East vs West MYTH

koralakers

Well-Known Member
Beginning in 2014, the BIG changed divisions from Leaders/Legends to East/West. Here are the cross-division records of the WEST (versus the East)
2014 7-7
2015 7-7
2016 11-10
2017 8-13
2018 10-11
2019 9-10 (so far)
WEST Overall 52-58(47.3%) vs East.

Some people act like the East wins at like a 70% clip. For sure East more top-heavy, while West is more balanced.
 
I think the only cross over game remaining is Nebraska @ Maryland this Saturday.

But I'm pulling for Maryland, I'd like to see Nebraska playing Iowa with no bowl game on the line.

edit - oops, I missed Indiana @ Purdue.
 
I think the only cross over game remaining is Nebraska @ Maryland this Saturday.

But I'm pulling for Maryland, I'd like to see Nebraska playing Iowa with no bowl game on the line.
Indiana/Purdue, which could impact us in the bowl pecking order if Indiana knocks Michigan off this weekend, a game that screams TRAP for Michigan.

I think we would have the upper hand on Indiana for bowl order, however. They missed a golden opportunity against Penn State. They missed all the top West schools (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois) on the crossover.
 
Indiana/Purdue, which could impact us in the bowl pecking order if Indiana knocks Michigan off this weekend, a game that screams TRAP for Michigan.

I think we would have the upper hand on Indiana for bowl order, however. They missed a golden opportunity against Penn State. They missed all the top West schools (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois) on the crossover.

I was surprised at how well Indiana played Pedo State but I don't expect them to beat Michigan or Purdue. I think they are one of the weakest 7-3 teams in a power 5 conference. They may have played a little over their heads against PSU since they were on a roll and ranked for the first time in years.
 
Remember when Nebraska went to a bowl game with 5 wins...
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Beginning in 2014, the BIG changed divisions from Leaders/Legends to East/West. Here are the cross-division records of the WEST (versus the East)
2014 7-7
2015 7-7
2016 11-10
2017 8-13
2018 10-11
2019 9-10 (so far)
WEST Overall 52-58(47.3%) vs East.

Some people act like the East wins at like a 70% clip. For sure East more top-heavy, while West is more balanced.
It's a little more complicated than that, IMO, because it skews which division actually wins head to head.

If we take the top 3 teams for each division since 2014 it looks like this:

East

OSU: 72-7 overall
PSU: 54-22
UM: 51-23
TOTAL: 177-52, .773

West

WIS: 61-17
IOWA: 51-25
MIN: 44-30
TOTAL: 156-72, .684

Now, one could make all kinds of arguments about SOS, which division is weaker overall (since most games are played in-division), etc., but how to the East Top 3 stack up when playing against the West Top 3?

Since 2014:

OSU vs:
IOWA: 0-1
WIS: 4-0
MIN: 3-0
TOTAL: 7-1

PSU vs:

IOWA: 4-0
WIS: 2-0
MIN: 1-1
TOTAL: 7-1

UM vs:

IOWA: 1-1
WIS: 2-2
MIN: 2-1
TOTAL: 5-4

EAST 3 vs WEST 3: 19-6, .760

It's hard as hell not to argue that the East is a waaaay better division than the West, especially when a West team has never won the B1G.
 
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Bottom line. The West has never won the Big Ten Championship game.

Until it does, the assumption is that the best team will always come out of the East, therefore the East is always better.

That's a good point....but again, as the OP said, it's not quite the difference that people make it out to be. I love when people say "hiding in the putrid/weak/terrible B1G West' or something to those lines...The B1G West may not be as good as the East, but it's still what? 3rd or 4th best division in the sport most years? It's not a bad division and I think there's plenty of proof in that if you just look at the coaches.
 
Bottom line. The West has never won the Big Ten Championship game.

Until it does, the assumption is that the best team will always come out of the East, therefore the East is always better.

You would think that would be part of the argument, yes.
 
Holy shit, I never thought about that - that was 14. This could be 3 years in a row with out a bowl and 5 out of the last 6 not being bowl eligible.
I spend a lot of time on huskerboard because, well, I don't partake in any substances and how else am I going to get buzzed on a Saturday night?

At least 5 times a week some spare part starts a thread whining that they should have never left the Big 12. At first, people would reply something to the effect of, "Bullshit, we;'re gonna tear that division up too..."

But now the mud hutters know they suck, so their reply is most generally about how it's good to be in the B1G because of the huge money they get.

Now don't get me wrong...I love the acceptance of their fate and the low self-esteem it brings them and their offspring, but I can't help but think that at some point moving up to our big boy conference and getting their heads kicked in year after year has to result in a net negative money-wise compared to staying in the Big 12 and competing for conference titles. Their last 5 years in the Big 12 they won the conference 4 times, three of them in a row. That would have likely meant 4 CFPs in 5 years with 3 in a row. That's Alabama-level success.

B1G money or not, if they would have just stayed in their lane and kept playing 2 varsity games a year, they would be net cash ahead in my opinion.
 
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Let's just face facts. The East is only better because of OSU. OSU is the class of the conference and the only team that can occasionally compete against good southern teams. Michigan and PSU have nice programs, but they are both approximately where Iowa is. Sure, Iowa has had a bad run against PSU, but for the most part the games have been close battles, so it's not like you can look at the films and think "OMG, PSU is just light years ahead of Iowa." Below Wisconsin, the West falls off, but the teams are for the most part decent middle tier college programs with some variance to the terrible from year to year.

The Big Ten is really just now probably the Little 3 (Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana), the Medium 9 (the other teams in the conference all have some degree of tradition, maybe put Northwestern in the little column) and the Big One (OSU).
 
Let's just face facts. The East is only better because of OSU. OSU is the class of the conference and the only team that can occasionally compete against good southern teams. Michigan and PSU have nice programs, but they are both approximately where Iowa is. Sure, Iowa has had a bad run against PSU, but for the most part the games have been close battles, so it's not like you can look at the films and think "OMG, PSU is just light years ahead of Iowa." Below Wisconsin, the West falls off, but the teams are for the most part decent middle tier college programs with some variance to the terrible from year to year.

The Big Ten is really just now probably the Little 3 (Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana), the Medium 9 (the other teams in the conference all have some degree of tradition, maybe put Northwestern in the little column) and the Big One (OSU).

...... and KF and Iowa had a nice run against Penn St for many years prior to the last 4. Cyclicicicicicic.
 

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