quote:

Originally posted by Shaql:

quote:

Originally posted by Texas@Last:

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
Maryland went ahead and fired him, sounds like people with clout turned the screws.

I think it’s OK to agree with Texas@last on the addition of MD and Rutgers, even though I follow a team that’s not a Big 10 original either.

So, are you Penn State or Nebraska?
At least they are both in the mid west and they both have a winning history.

Penn State is NOT in the mid-west. Not even close.

Of course, neither is Ohio State

Come to think of it, Michigan and Indiana (most of it, including Bloomington and West Lafayette) are all eastern time zone, aren’t they? You can make a case for Michigan and Indiana, but Ohio? That’s “back east.”

Week 10:
IU is on a bye week, but everyone else is playing. One big top 20 match-up, two of the tied for 2nd teams in West facing off, and one non-conference game against a Top 5 opponent. All times Central time:

NE @ #10 OSU at 11:00 on Fox - the Buckeyes are 18 to 19.5 point favorites depending on which odds service you believe. Nebraska struggles against a good pass offense and OSU is typically a good pass offense. However, they got beat partly due to a lack of a running game and in their 2 weeks off I'm betting they worked the crap out of their running game. I think we're going to see a more balanced offense so Buckeyes win without covering due to the clock stopping less from rushing instead of passing.

Rutgers @ WI at 11:00 on BTN - the Badgers are 28 to 29 point favorites depending on which odds service you believe. The Badgers had their running attack snuffed out last week and I suspect they're going to get a big dose of Jonathon Taylor this week. There is going to be a lot of sore Rutgers defenders by the end of the game. Badgers win and cover the huge spread.

tMSU @ MD at 11:00 on ESPN2 - the Sparties are 2.5 to 3 point favorites depending on which odds service you believe. The Terps cannot win without rushing and the Sparties have one of the best rush defenses in college football. The Terps have lost by 19 and 23 points to good rush defenses (UofM and IA) and this week should be a repeat of those games. Sparties win and easily cover.

#16 IA @ Purdue at 2:30 on ESPN2 - the Boilermakers are 2.5 to 3 point favorites depending on which odds service you believe. That is not a typo. They're tied for 2nd in the West, both teams lost last week, and there is no common opponent making this a touch game to predict. Statistically Purdue is better on offense (especially passing) and IA is better on defense. I'm going with my Boilers to win and cover.

MN @ IL at 2:30 on BTN - the Gophers are 9 to 9.5 point favorites depending on which odds service you believe. Statistically, they're equal of offense but MN is much better on defense (9 ppg less and 140 yards less; the Illini give up a pathetic 535 ypg of offense). I'm going with the Gophers to win and cover.

#14 PSU @ #5 UofM at 2:45 on ESPN - the Wolverines are 11.5 to 12 point favorites depending on which odds service you believe. Only common opponent is tMSU and PSU lost by 4 and UofM won by 14. Statistically PSU is better on offense and UofM is better on defense (UofM's D is fantastic). I'm going with UofM to win and cover.

#4 Yoder Dame and the Fighting Amish @ NWU at 6:15 on ESPN - the Amish are 10 to 10.5 point favorites depending on which odds service you believe. I was raised a Notre Dame fan, but I'm all better now Their only common opponent is UofM and the Amish won by 7 and the Wildcats lost by 3. Yoder Dame is undefeated and due for a loss, and the Wildcats have been playing good football since barely losing to UofM. I'm going with the Wildcats to pull off the upset and win.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

Purdue's freshman sensation Rondale Moore missed at least two days of practice and is a game time decision on whether or not he'll play against the Hawkeyes.

Some surprising results at half-time for the early games:

The Cornhuskers were leading the Buckeyes 21-16

The Badgers were only beating Rutgers 10-0

The Sparties were only beating the very distracted Terps 10-0

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

Tuned in just in time to see Purdue score their 1st TD.
Then, apparently, Iowa scored a point on their PAT

Good game with an exciting finish!

Link to original video: https://youtu.be/N3fcViLA2oI

Week 10 Wrap-up:

NE @ #10 OSU at 11:00 on Fox - neither team played good defense in the first half and Nebraska went into half up 21-17. OSU made better half-time adjustments and held Nebraska scoreless until 7:46 in 4th before they scored a field goal. On the offensive side, OSU scored two touchdowns in that same time period. They traded touchdowns in the remaining time and OSU pulled out a 36-31 win. Both teams ran well (3 rushing TDs) but the real difference is OSU tossed one more TD than NE. All in all, it was an ugly win with 1 INT and had two turnovers off fumbles. Certainly won't get away playing like that in their upcoming games agains tMSU and UofM.

