Skip to main content

The Weekend in the Big Ten

The further we move along in the college football season, the less impressed I've been with the Big Ten Conference.

Three unbeatens remain after Saturday: Ohio State, who had trouble putting away 0-3 UAB, by the final score of 29-15; Northwestern, who took care of I-AA South Dakota; and lastly Minnesota, who beat Syracuse by a touchdown to improve to 4-0.

Wisconsin had trouble with 1-3 UTEP, beating Mike Price's Miners by 11 points. Michigan State trailed 0-4 Eastern Michigan 7-3 at the half and were up only 9-7 at the end of three, before scoring a couple touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Nebraska beat I-AA Idaho State quite handily. Penn State struggled to beat 1-2 Temple, 24-13. Iowa lost to Central Michigan of the MAC, 32-31. Michigan fell to 2-2 after their 13-6 loss at the hands of Notre Dame. Lastly, Illinois got pummeled at home by Louisiana Tech, 52-24.

Conference play starts this weekend,where: Undefeated Northwestern will host Indiana, Penn State will pay a visit to Illinois, unbeaten Minnesota will travel to Iowa City to take on the Hawkeyes of Iowa, Michigan State will host the Buckeyes of Ohio State and Wisconsin will travel to Lincoln to face Nebraska. The only team in the conference who will not play a fellow Big Ten opponent is Purdue, who will host Marshall. Michigan is the only team with an off-week.

Of the 33 non-conference wins the Big Ten has posted, 10 of them are against I-AA teams (30.3%). Their record against the five other major conferences (along with Notre Dame) is 5-9 (.357). Without their three unbeatens (Northwestern, Ohio State and Minnesota), the conference would be 0-9 (.000) in those games. Big Ten teams have lost three games to MAC opponents: Indiana fell to Ball State 41-39, Iowa to Central Michigan 32-31 and Penn State lost to Ohio 24-14.

With only two non-conference games left to be played by Big Ten teams (Purdue against Marshall and Indiana versus Navy), I think it's safe to say that the Big Ten will have to fair quite strongly in bowl games in order to salvage even a mediocre image by season's end. Unfortunately for them, quite possibly the best team in the conference - Ohio State - will not be eligible to play in a bowl game this season.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Boycotting jukeboxes because of TouchTunes

I love music and enjoy hitting the bar(s) over the weekend, so naturally, when the mood strikes me, I've never been coy about playing some songs on the jukebox. This past Thursday, a friend of mine turned 50, so several friends of her's, including myself, all met up to celebrate the occasion. At around 9:30, a friend of mine and I both chipped in $5 to play some songs on the jukebox. Four hours and 231 skips later, we gave up on hearing the songs we had selected, and went home knowing we had just wasted $5. This wasn't the first time such a thing had happened to me (and many others), and due to that, I'll be boycotting jukeboxes. Why? The scam known as TouchTunes. You see, here's how the plot typically breaks down. A person (or group of people) downloads the TouchTunes app on his/her phone, consumes one too many adult beverages, and due to this, has less care for spending extra money to hear the songs of their choosing right NOW. That's the thing with TouchTun
2 comments
Read more

The difference between "looking" and "checking out"

I may be way off with these numbers, but it's my approximation that at least 75% of individuals whom are involved in a serious relationship feel it's perfectly acceptable to "check out" members of the opposite sex they're not involved with. Meanwhile, approximately 25% either don't feel this is acceptable or aren't sure about the matter. I hadn't thought about this matter for a while, but since I've been dating a woman for about 8 months, the topic has been pondered about some. When reading or hearing others discuss this very issue, I often times hear comments similar to the following: "It's human nature to look." "There's nothing wrong with checking others out. I'm sure he/she does it too!" "It's fine to do it. Just don't tell your boyfriend/girlfriend about it or do it in front of them!" "It's natural to find people attractive." When observing the array of comments, I i
Post a Comment
Read more

The verdict is in. To no one's surprise, Jonathan Hoenig has been found guilty of being an idiot.

Just recently, when discussing the Michael Brown shooting and whether or not race had anything to do with it, Fox News contributor Jonathan Hoenig said, "You know who talks about race? Racists." One moment while I provide Mr. Hoenig with the well deserved slow-clap. :: slow-claps for two seconds :: So, that was quite the line by Mr. Hoenig, wasn't it? "You know who talks about race? Racists." Well, wasn't he just talking about race? So, by his own words, I guess that makes him a racist. Also, if he wants to be consistent, does this mean that people whom talk about gender are sexists and people whom talk about sexual orientation are homophobes? With that line of thinking, Hoenig would engage in the following back-and-forths: Hoenig: "So, who are you voting for?" A woman: "The Democratic candidate, because he's been adamant about his support for equal rights for women." Hoenig: "You sexist feminist nazi!"
Post a Comment
Read more