best team in B1G and one of the best in country. Indiana always plays Michigan tough especially at home. Did you forget 2 years ago? Trust me, Indiana will give Michigan fits. Plus after MSU game which is an emotional game. If Michigan rolls Indiana then I will even be more convinced Michigan will beat OSU. Crush their national championship dreams.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:49 PM ^
One of these bluepalooza statements is not like the others.
"Michigan is one of the 4 best teams in the B1G, and not good enough to beat OSU."—10/05/2019
"That offense we have seen for 4 out of 5 games will not beat ND, MSU, OSU or PSU and perhaps not even Indiana or Maryland."—10/06/2019
"And that is why Michigan can’t win big games. 55 seconds and you do that? Question, does Saban and Meyer do same? I think not."—10/12/2019
"Lovie > Harbaugh. Doing more with much less talent"—10/12/2019
"If there is anything about Michigan right now, it is the inability of the coaches to make in game adjustments when things really go sideways."—10/14/2019
"Opposing coaches playing chess. Michigan coaches playing checkers."—10/19/2019
"Sorry to keep popping up and posting this, but Michigan will CRUSH OSU's dreams at the Big House in just over a month"—10/22/2019
October 22nd, 2019 at 3:54 PM ^
Don, you made my point. Most agree, this team has not played up to expectations. I put that at the feet of the coaching staff (as noted above). Can we not agree that for 3 quarters against PSU, Michigan played offensively the way most of us thought they would play all year? Against a very good defense in a very hostile environment! I definitely feel something clicked with this team vs PSU for the first time all year. That was the best performance by the offense all year and it isn't even close. I have been critical of game plans and in game adjustments with almost losing to Army, losing a lead to Illinois and getting blown out by Wisconsin. So yes, my comment is different, because I think this team is different.
October 22nd, 2019 at 4:02 PM ^
Whatever you're drinking or smoking, I want some
October 23rd, 2019 at 7:19 AM ^
Don't know how... Plus, it's a home game for us ever since we took over the stadium years ago.
October 22nd, 2019 at 1:56 PM ^
Seems about right
October 23rd, 2019 at 9:01 AM ^
Had to sign in to upvote. Love me some Always Sunny
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:01 PM ^
Yea, this aint it. They don't sit together in a room and say "How do we give Ohio State the easiest schedule possible". The Crossover game from 2016-2021 has Michigan and Wisconsin protected, and Ohio State and Nebraska protected. From 2022-2027, Michigan and Ohio State flip. I also noticed you left out Nebraska as a hostile road environment, which is confirmation bias at its best. Ohio State didn't get to decide that Nebraska was going to hire Mike Riley and bottom out. So Michigan played it's protected cross over game, and Iowa twice on the road in this span, while Ohio State got Nebraska, Wisconsin once and Iowa once. Relax.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:03 PM ^
Nebraska isn't on the same level as Wisconsin and Iowa / Kinnick in terms of tough road environs. It wasn't in 2004. It won't be in 2024. Hell it won't be in 2034.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:09 PM ^
So a stadium bigger than Kinnick and Camp Randall, with a longer sellout streak, a more passionate fanbase, isn't a better road environment? You realize Nebraska had 87k people at their spring game last year, right? Again, this is all confirmation bias because Nebraska has struggled the past few years.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:31 PM ^
That wouldn’t be ‘confirmation’ bias, that’d be ‘recency’ bias.
October 25th, 2019 at 5:06 PM ^
you keep saying this but for the love of god look at thier home records in the last decade. Thus is possibly the dumbest thread ive ever seen and thats really saying something
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:09 PM ^
They don't sit together in a room and say "How do we give Ohio State the easiest schedule possible".
Just like they don't select literal ohio state fans as refs for The Game.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:14 PM ^
Bingo.
October 22nd, 2019 at 5:18 PM ^
Not only were they fans but some were actually barred from participating in B1G games.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:01 PM ^
Oh good we're into the conspiracy theory part of the season.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:11 PM ^
Is there an antithesis to the Troll Cave? bc this comment makes me want to have one so I can see more of what you have to say.
In other words, +1.
October 22nd, 2019 at 3:20 PM ^
Just bookmark his comments page.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:13 PM ^
Actually, I have suspected that Jim Delaney is a Russian asset for some time now. Ohio State wears red too. Think that’s just a coincidence?
October 23rd, 2019 at 8:43 AM ^
Rutgers also wears red. Theory debunked.
