SoS Review
Not to worry, folks. Unless Touchdown Jesus has torn free from the wall and rampaged South Bend as a kaiju, BiSB will do his thing later this week.* Probably. I'm not his boss.
But while I wait with bated breath (sorry, I had some bate earlier) for his somber analysis, I decided to peek at how our SoS stands as of last night. That's all this is. You'll have to wait for jokes that are actually funny.
Opponent Watch Watch, Objects in the Rearview Mirror (Cheap Imitation Edition)
Western Michigan (4-1): defeated Buffalo, 24-17. They're still MAC, but they're looking like a Big MAC.
Washington (2-3): lost to Oregon State, 24-27. FWIW, OSU (NTOSU) is now 4-1 with a win over USC as well. Their sole loss was to. . . uh. . . Purdue. Never mind!
Northern Illinois (3-2): defeated E. Michigan, 27-20. They've won two straight. . . over Maine and EMU.
Rutgers (3-2): Sigh.
It's looking like our OOC schedule was. . . fine? I wouldn't call this a gauntlet, but nobody's nobody, either. Everyone's got signs of life in them.
And yeah, it looks like OSU (YTOSU) is back to being its usual planet-rending monster self.
* He could also have died from more probable causes, but I haven't heard anything. Yet.**
** OK, he could be alive, and yeah yeah this is statistically the most likely possibility. Jeez.
October 3rd, 2021 at 11:26 AM ^
On an even more positive note - the combined record of our 4 early opponents is 12-8. Remove the losses at our hands - they are 12-4 vs. all others.
Not too shabby...
Go Blue!!!
October 3rd, 2021 at 11:38 AM ^
Nebraska game going to be interesting. Hope we can have a great game.
October 3rd, 2021 at 12:56 PM ^
A lot of Nebraska is Adrian Martinez. Stop him, and Nebraska doesn't really have a plan B to speak of.
October 3rd, 2021 at 11:46 AM ^
OOC will matter more nearing the end of the season. I hope that the opponents who lost to Michigan end up with a winning record. Good to see WMU is strong. Not sure if Wisconsin can get up off the mat unless Mertz gets to 100% healthy.
NIU should do well. Rutgers might be able to go 6 and 6 and call it good. Washington might struggle to go 6 and 6. I wish them all well.
October 3rd, 2021 at 12:56 PM ^
It benefits Wisconsin that their remaining schedule is pretty easy. They still have Iowa but after that their toughest game is… Rutgers? Minnesota? Nebraska? 7-5/8-4 is still well within reach for Wisconsin with that defense.
October 3rd, 2021 at 11:51 AM ^
Or we can look at this through a stats driven approach. #17 per the link below. Not too bad.
https://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/ranking/schedule-strength-by-other
October 3rd, 2021 at 12:53 PM ^
Thanks for that link
Positive from that list: MSU
Adding a bit of concern: Nebraska right below us
October 3rd, 2021 at 12:26 PM ^
My thoughts are this is chaos year and chaos is a ladder. I think Georgia and Bama are safe. Two other teams just have to be just clever enough and lucky enough to climb that ladder.
October 3rd, 2021 at 12:31 PM ^
Agreed. So far everyone else has either a confusing loss, an ask again later resume, or a win that looked good early but now not so much. Gonna be a crazy year for the final spots.
October 3rd, 2021 at 12:31 PM ^
People keep opining on this being a Chaos Year, but I think that last year was the Chaos Year and the expectations for this year were based on those outcomes. There are very few teams that were highly regarded earlier this year that I thought were much good.
October 3rd, 2021 at 12:55 PM ^
Going forward, Chaos is a feature not a bug. Insta-Transfer and heavy roster turmoil is going to see to that. The only thing holding it back entirely is that Saban is still running Alabama.
October 3rd, 2021 at 12:33 PM ^
Cincinnati or BYU I think make it this year
October 3rd, 2021 at 12:39 PM ^
I'm sure Bama/Georgia are safe provided they both are 12-0 entering the SECCG. But what happens if one of them suffers a shock upset, wins out otherwise, and then loses to the other in the SECCG?
October 3rd, 2021 at 12:47 PM ^
I think UW has two maybe three more wins and will miss out on a bowl. That team lacks any identity. Oregon St is a surprise team for sure, but talent wise they should not match up vs. UW. The one thing I can see with UW is that they have a top notch secondary - holding Ore st QB to about 50 yards after he lit up USC for 4 Tds. Which makes me glad we used the thunder and lightning approach vs. UW and didn't let Cade through downfield much, That was the right call.
UW looks like UM near the end of the Hoke era. I watched the end of the UW v. OSU game and to see the fans pour onto the field like they won against a super power reminded me of the 2014 Rutgers loss - expect Ore st is better than that Rutgers team, but this UW team is as lame as our 2014 UM team.
October 3rd, 2021 at 5:04 PM ^
Oregon State has become remarkably competent at football (for their standards) over the last 2 years or so. Their new coach has really improved morale there.
October 3rd, 2021 at 1:17 PM ^
Team Rankings SoS rank UM = 17th, Sagarin = 21st., NE = 18th & 56th, Sparty = 34th & 73rd.
EDIT: I think Team Rankings is for the complete schedule while I think Sagarin does it for only the games played. Wiscy is #4 & #1.
October 3rd, 2021 at 1:19 PM ^
The Op sounds like someone that should be on staff as a writer. Just a thought