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Topic: Which team will be next to make their first B1GCG appearance?

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Cincydawg

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Re: Which team will be next to make their first B1GCG appearance?
« Reply #42 on: January 07, 2021, 01:50:01 PM »
I've thought Illinois was a potential near powerhouse program, and still do, with the right coach and facilities and investment.  I could see a year where they put up a pretty solid team and Wisconsin/Iowa/et al. have down years, and UI draws pastries from the East for crossover.  They might be 9-3 and hold the tie breakers.  Minnesota could do the same thing, probably with greater probability.  I thought Purdue was showing signs of life a couple years back.

Aside from the HC, happening upon a QB who was unheralded but fits the offense and matures into a good player, probably with good wheels, can make a diff.

FearlessF

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Re: Which team will be next to make their first B1GCG appearance?
« Reply #43 on: January 07, 2021, 02:51:20 PM »
with the right coach and facilities and investment.

this could be said about most programs
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medinabuckeye1

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Re: Which team will be next to make their first B1GCG appearance?
« Reply #44 on: January 07, 2021, 03:23:39 PM »
It's so incredible that the miracle '95 N'Western team lost to Miami of Ohio. 
That was the next game after their season-opening win over #9 Notre Dame in South Bend.  Hearing that, you would think it was just a "hangover" effect where they spent too much time celebrating the big win over ND but the weird thing is that Northwestern actually had a Saturday off in between.  They beat Notre Dame in South Bend on Saturday, September 2, then took Saturday, September 9 off, THEN lost to Miami, OH at home on Saturday, September 16.  The "hangover" shouldn't have lasted THAT long. 

OTOH, I just posted details of how dreadful the Wildcats were from 1949-1994 so that probably explains why it lasted as long as it did.  Also note that the previous year the Wildcats got blown out by ND (42-15 in Chicago) and finished 3-7-1.  Heading into 1995 the Wildcats hadn't won more than three games since 1986 (4-7) and hadn't finished above .500 since 1971 (7-4) so for them to knock off #9 Notre Dame on the road was unbelievable.  Here were Northwestern's conference finishes the ten years prior to winning the league in 1994:
  • 1985: 1-7, tied for last.  
  • 1986: 2-6, tied for second to last.  
  • 1987: 2-6, second to last.  
  • 1988: 2-5-1, tied for third to last.  
  • 1989: 0-8, last.  
  • 1990:  1-7, tied for second to last.  
  • 1991: 2-6, tied for second to last.  
  • 1992: 3-5, second to last.  
  • 1993: 0-8, tied for last.  
  • 1994: 2-6, second to last.  

In the ten years prior to 1995 the Wildcats only won 15 BigTen (and Big11Ten) games.  Then in 1995 they went 8-0.  

I'll always remember it because a girl I knew at the time was at Miami and kept trying to tell me that Miami, OH was better than Notre Dame and the entire Big11Ten.  

To be fair, the 1995 Wildcats had a bit of help from the schedule gods.  They missed second place Ohio State (finished 7-1) and fifth place MSU (finished 4-3-1).  Things would have been a little tougher missing Minnesota (finished 1-7) and either Illinois or Wisconsin (both finished 3-4-1).  

Brutus Buckeye

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Re: Which team will be next to make their first B1GCG appearance?
« Reply #45 on: January 07, 2021, 05:58:41 PM »
Actually all three of Northwestern's modern titles occurred on years where they both ducked OSU, and defeated Michigan.
1919, 20, 21, 28, 29, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 42, 44
WWH: 1952, 54, 55, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 67, 68, 70, 72, 74, 75
1979, 81, 82, 84, 87, 94, 98
2001, 02, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

FearlessF

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Re: Which team will be next to make their first B1GCG appearance?
« Reply #46 on: January 07, 2021, 06:53:02 PM »
a wildcat may suggest that on their best seasons, the Buckeyes ducked the Cats
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LittlePig

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Re: Which team will be next to make their first B1GCG appearance?
« Reply #47 on: January 07, 2021, 06:56:46 PM »
Graham played at Northwestern immediately before and in the first years of WWII.  His three teams went 5-3, 1-9, and 6-2 in 1941-1943.  His Wildcat teams went 2-1 against Ohio State teams coached by Paul Brown which is why Paul Brown drafted him to play for the Cleveland Browns after the war. 

Postwar, the Wildcats had a really good season in 1948 with an 8-2 record and a Rose Bowl win.  They didn't actually win the league, but Michigan repeated and the "no repeat rule" was in effect.  See side note on Rose Bowl below. 

