CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: Cincydawg on November 26, 2018, 11:20:43 AM
-
I don't mean which fans support the best teams. That's too easy, but which fans now are very pleasantly surprised by how well their teams fared?
Northwestern has to be near the top of the group, right? Win or lose, B1G West Champions and probable good bowl.
Kentucky? Heart breaking loss to UGA could be excused but the subsequent blowout in Knoxville really ruined a great season.
Wazzu? Similar to UK, but still 10-2.
A&M? A lot of close wins and losses, but at 8-4 some signs point upward.
Florida? Much better record and ranking of course, still not where they want to be, but progress.
Syracuse. I would put them near NW fans.
Ohio State? Holy cow, that group went from griping nonstop to elated in a few hours. Very down and up group.
-
This was my notion of how the average SEC(!!!) fan is feeling:
Mizzou - solid 8, solid year, could have been better.
Kentucky - 7, great year really except for that puzzler in Kville
Vandy - 9, beat Tenn and qualified for a bowl game, didn't want Bama
South Carolina - 4, had higher expectations, lost in state rivalry
Florida - 6.5, improved, some signs of life, beat FSU badly, good record and high ranking, could be top ten
Georgia - 8.5, won the East as expected, one bad game, beat Florida, a bit of a challenge in the offing
Alabama - 1, yeah won the West as usual, but allowed a few points to be scored on the D
LSU - 6.5, pretty solid season, highish ranking, decent bowl game probable
Auburn 3 - lost to Tennessee, enough said.
A&M - 7.5, some closish losses, signs of progress out there
Miss State 6.5, finished ranked, not bad at all
Ole Miss 10.0, hey, we had the Grove and everyone had fun
Arkansas - 0.0. Didn't expect much at all, but expected more than THAT.
-
Most Texas fans I know are pretty happy with the season. Went from 6-6 last year to 9-3 this year, with a chance to win the B12. Perhaps even more important than the record, we finally have a QB that isn't a severe detriment to the team. He might not ever be a great one, but even "serviceable" is a heck of a lot better than we've had at Texas in almost a decade.
-
ND fans aren't unhappy with the fourth unbeaten/untied regular season since 1950...
-
ND fans aren't unhappy with the fourth unbeaten/untied regular season since 1950...
That was the one overlooked one that jumped out to me
-
To be fair to leaving ND off, there weren't a lot of jump up and down moments for the Irish. They were consistently good enough, without marquis moments. The Michigan win was big, but the second half of that game was brutal. Stanford was a quality win, but then Stanford wasn't as good as we all thought. Syracuse was the biggest moment, but...it's still Syracuse (to the average fan's mind, at least). And as good as scoring 24 unanswered against the Trojans was, the 10-0 deficit and one-score victory against a thoroughly mediocre team--even if ND's biggest rival--wasn't what the faithful wanted to see. ND finished with three top-25 (end of season) wins (Michigan, Syracuse, and Northwestern), and two wins against others receiving votes (Pitt and Stanford). Not bad, but not amazing, either.
Unlike 2012, there weren't many "it" moments.
But...unbeaten is unbeaten. Curios that there are three unbeaten P5 teams this regular season. That's pretty rare, if I remember correctly.
-
An undefeated regular season becomes a lot less memorable if it isn't capped with an undefeated post season.
-
I don't know--2012 is pretty memorable for ND fans and haters alike. :)
-
There rarely are 3 undefeated P5 teams after the CGs. This year could be different, as really only Alabama has much of a shot at losing.
Bama fans are never happy. I've learned that.
Maybe for one microsecond after they win the NC.
Georgia fans feel like Phil Mickelson of old.
-
I don't know--2012 is pretty memorable for ND fans and haters alike. :)
Whatever floats your boat, I suppose.
-
If a 12-0 season isn't memorable, you need to adjust your expectations or find something new to enjoy because unless you are an Alabama fan, college football would be a miserable experience for you.
-
I didn't say it wasn't memorable. It just loses it's shine a little bit.
There are a lot of things that can make a season memorable aside from undeafeated seasons.
Rivalry wins, Conference Titles, ect.
But this thread is essentially ranking those experiences against one another. And the undeafed season trumps the undeafeated regular season.
-
Most Texas fans I know are pretty happy with the season. Went from 6-6 last year to 9-3 this year, with a chance to win the B12.
Make it special and sweep the Dirt Burglars
-
I can recall being reasonably content with an 8-3 season and a Gator Bowl.
It's a matter of expectations versus reality.
-
collectively, UNL fans are probably the happiest 4-7 fans this year.
-
Ohio State fans are giddy for a week anyway.
-
OSU had an unremarkable 12-0 season a couple years back. Auburn's 11-0 in 1993 didn't yield immortality, but they were on probation.
