The Official Rutgers vs ][V][ichigan (why is this a night game) Game Thread

[Monster]

Illinois losing to sparty hurt our SoS real bad. A win over them at home doesn't look so great and a loss is going to throw us way down the polls. Need to steamroll nebraska and Illinois and get the starters some rest and get healthy before Columbus.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Illinois losing to sparty hurt our SoS real bad. A win over them at home doesn't look so great and a loss is going to throw us way down the polls. Need to steamroll nebraska and Illinois and get the starters some rest and get healthy before Columbus.

Doesn't MSU win help us though?

 

[tomdalton22]

Georgia 1, Michigan 2, OSU 3, ? 4 TN, TCU?

My Guess

1 Georgia
2 OSU
3 UM
4 TCU
5 UT

 

[sggatecl]

Doesn't MSU win help us though?

With computers, yes. With committees, no.

To the very subjective playoff committee, a win over 1 loss Illinois and 6 loss MSU looks much better than a win over 2 loss Illinois and 5 loss MSU.

And Illinois will be a 3 loss team after losing to us. MSU is shit, expect them to lose again. Our SoS is ass, losing that UCLA game really hurt us.

 

[Monster]

Doesn't MSU win help us though?

They're not ranked. If Illinois had won out until our game, they could have been another top 10 win.

 

[Michchamp]

In the REAL rankings, we moved into Sagarin's top 4.

OSU and Georgia are virtually tied at #1 (OSU has a slight edge in rating)
Then Alabama, then us. I think it's fair to say those are the 4 best teams in the country. Bama would beat Tennessee on a neutral field, and LSU as well. Penn St. moved back into his Top 10, which helps our ranking (under his metrics).

But, I guess it really doesn't matter much; unless one of the SEC "also rans" implodes completely, they'll get two teams in. A Big Ten team needs to win out, or at least win the championship with 1 loss to get in. The last slot is table scraps for whoever else finishes undefeated.

Does anyone remember the deliberations when they were designing this, and the SEC went to the mat to ensure the slots weren't apportioned between conference champions so that they could get two teams in?

It's kinda crazy the SEC bias has persisted, even though TV rankings and ads for SEC games suck by comparison to the Big Ten or PAC XII. Bama-LSU didn't even make national TV; was an ESPN game. I assume there's like FIFA-World Cup type bribery going on behind the scenes to ensure the SEC gets more than it's share of post-season play, even at the expense of TV ratings.

 

[tinselwolverine]

In the REAL rankings, we moved into Sagarin's top 4.

OSU and Georgia are virtually tied at #1 (OSU has a slight edge in rating)
Then Alabama, then us. I think it's fair to say those are the 4 best teams in the country. Bama would beat Tennessee on a neutral field, and LSU as well. Penn St. moved back into his Top 10, which helps our ranking (under his metrics).

But, I guess it really doesn't matter much; unless one of the SEC "also rans" implodes completely, they'll get two teams in. A Big Ten team needs to win out, or at least win the championship with 1 loss to get in. The last slot is table scraps for whoever else finishes undefeated.

Does anyone remember the deliberations when they were designing this, and the SEC went to the mat to ensure the slots weren't apportioned between conference champions so that they could get two teams in?

It's kinda crazy the SEC bias has persisted, even though TV rankings and ads for SEC games suck by comparison to the Big Ten or PAC XII. Bama-LSU didn't even make national TV; was an ESPN game. I assume there's like FIFA-World Cup type bribery going on behind the scenes to ensure the SEC gets more than it's share of post-season play, even at the expense of TV ratings.

Wait a minute - Alabama has lost twice.

In what universe is that one of the four best teams in the country?

 

[Michchamp]

Wait a minute - Alabama has lost twice.

In what universe is that one of the four best teams in the country?

his rankings, which use statistics to predict outcomes, are based on neutral site performance. without the home advantage, both Tenn and LSU would've lost to Alabama, ergo, they are not better than Alabama.