Rutgers @ WI at 11:00 on BTN - I only saw highlights for this game. As expected, WI's offensive game plan was a big dose of Jonathan Taylor (more in kudos) behind that huge offensive line which worked well. Hornibrook was back from his concussion but played poorly with 2 INTs, less than 50% completion rate, and a QB rating of 12. Hornibrook ended up leaving the game at half-time due to head injury. On D, WI stuffed the run and bent without breaking on pass D (261 yards and 1 TD).

tMSU @ MD at 11:00 on ESPN2 - the Sparties defense was lights out again (more in kudos). tMSU's rush offense went well, but their pass offense was anemic.

#16 IA @ Purdue at 2:30 on ESPN2 - this game ended up being the most exciting game of the day. Purdue drew first blood with a TD, Purdue lead 14-7 at end of the 1st, Purdue lead 21-17 at half, Purdue lead 35-23 at end of 3rd, and with 8 seconds left kicked the game winner to finish at 38-36. Hats off to Iowa as Purdue had a great deal of difficulty stopping their balanced offense (in terms of # of plays), and Iowa's defense forced 2 INTs and held Purdue to 101 yards rushing.

MN @ IL at 2:30 on BTN - this was the upset of the day. The Illini drew first blood and from 8:01 in the 1st quarter lead the remainder of the game. Despite two fumbles and 1 INT, the Illini managed nearly 650 yards of offense. The game was actually a bigger blowout than the score as MN scored twice in the 4th on 61 yards pass and 86 yard pass.

#14 PSU @ #5 UofM at 2:45 on ESPN - the Wolverines absolutely dominated every facet of this game. UofM lead wire to wire and PSU's only points were during garbage time (1:59 left in game). UofM's defense was their usual outstanding selves (more in kudos), and the Wolverine offense ran well and passed well.

#4 Yoder Dame and the Fighting Amish @ NWU at 6:15 on ESPN - this was an excellent game. Every time I thought ND was going to pull away NWU pulled something out of their hat (e.g. blocked punt). The first half was a defensive battle and they went into half-time in a 7-7 tie. Notre Dame made the right offensive adjustments at half and went on to score 17 straight points before NWU responded with 14 points of their own. The real difference maker was ND's defense was able to put more pressure on the QB and NWU was unable to reciprocate (ND had 5 sacks to NWU's zero). All in all, a noble effort vs the #4 team in the country.

Kudos:

OSU's RB Dobbins. On 23 carries he had 163 yards and 3 TDs.

OSU's offensive line. They paved the way for 229 yards rushing, 3 rushing TDs, 252 yards passing, and 2 passing TDs.

WI's RB J Taylor. On 27 carries he had 208 yards and 3 TDs. Also, caught one pass for 30 yards.

WI's offensive line. They paved the way for 317 yards rushing, 3 rushing TDs, and only gave up 1 sack.

tMSU's defense. They held MD's good rushing attack to 26 yards and 0 TDs, and their passing offense to 74 yards and 0 TDs.

tMSU's RB Heyward who had 15 carries for 157 yards and 2 TDs including one for 80 yards.

tMSU's offensive line for leading the way to 269 yards rushing and 3 rushing TDS, and they gave up zero sacks and zero QB hurries. Certainly can't blame the o-line for their anemic passing offense.

Purdue's QB Blough. He completed 23 passes for 333 yards and 4 TDs and rushed for another 28 yards. He managed to keep his head after throwing his 2nd 2nd half INT and brought Purdue's offense inside the 10 for the game winning field goal.

Purdue's WR Wright. The senior came into the game with only 9 catches for 54 yards for the season. Today, he had 6 receptions for 145 yards and 3 TDs including a 41 yarder and an 82 yarder. He certainly stepped up for this important game.

Purdue's kicker Evans. He went 5/5 on extra points and with all eyes on him kicked the game winner.

IL QB Bush. The true freshman completed 18 passes for 216 yards, threw 2 TDs, had 14 rushes for 127 yards, and 2 rushing TDs. He did throw 1 INT.

IL RB Corbin. He had 13 carries for 213 yards and 2 TDs. His TDs were both long runs - a 72 yarder and a 77 yarder.

IL's offensive line lead the way for 430 yards rushing, 5 rushing TDs, 216 yards passing, and only gave up 1 sack.

