I agree with this from a "power rankings" standpoint. We'd beat Iowa/Wisconsin on a neutral field 2 out of 3 this year. The schedule is what has the two of them in front of us in most cases.
I agree. But what about everyone who has proclaimed that our schedule is a bunch of cupcakes and anything more than 2 losses is a failure?
Anyhow, with all the injuries, they may want to revise that ranking.
Our schedule is a bunch of cupcakes. I wouldn't proclaim Iowa/Wisconsin to be dominant teams that make our schedule a top 25 SOS...we just have to travel there so they get the edge. Flip those two to home games, and send us up to Purdue and Minnesota and we'd be picked ahead of both Iowa/Wisconsin in most cases. There really isn't a massive difference between the three of us - but when the teams are considered fairly equal going into the season - the head-head matchups are everything - and we travel for both. That's the ONLY thing that makes the schedule seem even remotely difficult - from a divisional standpoint. It's not the teams on it, that's for sure.
I said the same thing last year - it was looking very likely that we'd only play a single ranked team before the bowl - and we got spanked by UCLA. MSU ended up having a breakout season so they were in the teens when we played them, otherwise we would have played 1 ranked team in regular season.
2014 is shaping up very similar. Miami likely isn't ranked. We'll play a ranked MSU, then nothing until bowl - maybe Iowa in the low 20s.
