How much has the B10 West Improved?

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WinOneThisCentury

Well-Known Member
Based on bowl wins, maybe the B10 West isn't as bad as everyone thinks. Have they turned a corner and can now complete with the Eastern side of the conference. I think this may be the best the B10 West has looked coming into a season since we went to two divisions.

Wisconsin - Still the team to beat...but this may be the year B10 West teams get even. They certainly have a bullseye on their backs. Did Minnesota expose them at the end of the season?

Iowa - Certainly looks like they may have a defense that will compete with any other defense in the conference. If the DT position is solid, and we find an athlete similar to Hooker to play the CASH...Golston and Epenesa are going to terrorize QBs. We go as Stanley goes...pretty much a mirror of last year on offense.

Purdue - Jeff Brohm is a very, very good coach. He's still building, but they can beat anyone in the B10 on a given Saturday.

Northwestern - I hate Northwestern, but they are tough SOBs. Fitz gets a Clemson transfer QB...and they will play their ball control, grind you to death style of play. They were more physical than Iowa at the end of that game...they ran the ball.

Nebraska - They can play offense...because they have a wizard at QB. It remains to be seen if they can run the ball though...and be physical at the point of attack. Their defense is the problem...still, they have the ability with Martinez to outscore you. That being said, how do you keep Martinez healthy in the B10.

Minnesota - Well, the youngest team in America is a year older. They will not be an easy out.

Illinois - Man, Lovie gotta produce something, anything...if the beat down Iowa gave them was a measuring stick of physicality...well...I'd say the Illini have a ways to go.

It's going to be interesting to see how the crossover games go this year. Michigan, OSU, Penn State, and MSU on the road against any of the above teams, minus Illinois, is going to be no picnic. It appears to be more competitive heading into a year than I can remember.
 
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The west gets a lot of grief, but there really has only been 1 year where the East had dominant record over the West. But the East keeps winning the CCG, so it always seems like it has THE best team.

Last year for example the East was only 12-10 vs the west, including OSU's victory over NW in the CCG.

With that said, until the West starts winning the CCG, it will always be looked at as the weaker division.
 
I've been arguing my case for the west for two years now, based on the quality of coaches coming in, the established group still grinding on, and bowl success. The strongest argument in favor of the east is the star power they have at the top, and this usually manifests itself in the conference Championship game as another poster pointed out. But I think the west is deeper with the potential to get even more so.

This year will tell us a lot. OSU will still be formidable, but Urb was a once in a generation coach, even for them. Michigan, MSU and Penn State are above average but not elite. If Brohm, Fleck and Frost take another step forward, look out!
 
I agree with the dislike for JNW as I think their offensive line holds all the effing time and somehow they get away with it. That being said I thought they would be starting with a brand new young QB but maybe this transfer kid has some experience. Remember Thorson as an inexperienced frosh in 2015 got totally torched by Iowa's defense and the league. Is the kid from Clemson the former starter they had who got beat out?
 
uihawk82 said:
I agree with the dislike for JNW as I think their offensive line holds all the effing time and somehow they get away with it. That being said I thought they would be starting with a brand new young QB but maybe this transfer kid has some experience. Remember Thorson as an inexperienced frosh in 2015 got totally torched by Iowa's defense and the league. Is the kid from Clemson the former starter they had who got beat out?
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Nope, different guy. He saw the the writing on the wall and transferred before the start of last season. As it turns out, look like a smart choice. It's kind of an old fashioned concept, to sit out a year when you transfer, but the kid actually sat for a year.
 
MoseSchrute said:
All I know is that three of those teams have been pwning us lately, and it needs to stop.
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I hear ya, but honestly, Kirk Ferentz probably wouldn't be here if we were regularly losing to Iowa State, Minnesota, and Nebraska. At least Penn State, OSU, and Wisconsin have been relevant nationally...I think things are evening out with WI and Penn State though. Franklin knows he stole a win last year because NS was mentally ill that day. I'll also say we gifted Wisky a W last year too. I would not exactly call either of those two losses as being owned.
 
guffus said:
Nope, different guy. He saw the the writing on the wall and transferred before the start of last season. As it turns out, look like a smart choice. It's kind of an old fashioned concept, to sit out a year when you transfer, but the kid actually sat for a year.
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Under normal circumstances an undergrad transfer has to sit for a year while the grad transfer can play right away. Well for the hawks I am glad this transfer qb for jNW, who hasnt won the starting job yet, is not the really good, former starter for Clemson.
 