Florida fans are happy. 9-3 was the general best-case scenario for year one of Mullen. The loss to UK made everyone nervous, but the win over LSU made up for it. The loss to Mizzou was odd. But destroying FSU at their place was a great ending to the regular season.
It probably gave the Gator Nation an uptick to have the 'other' 2 top coaching hires start out like 0-13 combined.
My only fear now is that we get into a bowl above our heads and get spanked. We'll see.
-
The worst bowl opponent would be UCF even with the injury to the QB.
-
Make it special and sweep the Dirt Burglars
Amen, brutha!
-
ND fans aren't unhappy with the fourth unbeaten/untied regular season since 1950...
The rest of the college football world could do without it though lol...
-
The worst bowl opponent would be UCF even with the injury to the QB.
Of Florida's big 3, UF is the only one that hasn't lost to UCF or USF.
If the Gators do play UCF in a bowl, the messed up thing is that the outcome would entirely depend on whether the Gators' defense decided to show up or not. I know that sounds dismissive or homerish, but it's true. With Milton out, it's especially true. If the NFLers to be have checked out, Florida will play like they did vs Mizzou, and lose.
If the defense plays motivated, Florida would win and get minimal credit, again, especially with Milton out.
-
Didn't Milton's backup come in and go 5-16 or something?
I'm not convinced UCF is beating Memphis, let alone Florida.
-
UCF is a team you don't want to play in a bowl game. No credit for winning, and you'd feel an Auburn burn if you lose.
-
Looking at the Purdue schedule before the season, many Boiler fans predicted a 6-6 or 5-7 campaign. While finishing 6-6 under the circumstances wasn't great, it wasn't all that bad either.
Purdue returned to the status of Spoilermakers. In grand fashion.
Every team they beat at home was ranked at the time: Boston College, Ohio State, and Iowa.
2 of the teams they beat on the road were homecoming games: @Illinois and @Nebraska.
And of course the other road win was @Indiana, which spoiled their bowl dreams.
Boiler Up!
-
Looking at the Purdue schedule before the season, many Boiler fans predicted a 6-6 or 5-7 campaign. While finishing 6-6 under the circumstances wasn't great, it wasn't all that bad either.
Purdue returned to the status of Spoilermakers. In grand fashion.
Every team they beat at home was ranked at the time: Boston College, Ohio State, and Iowa.
2 of the teams they beat on the road were homecoming games: @Illinois and @Nebraska.
And of course the other road win was @Indiana, which spoiled their bowl dreams.
Boiler Up!
They may have ended up at the destination we though they'd reach, but they certainly took an unexpected route!!!
If I told you pre-season that they'd lose to EMU and get blasted off the field by Minnesota, but they'd mercilessly trounce Ohio State [and not a down-year OSU, an 11-1 OSU], and beat two other ranked teams... You'd think I was nuts!
-
OSU fans are felling right pert at the moment, perhaps enough so that even if their future goes south, they may still revel in beating JH again with the cards stacked against them.
-
Hard to say about the best season. For OSU's part, 2002 and 2014 were otherwordly. There were not a ton of expectations in 2002, and Maurice Clarett was often injured, leading to extremely close wins. This was also back when Michigan was more of a scary monster, so actually beating them to go to the national championship game was monumental. And of course very few gave OSU any sort of chance to beat Miami, and the game itself is on the short list for best games of all time (and I was there), so for my money it will always be the best season. I was also a 2L at OSU law at the time, so I'm most definitely biased.
2014 was similar, and also very different. There were expectations until Braxton Miller was a no go for the season and OSU had to turn to a freshman JT Barrett, and they promptly lose to Virginia Tech. Then they somewhat quietly dominated most of the rest of their schedule (with a notable exception at Penn State). Then just as they were getting back on the national radar for a playoff spot, JT broke his leg v. Michigan, which really took the air out of the whole state. Then they obliterated Wisconsin and got to the playoffs (the very first playoff). They were underdogs against Alabama, and got an epic win, before finishing off the season in a pretty ugly and uneventful championship game against Oregon.
The reason I write all that is because there's a comparison to be made. OSU was was a championship contender coming into the season, they were not world beaters, and really didn't play a truly impressive game until the last one against Michigan. As far as single days go, that was one of the best I've had, but as a season, not so much. Of course, if they sneak into the playoffs, beat an alltime great like Bama and win a championship, things are different.
For my money, right now, Northwestern is the team. Pretty mild expectations, a mostly brutal start to the season, and they kick ass and win their division pretty handily. Now they are playing for the Rose Bowl.
-
Looking at the Purdue schedule before the season, many Boiler fans predicted a 6-6 or 5-7 campaign. While finishing 6-6 under the circumstances wasn't great, it wasn't all that bad either.
Purdue returned to the status of Spoilermakers. In grand fashion.
