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2020 B1G Season - Starts Oct. 23/24

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Obviously OSU should, and would rather, win the conference championship than play in the "runner up" game. But putting aside the conference championship angle, I think Iowa is probably a better, tougher opponent now than Northwestern is. After losing their first two games (including a 1-point loss to Northwestern), Iowa has won five straight, by an average margin of 20 points.
 
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oh for sure. I totally expect Iowa to beat Wisconsin and be the #2 in the West and potential match-up for OSU in the crossover game if they do not play for a CC. Iowa is playing really well right now and I believe would certainly be the tougher game if comparing NW and Iowa.
 
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Paul Finebaum, Desmond Howard agree. The B1G needs to find Ohio State a sixth game

Despite logistics and a ticking clock, Ohio State should earn their way into the Big Ten Championship Game, so says ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum on Wednesday morning.

With the cancellation of this week’s game against Michigan due to COVID-19 protocols, Ohio State is currently 5-0 heading into the conference championship game. Given that the Big Ten created a threshold of six games in order for a team to qualify for the championship game, Ohio State either needs to find another game quickly for this weekend or the conference will need to waive the requirement.

Reports have indicated that the Big Ten, given the nature of the season, might waive the six-game requirement. Finebaum calls bogus on that idea.

“I think they should find Ohio State a game, that way they don’t take all the heat for changing the rules [for Ohio State], even though that’s not a big deal as we’ve said a couple times. It just makes more sense — give Ohio State a legitimate route into the B1G Championship Game,” Fienbaum said on ESPN’s Get Up. “It really is fairly simple. You’re worried about hurting feelings, the B1G has hurt feelings from the beginning. When they shut down, they made everybody mad, when they came back, they made some people mad. That should not be the issue any longer.

“You have to be flexible. And I don’t know why it’s taken until Wednesday to get this figured out. …We started talking about this 10 days ago. How come we’re ahead of the B1G on what they should be doing?”

Also on the ESPN panel on Wednesday morning was former Michigan and NFL star Desmond Howard, who added that “I think they should try to find Ohio State a game and I think they will find Ohio State a game.”

“When you look at the comments coming from the athletic directors from the B1G, you can tell that everyone is trying to finagle a way to figure out how they can get Ohio State into the B1G Championship Game because they want to get them into the College Football Playoff. That’s the B1G’s best team,” Howard said.

One opponent that has been bantered about is No. 5 Texas A&M (5-1) who could boost their own stock in the College Football Playoff rankings by beating Ohio State. But the Aggies would have little to gain from such a match-up that could and would help a contender for the four-team playoff.

“I would love to see it happen. There aren’t many good college football games this weekend, other than the Army-Navy game, all the contenders are pretty much gone,” Fienabaum said. “So it would be fantastic. But the odds of it are infinitesimal.”

Entire article: https://saturdaytradition.com/ohio-...I-dCCV9X1GvDlvA0NHrhGek3pkD2tq6IcW5vtzvIeSR7c

Just sayin': It's too late to schedule a game this week end with a quality opponent. If the B1G votes to suspend the 6 game to be in the CCG rule the problem is solved.
 
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This is so stupid. Osu could call a press conference and announce they are retroactively forfeiting the maryland or illinois game (tsun can forfeit this week's game if they want) and would be the east rep. So who cares if they go at 5-0, 6-0, or 5-1*.
 
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The original rule was written so badly, that if Indiana hadn’t been able to play Rutgers or Penn State earlier, these scenarios would be in play:

If this weekend also had the Indiana-Purdue, Sparty-Penn St, and Maryland-Rutgers games cancelled, they would have had to go to a 4-way tiebreaker among these 2-4 teams to send to the CCG: Sparty, Rutgers, Penn State, and TTUN. Or if they played two games this weekend and Rutgers beat Maryland and Sparty beat Penn State, 3-4 Rutgers would have gone to the CCG. If they lost to Maryland, the Sparty-Penn St winner would have gone to Indy. Just think about those scenarios, none of which would have removed the 6-game minimum.