And Nebraska. And Indiana. And Wisconsin. And kind of Maryland.
That's a lot of red. You may be on to something after all.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:02 PM ^
Not really into conspiracy theories, but it should be clear by now that the path of least resistance is how to punch a playoff ticket. This is why I am a proponent of getting ND off the schedule. With the B1G already playing a 9 game conference schedule in addition to a championship game, that's 11 potential regular season games against power 5 opponents. In the era of 85 scholarships that's just too many quality opponents in one season. College football is changing and UM is always the last to change with it. Schedule three cupcakes and be done with it. The B1G is a gauntlet and as you laid out, is getting no favors from the league or it's officials.
October 22nd, 2019 at 5:21 PM ^
F that! Playoffs hardly matter at this point, until the sham of amateurism is removed and the playing field leveled. I would rather watch games I care about than us pounding cupcakes and hoping it means we get a golden ticket.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:02 PM ^
I have an idea. Let's get MSU on our home schedule next year and undo that crap that happened to the schedule in 2014.
I don't think that addresses the OP but it's important to me.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:02 PM ^
You are way overthinking this. But on some level I have to admire the research you put into this topic.
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:08 PM ^
Lol thanks! I am just passionate about a level playing field. Kinnick and Madison are ALWAYS going to be the best / toughest places to play in the Big Ten West. And Ohio State conveniently misses them for a chunk of a decade.
The arc of history can't be measured in a few years... look over the decade. Their "rise" has been aided by this scheduling. They then get to the Big Ten Championship game... the CFP... the national exposure drives ratings and recruits. It is a self-reinforcing cycle. Don't believe me? Look at Clemson for much the same. They skate by with the same garbage scheduling. Look at Alabama. They NEVER play at Georgia or at Florida. Basically have a 3 game season. It is the macro that matters and these juggernauts are mastering it through scheduling quirks and straight-up avoidance of tough road games each season.
October 22nd, 2019 at 3:13 PM ^
Should Ohio State be in the West then? I mean what do you want the B1G to do here? How should they distribute the crossover games better in a 14 team conference? You think OSU should play @Iowa and @Wisco every year? Every other year? Should OSU only crossover with those two teams from the West?
October 22nd, 2019 at 8:19 PM ^
I think Ohio state should have to play at Iowa and Wisconsin more then just twice in 9 years, yes. Meanwhile Michigan travels to two of the toughest road environs 5 times in the same span.
October 22nd, 2019 at 11:35 PM ^
This is so funny to me. It's Iowa! Why are you going on and on about how difficult playing Iowa is? OSU has lost to Iowa 15 times ever. Iowa is barely a .500 program all-time. Your argument is literally "OSU would have been less successful if they just had to take on Iowa more!" I mean seriously? Iowa! Hysterical.
October 23rd, 2019 at 7:49 AM ^
Again...Iowa and Wisconsin ON THE ROAD is the issue.
You got crushed the last time you went to kinnick. #Facts. Why is Michigan constantly traveling to inhospitable environs 3 4,5 times a year while Ohio hangs out at home to play actual decent comp?
October 23rd, 2019 at 9:19 AM ^
Hysterical.
October 25th, 2019 at 4:58 PM ^
look i get what you are saying. I really really do. But to say a reason osu is where they are at is because of scheduling then you are crazy. You ever watch the NFL? Osu literally has an elite player at every single position besides osu. Multiple at most positions. To chalk that up to, oh they didnt play iowa and wisky as much as we did is just absurd to even say. Osu has won 9 of 10 vs wisky. They have won 6 of 8 in iowa city. You are grossly overestimating how much of am impact it would of really had. Osu plays a good schedule literally every year. Idk what you really want
October 22nd, 2019 at 2:04 PM ^
Also, love the blurb on "Do they win the national championship if they play in Iowa or Wisconsin"
They beat Wisconsin 59-0 in the conference title game. Sure, its a neutral field but I highly doubt Camp Randall is worth 60 points as a home field advantage.
October 22nd, 2019 at 8:41 PM ^
The fix was in for that game. Wisconsin lied down to get OSU in the playoff. That’s why Gary Anderson quit to go to Oregon State.
October 23rd, 2019 at 1:20 AM ^
No doubt. Also, obviously the fix was in for Alabama and Oregon, because it isn't possible that the most talented Ohio State team this century could actually blow out a team of 2* and 3* slow, unathletic Badgers led by a pedestrian QB.
Ohio State has broken a portion of the Michigan fan base.