1st in the Big 10 West

I don't know exactly what to make of that Iowa-Illinois game, but I'm going to say that Iowa is probably the most beatable team on our remaining schedule. They're bad.

Illinois is 5-1 and ranked.       :lame

If I'm being really honest I kind of don't know how we'll win more than just 1 or 2 these last 6 games. It seems like it would take a miracle for our offensive line to stop committing false starts and improve the pass blocking.

 
As they say in horse racing, Nebraska is going to jump up in class these last 6 games.

Opponent / SP+ ranking / FPI ranking

Northwestern - 98 / 105

North Dakota - FCS

Georgia Southern - 81 / 86

Oklahoma - 18 / 34

Indiana - 84 / 78

Rutgers - 73 / 79

Purdue - 21 / 22

Illinois - 34 / 38

Minnesota - 11 / 19

Michigan - 4 / 5

Wisconsin - 28 / 27

Iowa - 29 / 41

FYI Nebraska is #67 in SP+ and #76 in FPI.

 
Red Five said:
As they say in horse racing, Nebraska is going to jump up in class these last 6 games.

Opponent / SP+ ranking / FPI ranking

Northwestern - 98 / 105

North Dakota - FCS

Georgia Southern - 81 / 86

Oklahoma - 18 / 34

Indiana - 84 / 78

Rutgers - 73 / 79

Purdue - 21 / 22

Illinois - 34 / 38

Minnesota - 11 / 19

Michigan - 4 / 5

Wisconsin - 28 / 27

Iowa - 29 / 41

FYI Nebraska is #67 in SP+ and #76 in FPI.
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Yep, good stuff. This is what a lot of people just really don't understand with regards to how much more improved the B1G West is now compared to 6+ years ago.

It's not full of world beaters...but it's full of a whole bunch of teams that are better than where we're at now. And as a bad as Wisconsin has been at times they're not at a place where we're going to be the favorite at all when we play them.

If Busch would have been the DC for the Northwestern & Georgia Southern game though I firmly believe we're 5-1 right now. Not a "great" 5-1 team, but a 5-1 team that's poised to go to a bowl game.

I think it's pretty unlikely we snag 3 out of these last 6 to make a bowl.

 
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Also, if you think our offense struggled vs Rutgers, just wait for these next 6 games.  Here are the DEFENSIVE rankings from the computers:

Opponent / SP+ Defensive ranking / FPI Defense Efficiency ranking

Northwestern - 71 / 107

North Dakota - FCS

Georgia Southern - 98 / 123

Oklahoma - 47 / 93

Indiana - 73 / 63

Rutgers - 25 / 54

Purdue - 21 / 31

Illinois - 4 / 5

Minnesota - 5 / 3

Michigan - 9 / 15

Wisconsin - 15 / 65

Iowa - 1 / 6

FYI Nebraska is #68 in SP+ and #114 in FPI.

 
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I don't think we beat Illinois, or Michigan, or Wisconsin. Minnesota, yes. Iowa, I sure hope so. But based on what I have seen, that's how I see it playing out and I certainly am not going to boast about being in 1st in the West mid-season...gotta make it to the end and gotta have success when that happens (31-70 anyone)

 
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Northwestern all have 3 losses and only Northwestern hasn't lost to Illinois. They all have to play two of the others in the list which means that they need to sweep the rest of their games to get into the division conversation. This leaves Illinois with a huge advantage over the rest with only one loss. Purdue and Nebraska are in the wings, but Purdue can take down Illinois and have the tie breaker over Nebraska and Illinois and in the driver seat at two losses with only games against Iowa, Maryland , and Indiana outside that. Nebraska also needs to win out to likely have a good chance at the division with Purdue dropping to Illinois and another game to get them behind since they won head to head. 

Illinois has been through the most to get to a division win with 2 losses. Stuff happens, Purdue has the best shot as division winner with 3 losses, if they can get past Illinois.

Purdue @ Illinois is the most impactful to the division.

Illinois @ Nebraska play important parts in tiebreakers, placing.

Iowa @ Purdue is the most likely game for Purdue to get to 3 or 4 losses.

Purdue @ Indiana is the last rivalry game to get Purdue into the muck of a weird 5-4 tiebreak system that is a mess.

Illinois @ Michigan is a game that if Illinois wins breaks all chances of someone outside of Illinois, Purdue, or Nebraska winning the division.

 
Red Five said:
As they say in horse racing, Nebraska is going to jump up in class these last 6 games.

Opponent / SP+ ranking / FPI ranking

Northwestern - 98 / 105

North Dakota - FCS

Georgia Southern - 81 / 86

Oklahoma - 18 / 34

Indiana - 84 / 78

Rutgers - 73 / 79

Purdue - 21 / 22

Illinois - 34 / 38

Minnesota - 11 / 19

Michigan - 4 / 5

Wisconsin - 28 / 27

Iowa - 29 / 41

FYI Nebraska is #67 in SP+ and #76 in FPI.
Click to expand...


Updated through this past weekend

Opponent / SP+ ranking / FPI ranking

Northwestern - 90 / 100

North Dakota - FCS

Georgia Southern - 85 / 82

Oklahoma - 17 / 37

Indiana - 84 / 80

Rutgers - 72 / 81

Purdue - 32 / 36

Illinois - 28 / 34

Minnesota - 23 / 22

Michigan - 4 / 4

Wisconsin - 24 / 24

Iowa - 35 / 46

FYI Nebraska is #64 in SP+ and #71 in FPI.

 
Seeing how equally inept most of this division is and has been for years makes me even angrier at the golden opportunity we pissed away under frosty and riley.  Things about to change in 2 years with usc entering the mix.  Unbelievable we werent in the mix for the west division every single year, inexcusable we havent been bowl bound with this s#!t division we find ourselves in

 
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