 

[tinselwolverine]

his rankings, which use statistics to predict outcomes, are based on neutral site performance. without the home advantage, both Tenn and LSU would've lost to Alabama, ergo, they are not better than Alabama.

Yeah, they didn?t play on a neutral field - actually regular season conference games never - or almost never - are, and whatever field they would play on would be SOME field, not some algorithm.

During the BCS computer rankings era Sagarin was not the only nerd who came up with some algorithm to decide the outcome of games that didn?t happen.

Alamama plummets

 

[rumseyhouse77]

Georgia, OSU, Michigan, TCU, and TN. I still think Michigan should be ahead of OSU based on this week's games. But I guess keeping OSU ahead of Michigan gives the Victors something to shoot for. Keep the target in front of em. GO BLUE!

 

[tinselwolverine]

Georgia, OSU, Michigan, TCU, and TN. I still think Michigan should be ahead of OSU based on this week's games. But I guess keeping OSU ahead of Michigan gives the Victors something to shoot for. Keep the target in front of em. GO BLUE!

Yeah, it doesn?t matter and nobody cares anyway. Every national pundit I hear talking about it says something to the effect ?Michigan and Ohio State will have their annual matchup to settle things on the field at the end of the year.?

 

[biggunsbob]

Michigan has outscored their last 4 opponents 100-3 in the second half.

Amazing stat.

 

[biggunsbob]

A 6-12 team playoff would be great this year. So many teams that are good enough to be included. Look I think Georgia is the best team. But after that there are a number of teams that look. Good. Can?t believe OSU didn?t get dinged for a 21-7 win against a 1 win Wildcats team.

 

[Mitchrapp]

A 6-12 team playoff would be great this year. So many teams that are good enough to be included. Look I think Georgia is the best team. But after that there are a number of teams that look. Good. Can?t believe OSU didn?t get dinged for a 21-7 win against a 1 win Wildcats team.

I don't like that playoff system.

 

[Michchamp]

I don't like that playoff system.

well then, what do you like?

 

[Michchamp]

saw a stat that in our last four games, we've outscored our opponents 100-3 in the second half.

it's nice to be the team that makes adjustments, and not be the dumbass team that gets beat trying to do the same thing for all four quarters

 

[tomdalton22]

saw a stat that in our last four games, we've outscored our opponents 100-3 in the second half.

it's nice to be the team that makes adjustments, and not be the dumbass team that gets beat trying to do the same thing for all four quarters

I don't know if it's making adjustments or they are just that much better than their opponents. With their style of play (very physical running game and great defense), I think they just wear their opponents down, physically and mentally.

 

[Mitchrapp]

well then, what do you like?

I always liked when we had the AP and coaches poll and last games were on New Years day. I don't know if it was a better but I liked it. And the big ten champ went to the Rose bowl (and stayed 10 teams). Right now just two many teams don't play each other.

 

[biggunsbob]

I don't like that playoff system.

Well it?s changing in a few years and I say it?s for the better. Get the power away from the Sec with selection. Maybe spread some players around, and stop this nonsense that if there is a team with 2 losses they have zero business being in a 4 team playoff. But that is all you are going to hear now. After Alabama was beaten by Lsu who was thrashed by Tennessee.. it will probably be a 8 team playoff . Can?t wait. Make the southern teams play in cold weather for one game maybe.

 

[tomdalton22]

Well it?s changing in a few years and I say it?s for the better. Get the power away from the Sec with selection. Maybe spread some players around, and stop this nonsense that if there is a team with 2 losses they have zero business being in a 4 team playoff. But that is all you are going to hear now. After Alabama was beaten by Lsu who was thrashed by Tennessee.. it will probably be a 8 team playoff . Can?t wait. Make the southern teams play in cold weather for one game maybe.

expanding the playoff will probably allow 2 loss teams to get in.

Spreading the players around isn't going to happen. With NIL, the power teams are going to get even more top end talent. The bottom feeders of each conference are likely to get worse and the top teams even better.