Every team they beat at home was ranked at the time: Boston College, Ohio State, and Iowa.
2 of the teams they beat on the road were homecoming games: @Illinois and @Nebraska.
And of course the other road win was @Indiana, which spoiled their bowl dreams.
Boiler Up!
Not all records are created equal.
One of my favorite seasons to reflect on is Stanford's 2007. In 2006, the Cardinal were 1-11 under Walt Harris, who was fired at the end of the season. Harbaugh was hired from San Diego State. First, UCLA whupped em. The Cardinal equaled their 2006 win total when in week 2 they beat local doormat San Jose State. Then Oregon whupped em. Then Arizona State whupped em.
Stanford went to #2 USC as 41-point underdogs. And won, 24-23. They got back to losing the next week versus TCU, but beat Arizona, then lost a bunch more. But, ending their season with their rivalry game against Cal, to whom Stanford had lost the prior five games, Stanford added one more to the win column.
Coming off a 1-win season, winning against the biggest point spread in P5 history--against a hated rival on the road--and beating your biggest rival for the first time in five years makes for the greatest 4-8 season I've ever heard of.
Not better ND 2018's 12-0, but honestly, as regular seasons go, it created as many "wow" moments for the Cardinal fans as this season did for the Irish.
-
Nobody's got it better than the Wolverines.
-
Nobody's got it better than the Wolverines.
You like to kick a guy when he is down don’t you.
-
Wazzou Cougar fans had a fun season until last week
-
Does the fact Northwestern has won 14 of their last 15 B10 games reflect poorly on the conference? Not flaming or anything, but this was mentioned on the radio and I was dumbfounded by it. Or does it just mean the B10West is weak and Wisconsin pooped the bed this year?
-
Wazzou Cougar fans had a fun season until last week
Someone should gobble up their DC.
-
the Sooners???
the Gophers???
the Buckeyes??
the Huskers?
-
To me no season can be special without a bowl win. After enduring so many end of year disappointments it's hard to feel rosy about any season that ends with a L even if you've otherwise had a great season. Plus, that last win normally is the difference between ending with a top ten ranking or a not so great ranking. For example, in 1998 A&M had a remarkable season in which we beat the #2 and #1 teams in the country, won 11 games, and won the Big 12. We lost the Sugar Bowl to OSU and finished just outside the top ten. Winning the Sugar Bowl would have definitely put us into the top ten or maybe even top 5 for the year. In 2012 we lost 2 games, but beat #1 Bama and Big 12 Champion OU in the Cotton Bowl. We finished the year ranked #5. Big difference in my mind, even though '98 gave us the hardware, 2012 still remains better to most Ags.
-
Someone should gobble up their DC.
someone might. his name was all over Pac 12 talk on XM.
-
I think you have to look more outside the power conferences for this question:
1. UAB - Best season in school history in just its second year back from the dead.
2. Buffalo - Also probably its best season in school history, especially if it beats Northern Illinois in the MACCG.
3. Utah State - Best season in a long time aside from Anderson's best year.
4. Eastern Michigan - Could have its best season in 30 years pending their bowl game.
5. Cincinnati - Best season since the Kelly and Jones years.
6. Army - Best season in at least 20 and potentially 50+ years (although they had higher expectations than the other teams listed above).
-
Having a bowl win does cap a special season in a special way. I agree.
And I agree about those G5 schools, that really is what I was trying to look for here.
I guess a metric we could check is how much attendance rose at those places over last season.
-
Any Year you beat M*ch*g*n it's a good year.
-
Having a bowl win does cap a special season in a special way. I agree.
And I agree about those G5 schools, that really is what I was trying to look for here.
I guess a metric we could check is how much attendance rose at those places over last season.
Well then, you know, maybe you should have specified that in your OP. ;)
-
So, the "question" could be what makes for a "good year", something I ponder from time to time, as few of us end up with our team winning the NC.
1. Beating your rival(s).
2. Doing better than expected.
3. Winning a bowl game.
4. Looking classy in the main, few silly PFs and no bad off field incidents, no Fulmer Cup competition.
5. Playing in one or more nationally significant games.
6. Win your division/conference.
Anything else? Having an exciting player? Someone who perhaps is mentioned for a national award?
I think for many this could be quantified by looking at attendance versus years past, unless you sell out all the time anyway.
What is a good year for you? Maybe it is distilled down to Item One?
For me, it would be the above:
1. Beat Florida, mainly (Tenn, Auburn, Tech get somewhat close to that).
2. Yeah, if P expected 10-2 and the team finishes 11-1 it's good.
3. Yeah, that ends the season on that up note.
4. Yup.
5. Yup.
6. Yup, that is my main hope really, win the conference, or at least the division.
-
Does some math ...
