Big Ten thoughts after Week 3

[ellobo]

Nope. Below 50% is not the definition of average. If every team in the league from top to bottom had a total of 112 wins (8 per team) before bowl games, then average would be 66.6%.
math can be a tricky thing. Just sayin.

You're right, it can be tricky...so can reading comp.

The 49.999% clearly is about percentage of teams overall and not winning percentage. (Re) Using the example I gave above: Let's say you have 7 teams and you rank them 1-7. Team #4 would have three above and three below. So for this grouping team #4 is the average the three above...are well above the average and the 3 below are below the average.

Yes there are many ways calculate and define average and I just simplified it because the notion that calling the bottom teams in the East below average is actually correct but not an indication of the actual overall strength of division on a national basis...the better question is if they are closer to the 50th percentile or the 1st (nationally)...if it is the former than the East is pretty damn strong

So yes...math hard...numbers and stuff...especially for those who can't comprehend the concepts behind them

 

[ellobo]

not trying to argue with anybody here but do people not realize Michigan has played three of the 10 or 15 worst football teams in FBS… In fact Sagarin ranks them like this Colorado state 137th, Hawaii 162nd and Connecticut 173rd… By the way there are 132 FBS teams?!

You don’t think we should wait on Michigan until they actually play somebody…?

Keep this in your back pocket. They played all three of those teams at home. Then they get Maryland at home and then they go on the road to Iowa city…hmmmm?!

You're certainly not wrong on Michigan’s schedule...it was a joke...

But if you want to play "fun with #s"...SDSU is ranked #138...one spot behind CSU. So basically two teams that are essentially even.. Michigan beat CSU 51-7 with the 7 coming in the 4th and the 3rd string. What was the score of the IOWA vs. SDSU again?

And since you've always shown to be a reasonable poster...I'll give a number that really might end up mattering: JJ McCarthy has 0 career road starts and Kinnick provides (dare I say) an "above average" home field advantage. As talented as the kid is, it will still be his 1st road start, in a hostile environment and against a excellent D. To me that is the wildcard in this game.

 

[cmhawks99]

You're certainly not wrong on Michigan’s schedule...it was a joke...

But if you want to play "fun with #s"...SDSU is ranked #138...one spot behind CSU. So basically two teams that are essentially even.. Michigan beat CSU 51-7 with the 7 coming in the 4th and the 3rd string. What was the score of the IOWA vs. SDSU again?

And since you've always shown to be a reasonable poster...I'll give a number that really might end up mattering: JJ McCarthy has 0 career road starts and Kinnick provides (dare I say) an "above average" home field advantage. As talented as the kid is, it will still be his 1st road start, in a hostile environment and against a excellent D. To me that is the wildcard in this game.

I know who you are and I’m not trying to be a jerk here I do think you’re a fine poster. I’ve seen you on the Rutgers board years back and I know you’re a good football fan.

But I think it was you back in the early 2000s that might’ve suggested we had some performance-enhancing drug issues… mostly because you couldn’t figure out how we kept being pretty good …

AnyWho yes those rankings are Obscure as hell I think we both agree and you’re probably even indicating that.

For the record South Dakota state is actually 91st and South Dakota is 138th and South Dakota State beat Colorado State last year by I believe three touchdowns @ CSU so I think it’s a fair point!

 

[badger57]

Back in 2018 Northwestern went winless in the non-conference, including a loss to Akron (finished 4-8). They ended up going 8-1 in conference play and won the division. I’m not counting Iowa out at this point, but that crossover schedule is going to be very tough to overcome

I think Minnesota is good, but not on a different tier from the other West competitors. They’ve played three terrible teams and steamrolled them, which, to their credit, they haven’t always done. Still plenty of reason for skepticism about the offense though, especially without Autman-Bell

Purdue already has a conference loss, but their remaining schedule is as easy as it gets in this conference. They aren’t going to beat the good teams that are left if they can’t run the ball at all though

Wisconsin has been playing balanced football, but couldn’t get out of its own way offensively against Wazzu. The defense is not quite at the same level as last year, but still very good. Trips to OSU, MSU, and Iowa make for a challenging schedule

We’ll see what happens, but I think we’re still a few weeks away from getting a clear picture of the hierarchy within the conference