The utter lunacy of the rule as it was written cannot be overstated, and that should be part of the rationale in revising it.
 
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Bring on the Buckeyes! Why NU should want to play OSU for the Big Ten title

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Half of the Big Ten championship game matchup is set. But who will newly crowned West division champion Northwestern play at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Dec. 19?

That’s the question that’s going to be at the center of some very delicate deliberations among the Big Ten brass this week.

Ohio State, 5-0 and ranked third by the AP and fourth by the College Football Playoff, seems like a shoo-in. All the Buckeyes have to do is play Michigan on Saturday and, win or lose – they are favored by 30 points to beat the spiraling Wolverines – they are the East champs.

The problem is that Michigan canceled last Saturday’s game against Maryland because of a COVID-19 outbreak. At least a dozen members of the program reportedly tested positive early last week.

Now, Saturday’s annual rivalry game against Ohio State is in jeopardy. And if the Buckeyes don’t play, they won’t meet the minimum six-game requirement for the championship game the conference set before the season.

It’s a very 2020 predicament.

You can bet there will be some backroom arm-twisting this week among Big Ten athletic directors. They could decide to amend their rule, since Ohio State is the only conference team with a chance to make the CFP, and that would mean money for everyone. They could get Ohio State to play another conference opponent. Or they could stick to their guns and send East runner-up Indiana – whom the Buckeyes have already beaten – to the title game.

We don’t know what the Big Ten power brokers will decide, but we hope that Northwestern gets to play Ohio State. You read that right.

Yes, the Wildcats would have a much better chance to beat Indiana. Yes, the Wildcats will be heavy underdogs. Yes, they will likely lose – again. Yes, we understand that once you win the trophy, no one will remember who you beat to win it in five years.

But we don’t care.

Indiana is an outstanding team that has had a spectacular season. They’d likely be favored over Northwestern, too.

But with all due respect to the Hoosiers, we want to see the big, bad Buckeyes on the other sideline. We think all NU fans should feel the same way.

Here’s why:

Ohio State is the 800-pound gorilla of the Big Ten: You want to be the champ? You’ve got to beat the champ. The Buckeyes have carried the flag for the entire league for some two decades now. They've earned the right to be there. They are the only undefeated team in the Big Ten. They already beat the next best team in the division, Indiana. They just knocked the snot out of Michigan State without 23 players who were inactive. They’re the Beast of the East and deserve to be in Indy.

It will validate the title: The COVID-ravaged 2020 season already has an asterisk next to it. Winning the Big Ten trophy by beating IU and not the “true champion” Buckeyes would water it down even further. On the other hand, beating Ohio State would legitimize the crown and instantly put this team among the greatest in Northwestern history. They would have a shot to shock the college football world and become legendary.

They will have nothing to lose: Ohio State would probably be a three-touchdown favorite over Northwestern. No one would give the Wildcats a chance. But so what? That’s when Northwestern is at its best. They love being the underdog and playing the no-respect card. They were nearly a two-TD favorite over MSU on Nov. 28, and we all see how that went. They can play loose and free against the Buckeyes and let it all hang out.

They will find out how good they are: Players want to compete against the best. It’s in their DNA. Ohio State is the measuring stick for the entire Big Ten, and the Wildcats will find out where they stand – and maybe how far they have to go to take that next step. This Buckeye team isn’t invincible; they beat Indiana by just seven points after Justin Fields threw three interceptions. NU will have a puncher’s chance.

They’ll get a shot to do something past NU champs haven’t: Over the last 25 years, Northwestern has won three Big Ten titles – outright in 1995, and shared in ’96 and 2000. You know what those three teams have in common? None of them played Ohio State. Due to quirks in the conference schedule, the Wildcats didn’t have to play the Buckeyes in any of those years. In fact, no Northwestern team since 1931 has beaten the Buckeyes and gone on to win the championship. Nothing would be better than putting a trophy in the case at the Walter Athletic Center after beating OSU.

Entire article: https://northwestern.rivals.com/new...should-want-to-play-osu-for-the-big-ten-title
 
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