After that Rose Bowl win on January 1, 1949 (1948 season) the Wildcats did not play in another bowl game until January 1, 1996 (1995 season) when they lost the Rose Bowl to USC.  They didn't win another bowl game until January 1, 2013 when they beat MissSt in the Gator Bowl. 

In between their Rose Bowl seasons in 1948 and 1995 the Wildcats were flat awful, the worst in all of College Football.  For the 46 years from 1949-1994 Northwestern was 135-325-8 0.297.  Doormat is an understatement, here is their record against each of the teams that were in the Big Ten for at least most of that time:
  • .105 against tOSU, 4-34
  • .147 against M, 5-29
  • .176 against Iowa, 6-28
  • .194 against MSU, 7-29
  • .212 against PU, 7-26
  • .293 against UW, 13-32-1
  • .333 against MN, 13-27-2
  • .391 against IL, 17-27-2
  • .462 against IU, 18-21


Northwestern was #7 in the final AP Poll for 1949 and #8 in the final AP Poll for 1995 but they were not ranked in any final poll between those two.  The Wildcats were ranked just 42 times out of 643 polls from 1949 through 1994.  Their ranking history from 1949-1994:
  • 1949:  Ranked #13 and #20 in two polls, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1950:  Ranked #9 and #20 in two polls, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1951:  Ranked #13 and #18 in two polls, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1952:  not ranked. 
  • 1953:  Ranked #18 in one poll, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1954-1957:  not ranked. 
  • 1958:  Ranked six times between #4 and #20, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1959:  Ranked 10 times between #2 and #10, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1960:  Ranked three times between #6 and #14, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1961:  not ranked. 
  • 1962:  Ranked five times between #1 and #9, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1963:  Ranked five times between #4 and #10, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1964-1969:  not ranked. 
  • 1970:  Ranked four times between #18 and #20, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1971:  Ranked #18 and #20 in two polls, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1972-1994:  not ranked.  NU was ranked #19 in the December 6, 1971 poll then fell out in the final poll.  They did not appear again until September 12, 1995 when they appeared at #25.  They started 1995 by stunning #9 Notre Dame in South Bend.  That actually didn't get them ranked but they had a week off the next week then got in at #25 before losing to Miami, OH and falling back out again.  Then they climbed all the way to #3 before losing to USC in the Rose Bowl to finish #8. 

Another way to look at it is their record against Ohio State:
  • .365, 9-16-1 from their first game (1913, tOSU's first year in the league) through 1948.  That isn't great, but it isn't all that bad either. 
  • .094, 5-48 from 1949 through 2020.  The five wins were:
  • 2004 in Evanston
  • 1971 in Columbus
  • 1963 in Columbus
  • 1962 in Columbus
  • 1958 in Evanston
The Wildcats lost 24 straight to the Buckeyes between their wins in 1971 and 2004 and since their win in 2004 they have lost nine straight. 

Side note on the Rose Bowl:
The BigTen/Pac8/10 Rose Bowl agreement started immediately after the war, for the 1946 season.  Prior to that the game was generally the Pac Champion against the best Eastern team they could get.  Ie, the 1946 Rose Bowl (1945 season) was USC vs #2 Bama. 

The BigTen dominated in the early years, winning six straight (1947-1952) and twelve of the first 13 (1947-1959).  In those first 13 years of the agreement the BigTen teams were:
  • 3-0 Ohio State
  • 2-0 Iowa
  • 2-0 Michigan State
  • 2-0 Illinois
  • 2-0 Michigan
  • 1-0 Northwestern
  • 0-1 Wisconsin
  • Purdue, Minnesota, and Indiana did not appear. 

For the next ten years the Rose Bowl was evenly matched with each conference winning five times.  In those 10 years (1960-1969) the BigTen teams were:
  • 1-0 Ohio State
  • 1-0 Illinois
  • 1-0 Purdue
  • 1-0 Michigan
  • 1-1 Minnesota
  • 0-1 Michigan State
  • 0-1 Indiana
  • 0-2 Wisconsin
  • Northwestern and Iowa did not appear. 

For the next 18 years the Pac dominated, winning 16 of 18 from 1970-1987.  In those 18 years the BigTen teams were:
  • 1-6 Ohio State
  • 1-7 Michigan
  • 0-1 Illinois
  • 0-2 Iowa
  • Michigan State, Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Minnesota did not appear. 

