I didn't think of it in those terms, but assume that if we finish better than 8-4 then it's because our schedule is as weak as the pundits say. There's no excuse for losing to a 1AA school, it's unforgivable. A 12-1 regular season with wins over Michigan and OSU would not get us into the playoff, because of today. A loss to Rutgers would have looked better in the eyes of the nation.
This year we're playing for pride and a B1G championship, and that's all. There will be no magic of last year.
Too many mistakes today. NDSU is too good of a team to make that many mistakes and survive it. We needed an average performance to win today, and got below average.