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Isn't this also an example of fun with end points?   (For Fry v Ferentz?)

That's peak Penn State vs Fry and less than peak PSU vs Ferentz.
Michigan may not be peak vs Fry, but they are a helluva lot better than Mich during Ferentz tenure.

Isn't this also an example of fun with end points?   (For Fry v Ferentz?)

That's peak Penn State vs Fry and less than peak PSU vs Ferentz.
Michigan may not be peak vs Fry, but they are a helluva lot better than Mich during Ferentz tenure.

I think it is a little of each.  Ferentz' seven wins over Michigan do include some wins over less-than-great Michigan teams but he didn't play Michigan's 3-9 squad and has a few wins over some pretty good Michigan teams as well.  Records of Michigan teams that Ferentz' Iowa squads defeated:

• 11-2 (2011)
• 10-3 (2016, 2003, 2002)
• 7-6 (2013, 2010)
• 5-7 (2009)

So yes, Fry got the benefit of playing ~.500 Michigan squads that his teams defeated in 2009, 2010, and 2013 but he also has four wins over double-digit winning Michigan teams.  

FWIW:
Fry's four wins over Michigan came against teams that went:

• 10-1-1 (1985)
• 9-3 (1990, 1981)
• 6-6 (1984)

I think it is a little of each.  Ferentz' seven wins over Michigan do include some wins over less-than-great Michigan teams but he didn't play Michigan's 3-9 squad and has a few wins over some pretty good Michigan teams as well.  Records of Michigan teams that Ferentz' Iowa squads defeated:

• 11-2 (2011)
• 10-3 (2003)

how the F did that 2003 Michigan team lose 3 games? Man he really earned that nickname- LLLoyd.

Chris Perry was a freaking animal that year, probably the last truly elite RB that Michigan has had. I loved Mike Hart- GREAT player- but he didn't have that kind of size/power breakaway speed combo. There was a reason that Perry was a 1st round pick and Hart a 6th round pick. One dude was 6'1, 230 running a 4.5 flat- the other was 5'9, 190 running probably a 4.8 lol.

Then they had Braylon who was 1st team All-B1G that year, Avant who was 2nd team All-B1G that year, and Breaston who won the Freshman of the Year award that year. Also had a senior John Navarre who started a bunch of games the previous 3 years and a veteran OL with LT Tony Pape who was 1st team All-B1G that year and a senior David Baas at center who was a 1st team All-American that year.

That was a let-down year. No way they should've lost to Iowa and Oregon. That Oregon loss was especially bad when you look at how Oregon finished and how they got blown out by a lot of teams that year.

Interesting that 1981, 1985 and 1990 were the 3 years that Fry won the big ten and went to the Rose Bowl.   In those same years Iowa did not play OSU in 1981 and Iowa lost to OSU in 1985 and 1990.
So I guess the key to Fry wining the Big Ten was beating Mich but not OSU.

And winning all of the games he should have won.

If anyone needs to be fired, it's Aleva. He seems like an arrogant ass, and he clearly doesn't know how to manage a football program. The Miles fiasco would have been the final straw if I was the school president. That was so damn poorly handled. I could see if Miles was an asshole. He wasn't. Far from it.

Interesting that 1981, 1985 and 1990 were the 3 years that Fry won the big ten and went to the Rose Bowl.   In those same years Iowa did not play OSU in 1981 and Iowa lost to OSU in 1985 and 1990.
 So I guess the key to Fry wining the Big Ten was beating Mich but not OSU.

Not playing Iowa in 1981/1982 probably cost Ohio State two RoseBowl appearances.  
1981:  
In 1981 the Conference adopted a nine-game full round-robin schedule for all teams except Iowa and Ohio State.  The Hawkeyes (lost to MN and ILL) and Buckeyes (lost to MN and UW) tied for first at 6-2 ahead of a three-way tie for 3/4/5 between M, ILL, and UW at 6-3.  Iowa won the tiebreaker on the "longest loser rule" because they hadn't been to the Rosebowl (or any other bowl) since the 1950's.  
1982:
In 1982 Ohio State and Iowa were, again, the only two conference teams not to play each other.  Michigan won the conference at 8-1 (lost to Ohio State).  Ohio State finished a half game back at 7-1 while Iowa was a game behind Ohio State at 6-2.  Had Ohio State played and beaten the Hawkeyes then the Buckeyes would have finished tied with Michigan and won the tie based on their H2H win.  
In 1983 and 1984 all 10 BigTen teams played nine games and Illinois became the answer to a trivia question.  Illinois went 9-0 in 1983 thus becoming the only team in the history of the conference to beat every other team in the conference.  I've always thought 1983 was interesting just because:

• 9-0 Illinois beat everybody.  
• 8-1 Michigan beat everybody except Illinois.  
• 7-2 Iowa beat everybody except Illinois and Michigan.  
• 6-3 Ohio State beat everybody except Illinois, Michigan, and Iowa.  
• 5-4 Wisconsin beat everybody except Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, and Ohio State.  

Those were the dark ages of the Big Ten. Illinois that year lost to a mediocre Mizzou team and got absolutely smoked by a mediocre UCLA team in the Rose Bowl.

Yuck.

It was because Illinois was partying too hard at the Playboy mansion before the Rose Bowl.  (Long rumor that has been pretty much debunked)