WinOneThisCentury said:
I hear ya, but honestly, Kirk Ferentz probably wouldn't be here if we were regularly losing to Iowa State, Minnesota, and Nebraska. At least Penn State, OSU, and Wisconsin have been relevant nationally...I think things are evening out with WI and Penn State though. Franklin knows he stole a win last year because NS was mentally ill that day. I'll also say we gifted Wisky a W last year too. I would not exactly call either of those two losses as being owned.
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You may already know this, but I think he was referring to NW, Purdue and Wisc. Iowa went 0-3 against those 3 teams in both 2017 and 2018.

All Iowa has to do is go 6-0 inside the division and they would win the west every year.
 
uihawk82 said:
Under normal circumstances an undergrad transfer has to sit for a year while the grad transfer can play right away. Well for the hawks I am glad this transfer qb for jNW, who hasnt won the starting job yet, is not the really good, former starter for Clemson.
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True, but for a variety of reasons, OSU and Mich's current starting QB's did not have to sit out for a year after transferring as undergrads. It's a trend that Kirk Ferentz admits is puzzling trying to figure out what the rules are now.
 
We’re still light years away from OSU, UM, and PSU. Until that changes nothing else matters. The Big Ten West is just the losers bracket fight for 2nd place in the Big Ten.

And before everyone starts saying Michigan sucks, they have to play OSU, PSU, and MSU every year. I hate them as much as everyone else, but their schedule is by default harder than ours more often than not.
 
Fryowa said:
We’re still light years away from OSU, UM, and PSU. Until that changes nothing else matters. The Big Ten West is just the losers bracket fight for 2nd place in the Big Ten.

And before everyone starts saying Michigan sucks, they have to play OSU, PSU, and MSU every year. I hate them as much as everyone else, but their schedule is by default harder than ours more often than not.
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Michigan still sucks.
 
Fryowa said:
We’re still light years away from OSU, UM, and PSU. Until that changes nothing else matters. The Big Ten West is just the losers bracket fight for 2nd place in the Big Ten.

And before everyone starts saying Michigan sucks, they have to play OSU, PSU, and MSU every year. I hate them as much as everyone else, but their schedule is by default harder than ours more often than not.
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Now that Urb is gone I wouldn't be surprised if Michigan figures out how to beat OSU again, like they did in the Cooper era.

It will be intereting to go to Ann Arbor this year. We haven't played there since 2012. In fact, we've played there only four or five times in the Kirk era. For what it's worth we've won two of them.
 
guffus said:
True, but for a variety of reasons, OSU and Mich's current starting QB's did not have to sit out for a year after transferring as undergrads. It's a trend that Kirk Ferentz admits is puzzling trying to figure out what the rules are now.
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Perhaps if there is some problem at their current school like cheating or pedo stuff they can transfer without sitting out.
 
How can PSU be light years ahead of us? 2 years ago they needed to convert on 4 th down as time expired to beat us. Last year in Happy Valley, we are 1st and goal, heading in for the win in the final minutes when NS chooses NOT to call a timeout and we turn the ball over.

Most recent game vs OSU - epic beat down as we hang 55 on them.
Most recent game vs Michigan? We win vs #3 in the country. I believe we have won 5 of the last 6 meetings, too

I don’t think we are light years behind any of those teams. Not by any definition:
 
Lumberman said:
How can PSU be light years ahead of us? 2 years ago they needed to convert on 4 th down as time expired to beat us. Last year in Happy Valley, we are 1st and goal, heading in for the win in the final minutes when NS chooses NOT to call a timeout and we turn the ball over.

Most recent game vs OSU - epic beat down as we hang 55 on them.
Most recent game vs Michigan? We win vs #3 in the country. I believe we have won 5 of the last 6 meetings, too

I don’t think we are light years behind any of those teams. Not by any definition:
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Yeah, Iowa has a team that can beat anyone in the B1G and lose to anyone other than probably Rutgers or Illinois in the B1G. But at the end of the day, and it pains me to say it, the B1G is playing checkers and programs like Clemson and the better teams in the South are playing chess. We had a nice win against MSU thanks to the fact they didn't have a QB, but before that, the most recent SEC games against Florida and Tennessee were pretty telling about where our program stands. I think back when we beat Florida and LSU in the early Ferentz days the SEC and B1G were pretty damned close, but now, oof, light years apart. Football is waning in the North and Midwest, but huge in the South and with massive population growth in North Georgia, Tennessee, Carolinas, etc., the future is not bright for the B1G.
 
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