B10: East vs West Disparity?

BIG ERN

BIG ERN

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A lot of discussion this week on the B10 having 'uneven' divisions that is messing up with the winner getting into the CFP. Off the top of my head I always felt that the West has competed well so I went back and looked to see if this narrative was true outside of the B10 Title game where the East is 5-0 since the merger in 2014. I won't argue that the East has more top heavy teams lately. 

The facts might surprise a lot of people...Almost dead locked at .500 

92 regular season games:

West: 44 wins

East: 48 wins

Going forward will the East win more than the West? I believe so. It's hard to overcome the traditional powers in Ohio Sate, Michigan, and Penn State. Michigan St has always been tough under Dantonio as well. I think the West will have some major uptick though with Frost and Brohm. Wisconsin, Iowa, and NW always usually compete as well and will continue to do so. Just thought it was funny because you would think that the East wins 80% of these crossover games if you listen to the media. 

 
Definitely agree with this.  I think it's over-blown.

I used to keep track of that.  Apparently I haven't gotten around to it the last couple years.  I'd be curious how it breaks down on a team-by-team basis.




 
The east has had it's struggles, let's not forget that.  Michigan wasn't all that with Rich Rod and Hoke.  Ohio State sucked with Luke Ficknell (sp?), and PSU was under investigation or under sanctions. 

Throw in a few big time names that are media darlings (good or bad)....(Urban Meyer, Harbough) and a surprising resurgence under PSU (post O'Brien) and what a difference things make for that division and the B1G. 

Not saying things became automatic under them, but they sure did get plenty of top recruits, favortism and hype going into every season.

Wisconsin and (gulp) Iowa have held their own.  We just need Nebraska to become better than those 2 teams and let's see what happens.  We just need to do our part now.  We gotta get our a$$ in shape and the conference won't appear so lopsided in thought. 

 
Whether the divisions top to bottom end up at similar amounts of W-L is pretty irrelevant when one division obviously has the much better top teams that will win almost every single time in a conference championship scenario.

Like okay cool we can all beat up on Rutgers to feel better about ourselves before we all get curbstomped by Michigan and Ohio State..?

 
Lots of chatter on this all the time by sports pundits, some on the Pac-12 South, but next to none on the worst of them all, the ACC Coastal.  I even tried to engage with a few of them and other than the always excellent, Dave Bartoo, they just ignore it.  Clemson must be the big orange sun that blinds everyone from looking further at how underwhelming the ACC is this year.  ACC Coastal is consistently terrible.  Coastal champ Pitt lost to 2-win North Carolina for crying out loud and Virginia lost to Indiana.  It would be helpful if Nebraska can help bookend the West with Wisconsin but I have a hard time seeing the West as an abomination.  Heck, the SEC East was a trash fire for awhile until UGA elevated their game.

 
Landlord said:
Whether the divisions top to bottom end up at similar amounts of W-L is pretty irrelevant when one division obviously has the much better top teams that will win almost every single time in a conference championship scenario.

Like okay cool we can all beat up on Rutgers to feel better about ourselves before we all get curbstomped by Michigan and Ohio State..?
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Ohio State 59 Wisconsin 0

Michigan St 16 Iowa 13

Penn St 38 Wisconsin 31

Ohio St 27 Wisconsin 21

Ohio St 45 Northwestern 24

3/5 games have been competitive and the West blew two of them. WI and IA have had some good teams, but we need someone to have a GREAT team from the West and get over the hump. AKA Scott Frost will be the first to do this IMO 

 
I think media cant freak out over a 5 year span. So Urban Meyer is leaving- so pretty sure Ohio State will still be good but they wont remain on that elite level. Much like when Osborne left they will still have a large talent advantage for the next 3 years but you will start to see them become more "down to earth" after that. Still good- but not superhuman anymore. 

Who knows how long the Penn State head coach sticks around. Sounds like Harbaugh would bolt if the right 1 or 2 NFL teams came calling. 

So honestly with the rise of Nebraska under Scott Frost I think the whole conversation is a waste. 

I also think Frost's presence once he gets things rolling will raise the competition and expectations of some of the west teams. I will use Iowa as the example. They have been happy with being mediocre for the last 25 years. We all know they hate Nebraska. 15 of those years they never played Nebraska- the last 10 they have basically owned Nebraska or the games were close. I think they could live with getting beat down by Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan. But when Nebraska starts beating their a$$ 56-10 year in and year out. I dont see the fan base pressure will stand for that. They will want Ferentz out or his son out- whoever is at the helm at the time. Its just my opinion but I dont think they will be able to stomach Nebraska owning them- so they may elevate their coaching expectations.

 
We have to tell ourselves that the divisions are more even than they appear, but the reality is that it's not really close. The B1G West beats up the middle of the B1G East, because that's all they can do.

Nebraska is unlikely to be among the best two teams in the conference, so we should all hope the divisions stay the same. 

 
Dr. Strangelove said:
We have to tell ourselves that the divisions are more even than they appear, but the reality is that it's not really close. The B1G West beats up the middle of the B1G East, because that's all they can do.

Nebraska is unlikely to be among the best two teams in the conference, so we should all hope the divisions stay the same. 
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Ohio State got WAXED the past two seasons by a West team and that's why they have been left out - Iowa and Purdue. We own Michigan State. I still think the East is better but it's overblown.

 
BIG ERN said:
Ohio State got WAXED the past two seasons by a West team and that's why they have been left out - Iowa and Purdue. We own Michigan State. I still think the East is better but it's overblown.
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They've slept on some teams, but they win games that matter. 

I don't think the divisions are close,  and recruiting rankings agree with me.  The West is a joke, and frankly it's good Nebraska is in it.  

Ask yourself, would Nebraska have a more difficult path to relevancy if it were in the East? I think so, and not just by a little bit. It would be substantially more difficult. 

 
While Nebraska's 2018 schedule was touted and ranked as one of the toughest in the country, it didn't look that way at the end of the season, after the games were actually played.  

We're told the schedule will get a lot easier next year, but I wouldn't count on that, either. 

Up year or down, the Big 10 is going to be tougher to get through unscathed than the Big 8 & 12 from years past.

 
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