B1G League Play Question....

hawkfanintexas

hawkfanintexas

Member
could divisional play ever lead to a team having a 1-2 game lead (and holding the tie breaker) and possibly "throw" a game? just like in the NFL when a clinched playoff spot is assured, that team now has a position of influence against who they may play in the first round of the playoffs.

for example, say we are out of the National Championship picture, are a game up in conference play verse all other divisional opponents (like 6-1 in B1G play entering the NU game, while NU is sitting in a tie in second place at 4-3). we do not have to win that game to get to The B1G championship game.

Would we rest people knowing that we are out of the national championship picture to try to save key personel for the B1G championship to get to a BCS game?

if we are undefeated of course we still play everyone for all the marbles, do you still risk a chance to get in with only 1 loss?

has this happened in any other "divisional" conferences? what are your thoughts about what you would do as coach?
 
If a team from the Big Ten has one loss with two games to play, there is absolutely no way they are out of the NC picture...

Only would teams rest starters if the unfortunate happens and espn gets its dream of forcing a playoff in college football.....then the regular season means jack **** just like the NFL.
 
kuhntz said:
If a team from the Big Ten has one loss with two games to play, there is absolutely no way they are out of the NC picture...

Only would teams rest starters if the unfortunate happens and espn gets its dream of forcing a playoff in college football.....then the regular season means jack **** just like the NFL.
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i agree but my scenario would have to have and out of conference loss along with only 1 loss in conference. So with an overall record of 9-2 (6-1) heading into NU with them having no better than 8-3 (4-3) record. Of course in this scenario no team could catch Iowa going into that last week making them already a lock to get to the B1G championship game. It would also be a lock that we could not do any better than winning the B1G championship game and getting to a BCS.

The only reason I would see a team not "throw" a game is if they think they could get an "at-large" bid at 10-3, with that third loss coming in that championship game.
 
Wow, for some reason my auto-log in stopped for my iPad, and I somehow pirated that other username. I wondered where my sig and avatar went. hmm interesting
 
hawkfanintexas said:
i agree but my scenario would have to have and out of conference loss along with only 1 loss in conference. So with an overall record of 9-2 (6-1) heading into NU with them having no better than 8-3 (4-3) record. Of course in this scenario no team could catch Iowa going into that last week making them already a lock to get to the B1G championship game. It would also be a lock that we could not do any better than winning the B1G championship game and getting to a BCS.

The only reason I would see a team not "throw" a game is if they think they could get an "at-large" bid at 10-3, with that third loss coming in that championship game.
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Since it's the last game of the year, possibly the last home game ever for seniors, I'd hope that you'd never throw a game. College football is a different beast from the nfl, college games mean more, whereas a pro game in that instance means nothing. In the very least, say you lose that game and then the CCG, not only could you lose momentum, but a 9-4 season where you finished on a two game losing streak as opposed to a 10-3 season and a one loss streak could mean the difference between a new years day bowl and a pre Christmas bowl.

A 10-3 team will probably never get an at large bcs bid. Too many zero, one, or two loss teams out there.
 
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74Hunter said:
Since it's the last game of the year, possibly the last home game ever for seniors, I'd hope that you'd never throw a game. College football is a different beast from the nfl, college games mean more, whereas a pro game in that instance means nothing. In the very least, say you lose that game and then the CCG, not only could you lose momentum, but a 9-4 season where you finished on a two game losing streak as opposed to a 10-3 season and a one loss streak could mean the difference between a new years day bowl and a pre Christmas bowl.

A 10-3 team will probably never get an at large bcs bid. Too many zero, one, or two loss teams out there.
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I agree with your post totally, but thinking of this small scenario is beginning to get me to hate the idea of a playoff. Still in favor of a +1 though.

Hey Hunter-did you see what i did with that other username? I don't even know how i did that.... just wierd. I think i opened a can of worms because if i did that unknowingly, how bad is the security on this site for profiles?
 
hawkfaninTX said:
I agree with your post totally, but thinking of this small scenario is beginning to get me to hate the idea of a playoff. Still in favor of a +1 though.

Hey Hunter-did you see what i did with that other username? I don't even know how i did that.... just wierd. I think i opened a can of worms because if i did that unknowingly, how bad is the security on this site for profiles?
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Yes I did...... Very strange to say the least. Jon should look into that.
 
So what you are trying to say is would we rest some of the banged up guys, if we had nothing to gain even if we won the last game, and we know we have the ccg and the Rose coming up? Hmmmm. What would you do if you were coach?
 
