Badgers Picked To Win The West Again

Xerxes

Well-Known Member
Here are the results from the Cleveland.com media poll:

West

1, UW (221 points); 2, Minnesota (209.5); 3, Iowa (157), 4; Nebraska (117); 5, Purdue (105); 6, Northwestern (87.5); 7, Illinois (55).

East

1, Ohio State (237 points); 2, Penn State (204); 3, Michigan (169); 4, Indiana (134); 5, Michigan State (94); 6, Maryland (76); 7, Rutgers (38).

Title game predictions
Ohio State over UW (19).

Ohio State over Minnesota (13).

Ohio State over Northwestern (1).

Penn State over Minnesota (1).

Players of the year
Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields was named the preseason offensive player of the year and Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons was named the preseason defensive player of the year.
 
Here are the results from the Cleveland.com media poll:

West

1, UW (221 points); 2, Minnesota (209.5); 3, Iowa (157), 4; Nebraska (117); 5, Purdue (105); 6, Northwestern (87.5); 7, Illinois (55).

East

1, Ohio State (237 points); 2, Penn State (204); 3, Michigan (169); 4, Indiana (134); 5, Michigan State (94); 6, Maryland (76); 7, Rutgers (38).

Title game predictions
Ohio State over UW (19).

Ohio State over Minnesota (13).

Ohio State over Northwestern (1).

Penn State over Minnesota (1).

Players of the year
Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields was named the preseason offensive player of the year and Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons was named the preseason defensive player of the year.
No big surprises here Until someone knocks Wisconsin off the top, they are champions of the West and I would favor them too. If there is a sleeper in the West I would say Purdue. Not that they'll win the division but they could end up much better than the predictions that I've seen so far.
 
I think Purdue and Northwestern could surprise. Ramsey gives Fitz a legit QB and the Boilers's WR corps is the best in the conference.
 
Tell me again why Nebraska would be rated ahead of Purdue and Northwestern? What have they done that legitimately warrants placement above those two names...both Purdue and Northwestern have serious positives (new players / players returning from injury...etc)...Nebraska lost a lot on their D line...so unless you think Scott Frost is reloading there...if you can't stop the run in the B10...you can't win consistently.

This is what I hate about the Media. Nebraska should be behind Illinois in my opinion...based on what I've seen.
 
Tell me again why Nebraska would be rated ahead of Purdue and Northwestern? What have they done that legitimately warrants placement above those two names...both Purdue and Northwestern have serious positives (new players / players returning from injury...etc)...Nebraska lost a lot on their D line...so unless you think Scott Frost is reloading there...if you can't stop the run in the B10...you can't win consistently.

This is what I hate about the Media. Nebraska should be behind Illinois in my opinion...based on what I've seen.

Their name must still hold some weight in media circles. And they do have a QB that is pretty good when healthy. But that hasn't been often. But a good QB is half the battle in the West.

In 2018 Northwestern won the West with a good QB and a stingy, sometimes smoke & mirrors D.

I can see where someone might get excited about them with QB part. But as you said the D is a long way from division championship level based on what we've seen. You're not going to beat Wisconsin or Minnesota with their level of defense.
 
Based on a 10 game conference schedule Wisky probably ends up 8-2 or better. What kind of quarterback play they get will determine if they will be able to challenge OSU in the B1G title game or not.

What does finishing 2nd in the West even get you this year? Iowa, Purdue, NW and Minnesota......I could easily see a scenario where each of those teams end up 2nd.
 
I think Purdue and Northwestern could surprise. Ramsey gives Fitz a legit QB and the Boilers's WR corps is the best in the conference.

Purdue still has to shore it up on the defensive end. WR alone aren't going to carry then. Minny is very intriguing.
 
Is Rondale Moore (sp) still at Purdue? That guy is better than good. But yeah, for anyone else but Wisky to be picked you've gotta beat 'em.
 
I think everything comes down to cross over games with the East. Some teams are going to get hammered with bad luck others will find themselves playing some cupcakes.
 
If Iowa keeps OSU, PSU and MSU as was planned on the original schedule, it will be tough to win the West. That said, there's no reason this offense shouldn't be much better and more consistent if Petras is the real deal.
 
Lol. People still acting like there’s going to be football this year...

Can't afford not to Fry. It's to that point. Iowa has already book marked the small amount of game packages that people sent in this summer for season tickets. They can only sustain financially until September.
 
If Iowa keeps OSU, PSU and MSU as was planned on the original schedule, it will be tough to win the West. That said, there's no reason this offense shouldn't be much better and more consistent if Petras is the real deal.

