The Wild, Wild West

W

WinOneThisCentury

Well-Known Member
Man...I've watched the segments on BTN...with them now heading to Nebraska on Monday. This is going to be really freaking interesting. Minnesota was playing really well at the end of the year and they get a few pieces back that are critical to their team...one being Winfield. As far as I can remember, I don't think I've seen this level of parity where you could honestly say, there are 6 teams that could win the West.

Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, Northwestern, Nebraska, or Minnesota.

Conventional wisdom would tell you that it's going to come from one of these three; Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern, but if you aren't paying attention, the other three are much better football teams. That being said, the three best defenses will be from the three favorites...and defense wins championships.

Going to be a fun, unpredictable year.
 
There will be no "easy outs" in the West. Outside of Illinois, those six teams you mention appear to be about as evenly matched as you could get in a P5 division. It could come down to injuries and depth and from that perspective I would give Wisconsin and Iowa the advantage. Need to stay healthy and win the close ones.

P.S. Wisconsin has a number of injuries at TE already and Nebby just lost their senior backup LT for the year with a knee. Purdue just lost their starting RB (Tario Fuller) for the year with a knee.
 
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I was fully on Purdue's bandwagon last year as a team on the rise. But they dribbled the season opener against Northwestern down their leg. Then they got completely discombobulated by Auburn in the Music City Bowl, looking like they had spent the week at the honky tonks. They were overpowering at times last year however, and their athleticism at the skill positions makes them a tough matchup for certain teams, one of whom I won't mention.

That leaves us with Minnesota and Nebraska this year. I like what the Gophs did last year after they fired their defensive coordinator. They were a physical, turnover forcing team in November. If you don't believe me, ask Wisconsin. They also get those running backs returning this year and still have that receiver, Johnson. If they take another step forward this year, watch out.

I'm not, and won't be, sold on Nebraska until they improve their physicality in the trenches and quit making bonehead plays and commiting bonehead penalties in critical situations. Frost not only has to overhaul the roster, he has to get rid of the self destructive tendencies that have begun to permeate the program. Turnover prone quarterbacks, stupid penalties, mental errors, off the field shenanigans. It will take at least another year to reverse that culture, if he ever does. Getting bowl eligible should be a reasonable goal for them. But talk about the ultimate media darlings...
 
WinOneThisCentury said:
Man...I've watched the segments on BTN...with them now heading to Nebraska on Monday. This is going to be really freaking interesting. Minnesota was playing really well at the end of the year and they get a few pieces back that are critical to their team...one being Winfield. As far as I can remember, I don't think I've seen this level of parity where you could honestly say, there are 6 teams that could win the West.

Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, Northwestern, Nebraska, or Minnesota.

Conventional wisdom would tell you that it's going to come from one of these three; Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern, but if you aren't paying attention, the other three are much better football teams. That being said, the three best defenses will be from the three favorites...and defense wins championships.

Going to be a fun, unpredictable year.
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Second place is just the first loser. Go Hawks
 
There is no room for any conservatism. Be ready to play ball for 4 periods. Overlook no one. How bout we break and not bend, shall we?
 
For those on the Goph's bandwagon, this is why:

#1 in the nation in % of yards returning (Iowa is 36th, if you are interested), plus the return of their top 2 backs who were injured last year; they might have the best WR in the B1G

Iowa doesn't really rank high in any metric of returning production (4 early entries doesn't help), but they have one of the youngest 2-deeps in the nation, which speaks to an uptick in recruiting and talent.
 
For any Gopher doubters, simply re-watch their beat down of Wisconsin in Madison the end of last season. While conventional wisdom says defense wins championships, maybe this year in the West it will be 'which team can most consistently convert 3rd and 2?' And using that metric, the eye test from last year tells me the contenders for 2019 would probably be ranked thus:
1) MN
2) NW
3) WI
4) NB
5) IA
6) Purdue
 
West has ALWAYS been more balanced. NW won west by THREE GAMES last year, and prolly only third or fourth best team, in reality. Anybody can beat anybody. Just who gets breaks any game. IL will b improved too and may flirt with .500 this year.
 
CP87 said:
For those on the Goph's bandwagon, this is why:

#1 in the nation in % of yards returning (Iowa is 36th, if you are interested), plus the return of their top 2 backs who were injured last year; they might have the best WR in the B1G

Iowa doesn't really rank high in any metric of returning production (4 early entries doesn't help), but they have one of the youngest 2-deeps in the nation, which speaks to an uptick in recruiting and talent.
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That Johnson kid is good. But I think Purdue's Rondale Moore is the best WR in the B1G.
 
Northside Hawk said:
That Johnson kid is good. But I think Purdue's Rondale Moore is the best WR in the B1G.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I meant the best WRs (Johnson and Bateman). Purdue could still earn that distinction if David Bell is all he is cracked up to be (really wish we had gotten that guy).
 
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