Comparison: 2008 Big 10 Standings v Big 10 Results of the Last Ten Years
by grahamfiller10
on Dec 2, 2008 12:46 PM CST
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A shift of power was legitimately felt in the Big 10 this year. Highly hyped traditional powers suffered once-in-a-generation upsets and surprising losing streaks, while mediocre programs followed their new coaches to in-conference success. Don't believe me? Check the statistics from the past ten years. (Note: The numbers in parentheses are the finishing Big 10 ranking of the team in 2008. For ranking the teams that had the same in-conference record in 2008, I went to overall record. If that didn't resolve which team was ranked higher, I went to head-to-head match-up.)
| Team | Overall Record | In-Conference Record | Bowl Record | Big 10 Championships | |
| #1 | Ohio State(2) | 94-27 | 60-20 | 5-4 | 5 |
| #2 | Michigan(10) | 93-32 | 63-17 | 5-5 | 4 |
| #3 | Wisconsin(6) | 90-37 | 44-36 | 6-3 | 2 |
| #4 | Penn State(1) | 74-48 | 42-38 | 5-1 | 1 |
| #5 | Purdue(9) | 74-51 | 45-35 | 3-6 | 1 |
| #6 | Iowa(5) | 64-57 | 40-40 | 3-3 | 2 |
| #7 | Minnesota(7) |
62-59 | 31-49 | 3-4 | 0 |
| #8 | MSU(3) | 61-59 | 32-48 | 2-2 | 0 |
| #9 | Northwestern(4) | 50-69 | 29-51 | 0-3 | 1 |
| #10 | Illinois(8) | 48-69 | 27-53 | 1-2 | 1 |
| #11 | Indiana(11) | 40-75 | 21-59 | 0-1 |
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Michigan's well-documented fall from perennial power is shown in its -8 difference. Wisconsin's -3 difference, while not as dramatic as the Wolverines, seemed especially steep because of the Badgers #8 preseason national ranking. Michigan State and Northwestern, spurred on by their intense coaches and solid defenses, both show a +5 difference thanks to their strong play.
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I voted for the Spread HD
I never thought Jay Paterno would have a good idea.
JoePa for governor
by ReadingRambler on
Dec 3, 2008 10:40 AM CST
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Big 10: Standings vs Results
Good stuff with numbers— as usual.
Big question for me— is this the end of Big 2 – little 8 (err…9) .
Or even the end of Big 4 – little 5?
It could all depend on how Mich and Wisc come back in 2009. And if MSU and NW are for real in 2009. These kind of what-if’s make me want a playoff system all the more.
by Pilgrym on
Dec 3, 2008 12:14 PM CST
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It's certainly not the end of the Big 2 - Little 8, but...
I think we are moving towards being a far more competitive entity top-to-bottom.
The reason I’m hesitant to declare a free-for-all, is that there’s not a single conference in the country which isn’t clearly demarcated between Business Class and Coach.
The difference between a healthy conference and a stagnant one is there’s always a few seats vacant up front for the annual overachievers…
by Law Buckeye on
Dec 3, 2008 12:48 PM CST
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Interesting....
….check out MSU and Minnesota’s overall records v. their conference records.
They’re each 10+ games ahead of Northwestern overall for the past 10 years, but BARELY (2 or 3 games) ahead of Northwestern in conference.
Also, a GREAT reminder that the basement of the Big Ten is in Bloomington and Champaign….
by Chadnudj on
Dec 3, 2008 3:28 PM CST
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Exactly...
NW has a penchant for blowing out of conference games through the last 10 years…just to name a bunch:
New Hampshire
Nevada
Duke
Miami (OH) (x2)
Texas Christian (x3)
by grahamfiller10 on
Dec 3, 2008 3:35 PM CST
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Trust me...
…I’m well aware of NU’s non-con shortcomings. I still break out in hives over the fact that we lost to Duke in 2007…and the Miami (OH) loss in 1995 kept NU out of the national title game/discussion (their only other loss was in the Rose Bowl to a USC team using a later-determined to be academically ineligible Keyshawn Johnson).
But it also points out that Michigan State’s and Minnesota’s overall records over the past ten years (and maybe each season), have frequently been inflated based on weak non-con records, and that they’ve been fairly bad in conference (I mean, that’s an 8-9 game conference gap between them and Iowa at #6, but only a 2-3 game gap overall).
by Chadnudj on
Dec 3, 2008 4:21 PM CST
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One thing:
I assume the list of Big Ten Champions is from 1998-2007. If that’s the case then Ohio State should have 5 titles (1998, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007).
If you’re including this year, then Penn State should have 2 titles (2005, 2008) along with Ohio State’s 6 titles.
by Cairo on
Dec 3, 2008 5:47 PM CST
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Hmm
I am not counting this year, making the Penn State (1) title a correct stat…However, I apparently did over-inflate the Buckeye’s title number, it should be 5. Thanks.
Leave it to the Michigan author to give OSU another title.
by grahamfiller10 on
Dec 3, 2008 6:13 PM CST
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