With the upgrade at WR, he very well could end up being KF's best or most productive QB's to fit the system (Pocket QB). This if KF can loosen the reigns a bit on Brian and let Brian have more of the reigns.

It's pretty impressive that Petras broke Jared Goff's passing records at their high school. That is promising. I just get the sense Petras came in quite seasoned compared to most freshman QB's. His learning curve seemed to be a bit ahead of the typical freshman and ahead of schedule. I have a feeling he's going to be a special one when all said and done. I hope he can be that team leader, which I have no doubt he won't be. Stanley was a bit shy and slower to fill that need but eventually did.
 
Can't afford not to Fry. It's to that point. Iowa has already book marked the small amount of game packages that people sent in this summer for season tickets. They can only sustain financially until September.
Iowa will afford it financially. There will be other sports programs eliminated, but football will survive. There will be G5 and smaller schools from FCS that don't make it out alive, but the P5 football programs will be here next year.

Again, it isn't football and men's basketball programs that go away, it will be the non-revenue sports. What happened at Stanford will happen across the US. Again, there will not be major conference football or basketball this fall/winter.

This is going to sound callous, but I don't care if Iowa or a given school has golf, or lacrosse, or synchronized swimming, or rowing. It sucks for those people who play those sports, but if I told you I cared about any of them existing in the NCAA I'd be lying. Those will be the low hanging fruit, and the semi-break even sports at schools with good teams like certain wrestling, baseball, and WBB teams will probably survive. If football and basketball don't happen this fall/winter (which they won't), I could see an Iowa athletic department where FB, MBB, WBB, and wrestling are the only ones still participating full speed.

There are already hundreds of football players saying they're sitting out, and that's only going to grow exponentially, especially as cases get worse. People just need to face it that it ain't happening.
 
It's amazing how ISU anticipated Covid-19 years ago by dropping baseball to help cushion the future blow to the budget. Those guys sure do have athletics figured out.
 
Keeping an eye on the PAC-12 situation. Very interesting to see where that goes. Leverage of the athletes at an all-time high.
 
Iowa will afford it financially. There will be other sports programs eliminated, but football will survive. There will be G5 and smaller schools from FCS that don't make it out alive, but the P5 football programs will be here next year.

Again, it isn't football and men's basketball programs that go away, it will be the non-revenue sports. What happened at Stanford will happen across the US. Again, there will not be major conference football or basketball this fall/winter.

This is going to sound callous, but I don't care if Iowa or a given school has golf, or lacrosse, or synchronized swimming, or rowing. It sucks for those people who play those sports, but if I told you I cared about any of them existing in the NCAA I'd be lying. Those will be the low hanging fruit, and the semi-break even sports at schools with good teams like certain wrestling, baseball, and WBB teams will probably survive. If football and basketball don't happen this fall/winter (which they won't), I could see an Iowa athletic department where FB, MBB, WBB, and wrestling are the only ones still participating full speed.

There are already hundreds of football players saying they're sitting out, and that's only going to grow exponentially, especially as cases get worse. People just need to face it that it ain't happening.

I did not state that Iowa would ever drop the football or basketball programs. I'm saying I've heard from someone in the athletic dept. that they can only sustain financially into September than they are in the red bad. They have already spent the $$ that people have sent in for this years season tickets. Yes, they are not going to drop the programs but will financially be in the hole something major. People are pretty damn nervous on campus.

Your point about players sitting would really get bad if they decided to push the season to the spring, because of when the NFL combines and draft take place.
 
I think there will be a season. If MLB and the NBA can figure it out, the Big Ten can figure it out. It won't be pretty and it won't be safe, but they will have a season.

Just my two cents.
 
I think there will be a season. If MLB and the NBA can figure it out, the Big Ten can figure it out. It won't be pretty and it won't be safe, but they will have a season.

Just my two cents.

The models used by the NBA and MLB are completely different as MLB went away from "bubbling" athletes. If teams/programs are not confined and monitored 24x7 I don't think you can apply what worked for the NBA, MLB, and NHL and apply that to a different model.
 
I think there will be a season. If MLB and the NBA can figure it out, the Big Ten can figure it out. It won't be pretty and it won't be safe, but they will have a season.

Just my two cents.
MLB teams can afford millions in quarantine and rapid testing costs (the Marlins outbreak and response has cost the team over $10 million so far), and the NBA is using a bubble approach that they estimate to cost over $50 million by the time it’s done. College football has orders of magnitude more players, who don’t get paid, and they have to also complete school. They also can’t afford all the precautions, treatment, and quarantine activities that pro teams can. Amateur sports ain’t happening. Especially when the age demographic you’re dealing with is right in prime party and fornication age.
 

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