For the next 14 years the BigTen then Big11Ten did very well, going 9-5 before the BCS began to interfere with the historic matchup.  In those 14 years (1988-2001) the BigTen and Big11Ten teams were:
  • 3-0 Wisconsin
  • 1-0 Ohio State
  • 1-0 Michigan State
  • 1-0 Penn State
  • 3-2 Michigan
  • 0-1 Northwestern
  • 0-2 Iowa
  • Minnesota, Purdue, Indiana, and Illinois did not appear. 


This was a very interesting post with a lot of good information.

Just 1 minor thing.  The only thing that confused me was showing Iowa was 0-2 in the Rose Bowl from 1988-2001.  I am pretty sure Iowa only went once in that time frame, losing  the game of course,  to go 0-1

CWSooner

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Re: Which team will be next to make their first B1GCG appearance?
« Reply #48 on: January 07, 2021, 09:58:18 PM »

. . .


Northwestern was #7 in the final AP Poll for 1949 and #8 in the final AP Poll for 1995 but they were not ranked in any final poll between those two.  The Wildcats were ranked just 42 times out of 643 polls from 1949 through 1994.  Their ranking history from 1949-1994:
  • 1949:  Ranked #13 and #20 in two polls, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1950:  Ranked #9 and #20 in two polls, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1951:  Ranked #13 and #18 in two polls, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1952:  not ranked. 
  • 1953:  Ranked #18 in one poll, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1954-1957:  not ranked. 
  • 1958:  Ranked six times between #4 and #20, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1959:  Ranked 10 times between #2 and #10, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1960:  Ranked three times between #6 and #14, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1961:  not ranked. 
  • 1962:  Ranked five times between #1 and #9, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1963:  Ranked five times between #4 and #10, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1964-1969:  not ranked. 
  • 1970:  Ranked four times between #18 and #20, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1971:  Ranked #18 and #20 in two polls, otherwise unranked. 
  • 1972-1994:  not ranked.  NU was ranked #19 in the December 6, 1971 poll then fell out in the final poll.  They did not appear again until September 12, 1995 when they appeared at #25.  They started 1995 by stunning #9 Notre Dame in South Bend.  That actually didn't get them ranked but they had a week off the next week then got in at #25 before losing to Miami, OH and falling back out again.  Then they climbed all the way to #3 before losing to USC in the Rose Bowl to finish #8. . . .
Bud Wilkinson's 3rd-worst and worst Sooner teams helped Northwestern get off to 1-0 starts in 1959 and 1960.  Ara Parseghian was the Wildcats' HFC both years.
The '59 game is famous in OU lore for the whole team coming down sick in Evanston.  As the "story" goes, the mob had bet big on NU, so some food poisoning was introduced into the meals served at the hotel where they stayed.  The #10 ranked Wildcats won 45-13 over the #2 Sooners, who finished 7-3.
The '60 game was in Norman, with OU unranked, NU ranked #14.  The Wildcats won 19-3.  The Sooners went on to finish 3-6-1 for the season.
The two schools also played in 1997, the 2nd of John Blake's 3 miserable seasons in Norman.  The game was in Chicago--Soldier Field, I assume--and the Wildcats won 24-0.
So OU has an all-time record of 1-3 vs. Northwestern.  The only win was 23-0 in 1939, when neither team was ranked.
We need a rematch.  I hereby throw down the gauntlet.  Home-and-home, baby!
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Brutus Buckeye

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Re: Which team will be next to make their first B1GCG appearance?
« Reply #49 on: January 07, 2021, 10:02:23 PM »
1919, 20, 21, 28, 29, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 42, 44
WWH: 1952, 54, 55, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 67, 68, 70, 72, 74, 75
1979, 81, 82, 84, 87, 94, 98
2001, 02, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

FearlessF

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Re: Which team will be next to make their first B1GCG appearance?
« Reply #50 on: January 07, 2021, 10:02:30 PM »
love the single vote for Rutgers
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medinabuckeye1

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Re: Which team will be next to make their first B1GCG appearance?
« Reply #51 on: January 07, 2021, 10:09:28 PM »
This was a very interesting post with a lot of good information.

Just 1 minor thing.  The only thing that confused me was showing Iowa was 0-2 in the Rose Bowl from 1988-2001.  I am pretty sure Iowa only went once in that time frame, losing  the game of course,  to go 0-1
You are right. I somehow "credited" Purdue's loss to Iowa.

I'll fix it. 

 

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