UofM's defense. McSorely holds nearly every PSU QB record and UofM held him to 83 yards passing, 0 TDs, 1 INT, and a QB rating of 3.5 (not a typo). Back-up QB Stevens didn't fare any better passing, but was their most successful runner at 52 yards. To put this in perspective, PSU had 205 yards rushing against tMSU's excellent rush D and UofM held them to 68 yards.

UofM RB Higdon. On 20 carries he had 132 yards and 1 TD. More important, since the ND loss he's revitalized the UofM rushing attack and the Offense is really hitting its stride.

ND's QB Book. He had an impressive game with 22 completions for 343 yards, 2 passing TDs, 56 rushing yards (tied for ND leading rusher) and 1 rushing TD. He didn't throw any INTs but did fumble once.

Chastisement:

ESPN. Amateur hour coverage of the Purdue game. As C-dubs screen shotted, they credited Purdue's extra point to Iowa, but that was nothing compared to the next item. There was a Purdue special message after the 1st quarter and a polite Iowa response. However, after it was over the dumbasses played a commercial (cannot fast forward through), replaid the same special message sequence, played a commercial (cannot fast forward through), replaid the same special message sequence, and played a commericial (cannot fast forward through). Not sure if the triple "feature" happened on cable TV, but it was absolutely annoying on streaming.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

quote:

Not sure if the triple "feature" happened on cable TV, but it was absolutely annoying on streaming.

In my experience running ESPN app this is pretty standard. All they’re doing is filling what’s local or other commercial slots on live feed.

I think it was at the time when Iowa had the ball, and the woman was interviwing Tyler Trent in the box suite. That lasted almost 5 minutes.

I was watching the game live on ESPN, not streaming it.

quote:

Originally posted by C-Dubs:
Tuned in just in time to see Purdue score their 1st TD.
Then, apparently, Iowa scored a point on their PAT

Funny. Something similar happened in the Nebraska game. I don't remember exactly when but I think when aOSU scored their second TD, they subtracted 7 from Nebraska. Lasted about a few minutes...

quote:

Originally posted by C-Dubs:
I think it was at the time when Iowa had the ball, and the woman was interviwing Tyler Trent in the box suite. That lasted almost 5 minutes.

I was watching the game live on ESPN, not streaming it.

On streaming, it was Tyler Trent's message to the kids at University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital, Iowa's response back, the woman interviewing Tyler Trent, commercial, rinse & repeat, rinse & repeat.

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:

quote:

Not sure if the triple "feature" happened on cable TV, but it was absolutely annoying on streaming.

In my experience running ESPN app this is pretty standard. All they’re doing is filling what’s local or other commercial slots on live feed.

That wasn't it at all. During the commercials they had the 30 seconds ESPN logo where the local content commercial would be. This is literally screwing up and then screwing up again.

Funny to see OSU struggle against Nebraska. I'm sure that'll look good during committee deliberations.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Funny to see OSU struggle against Nebraska. I'm sure that'll look good during committee deliberations.

Ohio State certainly has a couple weaknesses. Their next three games will prove once-and-for all whether or not they’re a playoff contender. Right now Meeshegun looks like the playoff team from the B1G. It’s worth noting that Nebraska is not the same team now that went 0-6. The players were “angry” that they couldn’t put Ohio State away.

Week 11:
Nobody has a bye so there are 7 games this weekend. Weather forecasts so far aren't calling for rain or snow for any of the games but it'll be brisk to cool. All times in Central Time Zone:

#10 OSU at #18 tMSU at 11:00 on Fox - Depending on which odds service you believe the Buckeyes are 3.5 to 4 point favorites. On paper this is the best match-up of the weekend so I'm surprised it's not a night game. They've faced two common opponents and both beat PSU, but the Sparties beat Purdue and the Buckeyes got whipped by Purdue. tMSU has a lights out rush defense, but that's not the focus of OSU's offense. The first question of the weekend is can the Sparties shutdown the Buckeye passing attack like they've done to Purdue and PSU? The second question is can tMSU bandage up enough people to have an effective offense against the Buckeyes? I'm going with the upset (i.e. tMSU wins).

WI at #20 PSU at 11:00 on ABC - Depending on which odds service you believe the Nittany Lions are 8.5 to 9 point favorites. It's likely that back-up QB Coan will start for the Badgers since Hornibrook is on concussion protocol for 2nd time in 3 weeks, and Coan is 0-1 as a starter. It looks like a banged up McSorley will start for PSU. I think the Badgers will be able to rush against the PSU defense, but won't be able to pass against them. PSU should be able to both run and pass against the Badger's mediocre defense. PSU wins but fails to cover.