Not Wisconsin's
-
Does the fact Northwestern has won 14 of their last 15 B10 games reflect poorly on the conference? Not flaming or anything, but this was mentioned on the radio and I was dumbfounded by it. Or does it just mean the B10West is weak and Wisconsin pooped the bed this year?
NU is a good team and has been for quite a while, save for a rough year here and there. The only B1G teams they've lost to in the past two seasons are UW, PSU and UM. This season, they gave Michigan and ND all they wanted.
-
Their two OOC losses are perplexing.
Conference strength has to be based on OOC wins and losses of note.
Imagine if Vandy won the SEC East and had 3 OOC losses. It would not look good.
-
That has some merit, but NU is what it is. They start slow and finish hot. Very typical of a developmental program, which defines about every program not called M, OSU or PSU.
-
Notre Dame fans are having a great year.
-
Does the fact Northwestern has won 14 of their last 15 B10 games reflect poorly on the conference? Not flaming or anything, but this was mentioned on the radio and I was dumbfounded by it. Or does it just mean the B10West is weak and Wisconsin pooped the bed this year?
I think it's a little of both. Northwestern is a good team, but not a great team, and the West is down. Wisconsin got too dinged up this year, Iowa has been a little too Iowa, and Nebraska, which is supposed to bring the West up, is down. So yeah, Northwestern is shining on the weak side of the conference. It also relates to who they play, and how you cut their record apart. They haven't played 15 Big Ten games in the last two seasons, they've played 17, but the last 15 cuts out their losses to Wisconsin and Penn State last season (their first two Big Ten games). Not playing Ohio State or Penn State probably helped this season, just as not playing Michigan and Ohio State helped last season (but playing Penn State and Wisconsin resulted in the two aforementioned losses).
-
I think it's a little of both. Northwestern is a good team, but not a great team, and the West is down.
I wouldn't say the West is down. I actually think the West is up. They just lacked a great team. But 1-6 was all pretty darn good, and Illinois had enough offense to be a pain when they were clicking.
-
I think it would be easier to coach at NW or Stanford or Duke etc. than at Bama etc.
Not easy, but a really good group of coaches could make a difference at the former as the season progresses with less heralded players.
-
I wouldn't say the West is down. I actually think the West is up. They just lacked a great team. But 1-6 was all pretty darn good, and Illinois had enough offense to be a pain when they were clicking.
Northwestern has had a good Big Ten season, but a bad non-conference season, which begs the question: is it better or the division is worse?
Purdue feels improved, but had the same record last season. It is on the better end of its decade-long performance, but that's a bad decade of football. Minnesota is one game better than last season, but well within a standard deviation of its mean in this century (I'm not sure that's technically accurate, but it's probably close). Illinois is hideous, but two games better than last season (4-8 is in the bottom half of the last decade, but better than the last two years). Nebraska is historically bad (same as last year), but apparently improving. That leaves Wisconsin and Iowa. Wisconsin had its worst regular season since 2008. And Iowa had a season that looks a lot like the last decade (Iowa has had 7 or 8 regular season wins every year since 2010, except when it won 12 in 2015 and 4 in 2012).
Oh--and Northwestern has a worse overall record than last season, and is only one game (Wisconsin) better in the conference.
So Purdue and Nebraska feel like they are getting better, but had the same record last season. Iowa feels worse, but is steady as she goes. Illinois and Minnesota have improved records from last year, but they are both going from bad to not quite as bad. Wisconsin is worse, and went from really, really good (4-straight 10+win seasons, 7 of the last 9) to thoroughly mediocre.
Overall, the only big change is Wisconsin, which is much worse than usual.
Unsurprising that a Wisconsin fan doesn't think the division is improving. :)
-
Purdue's schedule was tougher this year, and we were concerned about a step down due to losing a LOT of defensive starters on a surprisingly-decent defense from 2017.
And while the record was the same as last year, I think the results were better. The loss against NU was solidified by one bad defensive penalty [not to say we'd have won, but we'd have a chance]. The loss against EMU was due to one bad defensive penalty. We'd have put that game away had we gotten the ball back. The loss against Mizzou came down to a last-second field goal. The loss against UW was triple-OT. The wins, however... We were 0-3 against ranked teams in 2017. We were 3-0 against ranked teams in 2018.
So yeah, given some of the "highs" of the 2018 season, one might think it's a bit disappointing to finish at the same 6-6. But for Purdue fans, we expected a rough year, and after starting 0-3, to get to 6-6 and beat 3 ranked teams feels pretty damn good.
-
Missouri had a solid team. A close loss to them is not a terrible thing. Their QB will get his name called early in the draft, perhaps very early.
Purdue is a few plays away from being 9-3.
-
Speaking of OOC:
The SEC was 8-3 OOC vs P5, and the 3 losses were
Vandy's 5 point loss to ND
Tennessee getting beat down by WV
A&M's 2-point loss to Clemson