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hawkfanintexas said:
The only reason I would see a team not "throw" a game is if they think they could get an "at-large" bid at 10-3, with that third loss coming in that championship game.
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that's why teams wouldn't 'throw' the last game. There's no guarantee you'd win the BT championship game, so not having the Nebraska loss would be a good thing for a BCS bid or better bowl game.
 
I understand what the OP is saying but it's a rather silly thought. The loser of the Big 10 championship game still has a potential to be an at large BCS team, the additional loss would greatly reduce those chances. In addition any loss would likely slide them down the conference bowl tier which would be a bad thing for the team and fans.

Lastly realize that NFL coaches are typically judged by how they fare in the playoffs and sometimes playing backups in a regular season game helps them in the post season. In college coaches are judged (for the most part) by how they fare in the regular season.
 
In the current bowl system there is always something to play for and there is no scenario I see in the present system where you would want to play a game to stay healthy. I have only heard about this ever happening in professional sports, never at the college level.
 
whammer33024 said:
in one word...absolutely not and this thread is dumb
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wait what's the one word? I thought it was going to be "no" but didn't see it.

There is no chance, you don't do that in college football, because if the hawks were say 10-1 going into Nebby. If they lose they're 10-2, win 11-1 going into the B10 champ game. Now if they lose that and are 10-3 less likely to go to a BCS bowl than if 11-2, so you play to win all games you can.
 
Actually, the OP described the wrong scenerio. What if Michigan & O$U have their divisions clinched prior to the last game. In this situation, the "Big Game" on the last weekend of the season would be meaningless because the teams would be guaranteed to play the following weekend in Indianapolis.

Neither coach would tip off anything that they may do the following week. The game would be pretty basic. I'm exaggerating, but you might see 80 off-tackle plays.

I think the Big Ten made a huge mistake by not moving this game to the middle of October. This scenerio will happen in the not to distant future.
 
Why would they do that? If they lose, like mentioned before, and then lose in the championship game, they fall down the bowl ladder pretty quick. If they win the first game and lose the CCG then they still have a shot at a BCS most likely.
 
I'm actually surprised you asked this question. I'd assume everyone who posts here has a basic understanding of college football and how the bowl system works.
 
Hawkeye11en1 said:
Why would they do that? If they lose, like mentioned before, and then lose in the championship game, they fall down the bowl ladder pretty quick. If they win the first game and lose the CCG then they still have a shot at a BCS most likely.
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The goal is to win the conference & go to the Rose Bowl. No coach is going to assume that they will lose the next weekend. The object will be to win the following weekend.

Your logic is flawed. It is a losers mentality. Do you really think that Wisconsin would have run that fake punt if the teams were going to play the following weekend for the championship? No, it is a play the Badgers would have saved for the following weekend.
 
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ssckelley said:
In the current bowl system there is always something to play for and there is no scenario I see in the present system where you would want to play a game to stay healthy. I have only heard about this ever happening in professional sports, never at the college level.
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Plus, in the NFL, teams that do this have most likely locked up their seeding position. That probably wouldn't be the case in a college playoff system, since BCS rankings can fluctuate up and down pretty quickly.
 
Hawkeye11en1 said:
Why would they do that? If they lose, like mentioned before, and then lose in the championship game, they fall down the bowl ladder pretty quick. If they win the first game and lose the CCG then they still have a shot at a BCS most likely.
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Only if both teams in the CCG are highly ranked, and only if it's close. That's where I think prognosticators that predict that the B1G will get 2 teams into the BCS are wrong - while a CCG provides more revenue, and certainly helps the team that wins, it also hurts the team that loses.

Take the Big 12 CCG in 2007, OU vs Mizzou. Mizzou was ranked #2 and OU was #8 (AP) (MU's only loss to that point was to OU by 10). OU won by 21 (38-17), went to the BCS, and Mizzou fell to the Cotton Bowl. Ironically enough, Kansas got to go to the Orange Bowl because its only loss was to MU.

The point I'm trying to make is that losing in the CCG will, in the vast majority of cases, keep the loser from getting into a BCS game. I think we'll see a shift from the B1G getting 2 teams in to the Texas League getting 2 spots because they no longer have the CCG to contend with and as long as a Texas and OU come out with only 1 loss each, they'll both get spots.

Now, onto the OP's question - if a scenario existed (most likely the Mich-OSU one) I could see a coach treat the game more like a non-conference game where they may be a little more judicious about players and playing time, but I don't think they'd ever get to the level of an NFL game - rankings and such are so affected by a loss.
 
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