IL at NE at 11:00 on BTN - Depending on which odds service you believe the Cornhuskers are 17 to 17.5 point favorites. They've faced two common opponents and had nearly identical results (i.e. no help in predicting). Neither team has a good pass defense and NE definitely has the edge in pass offense (i.e. expect big game from Martinez and Spielman). Nebraska has a better rush defense and they'll need it against the Illini's dual threat QB and running back duo. The Illini aren't very good at stopping the run so expect Ozigbo to have a good game. Cornhuskers win and cover.

MD at IU at 11:00 on BTN - Depending on which odds service you believe the Hosers are 1 to 2 point favorites. I don't think IU can shutdown MD's running attack, but I do think MD can hang in there against IU's passing attack. MD pulls off the upset.

#4 UofM at Rutgers at 2:30 on BTN - Depending on which odds service you believe the Wolverines are 38.5 to 39 point favorites. UofM is exponentially better at every aspect of the game so the only two questions are whether or not UofM's offense can put up 40+ points AND whether or not the UofM D can pitch a shutout? The answer to both questions is yes (i.e UofM wins and covers, and Rutgers scores zero points).

NWU at #21 IA at 2:30 on Fox - Depending on which odds service you believe the Hawkeyes are 9.5 to 10.5 point favorites. They have two common opponents, but they're poor comparisons. Purdue is hardly a fare comparison to draw conclusions as it was a week 1 match up (NWU) vs a week 10 match up (IA). The other common opponent is Wisconsin which NWU won and IA lost, but NWU won with Hornibrook sidelined and a healthy Hornibrook threw 3 TDs against IA. The Hawkeyes have a good rush defense and the Wildcats have a mediocre (being generous) rush offense so expect 60 or less yards rushing. Unfortunately, I don't know the status of the two NWU DBs that left the game last week and ND started to be able to pass effectively. I think it's going to come down on who is the more effective QB. Wildcats win without covering.

Purdue at MN at 2:30 on ESPN2 - Depending on which odds service you believe the Boilermakers are 10.5 to 11 point favorites. This should be the coldest game in the Big Ten at 25F which will impact Purdue's offense more. They have 4 common opponents and Purdue beat all 4 whereas MN lost to all 4. MN has a lousy defense so I expect big passing and rushing numbers from Purdue. Purdue's defense tends to bend but not break so MN may move the ball but settle for field goals at best. Purdue wins and covers.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

Love when you do this!

quote:

Originally posted by Texas@Last:
Love when you do this!

Thanks! We've had a Big Ten thread for at least 8 years, and I've started it 6+ times and a UofM fan started it twice.

I was raised in Minnesota and since my Gophers are usually out of it by mid September, I root for the conference to show well. I watch all the games, but I never understood the odds angle with negative points and cover and stuff. Anyway, I'm relatively new to this site and I only saw your thread this season. I look forward to it, and the wrap-up.

Welcome. We don't see many late season comments from Gopher fans.

I'm a Boilermaker alumni and fan, and we had a very frustrating period in between Tiller retiring and Brohm being hired (Danny Hope and Darrel Hazzel ruined the program). It wasn't much fun to discuss Purdue football, but it was a lot more interesting to follow the entire conference and root for them in non-conference games and in bowls.

As far as odds, I started posting them a few seasons back. I don't bet money on games (at most, I'll bet lunch with friends), but it's much more difficult to pick spread than picking winner. The spread is constantly moving up until kick-off (e.g. the spread has shifted since last night's post and the screenshot below) and it represents the oddsmaker's difference in score to manage their risk of paying out. Here is a screenshot of the spread in the Purdue @ MN game:

How to read point spread:

First column is the odds service

The visitor is listed on top and home team listed on bottom

A negative value means that team has to give up that many points for an even match-up. For this game, it means subtract 10.5 points from Purdue's score and if they still win it's "covering the spread" and they don't it's "failed to cover the spread." My pregame predictions, I'd write it as "Depending on which odds service you believe the Boilermakers are 10 to 10.5 point favorites."

A positive value means that team has to receive that many points for an even match-up.

I don't understand why some of the services give even point odds as it leaves the possibility of a tie. The partial point odds (e.g. 10.5) makes the most sense as it's impossible to tie.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

Wow, that is, I am so overwhelmed. I will study this a while. . . .after the games.