This is certainly a lot more entertaining than the non-race in the B1G-W. Standings:
- 4-0 Ohio State
- 3-0 Penn State
- 3-0 Michigan State
- 2-1 Michigan
- 1-2 Maryland
- 1-2 Rutgers
- 0-3 Indiana
I believe that the Hoosiers are the next best team after the top-4 but their schedule has been brutal so far so they are already effectively eliminated.
Maryland and Rutgers each have two losses so they are in it mathematically but as a practical matter they already have a tie-breaker loss to and neither was competitive with Ohio State so they are effectively out.
As I see it, the PSU/M game this weekend is effectively an elimination game for the Wolverines. Meanwhile, if Penn State wins it sets up a huge 4-0 v 4-0 game in Columbus next weekend.
The Spartans should be favored in their next two games and if they win them both it sets up humongous games the first two Saturdays in November vs PSU and at Ohio State.
The two-team tiebreaker is, of course, H2H. In case it matters, here is the multiple team tiebreaker from
the B1G website (note that if only two teams remain after any step, the winner of the game between those two goes to Indy):
- H2H...2H
- Divisional record
- Record against the next highest placed team(s) in the division in order of finish
- Record among all common conference opponents
- Best cumulative conference winning percentage of B1G-W opponents
- Record against highest placing B1G-W team, then next highest, etc
- Overall winning percentage
- Random Draw
I would posit that the most likely three-way tie would be a 8-1 tie where the three teams beat each other. In that situation tiebreakers #1, #2, #3, #4, and #6 will not help leaving us with #5 and #7.
Note that this has changed since last year. The B1G-W opponents of the potentially relevant teams (and their current records) are:
Ohio State: (3-7)
- Iowa (1-2)
- Nebraska (2-2)
- Illinois (0-3)
Penn State: (4-6)
- Iowa (1-2)
- Nebraska (2-2)
- Northwestern (1-2)
Michigan State: (2-7)
- Iowa (1-2)
- Minnesota (0-3)
- Northwestern (1-2)
Michigan: (4-5)
- Wisconsin (3-0)
- Purdue (1-2)
- Minnesota (0-3)
As of right now the winners of a multi-team tie decided by records of B1G-W opponents would therefore be:
- Michigan
- Penn State
- Ohio State
- Michigan State