Nebraska
Minnesota
Iowa
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Purdue
Illinois
Minnesota
Iowa
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Purdue
Illinois
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Post your B1G West prediction
- Thread starter berryhusker
- Start date
Actually, Illinois is getting a lot of better under Lovie. It's just that everyone else is getting better faster. And, they'll take a step back in the QB department this year.I think you are giving them too much of a chance to get to 6th.
It's really tough to make a prediction with teams starting to get better. The only prediction I can make comfortably is that Illinois will finish last.
Keep in mind the #6 team in the west has a very real possibility of being 8-4 at the end of the season, imo it will take a 10-2 effort to win the west this year. The teams are getting better and every game will be a hard fought battle.
While certainly not the only gauge, Minnesota is clearly the team in the West with the most returning starters and production.
philsteele.com
2019 % of Yards returning. – Phil Steele
philsteele.com
Nebraska
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Purdue
Minnesota
Illinois
Iowa
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Purdue
Minnesota
Illinois
Iowa
Iowa
Minnesota
Nebraska
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Purdue
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Minnesota - Northwestern - Iowa (Tie)
Purdue
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Illinois
This is hard as any of the teams with the exception of Illinois could get in. Iowa's schedule is finally tough so I expect them to lose a game they shouldn't as they play too many close games with their conservative style.
Minnesota returns the best core group on both sides of the ball so should be a tough out.
Northwestern does more with less every year
Wisconsin may finally fall back to the pack and they and Purdue have new QB's.
Minnesota - Northwestern - Iowa (Tie)
Purdue
Wisconsin
Illinois
This is hard as any of the teams with the exception of Illinois could get in. Iowa's schedule is finally tough so I expect them to lose a game they shouldn't as they play too many close games with their conservative style.
Minnesota returns the best core group on both sides of the ball so should be a tough out.
Northwestern does more with less every year
Wisconsin may finally fall back to the pack and they and Purdue have new QB's.
Nebraska - Improved D Line is going to be everything we need as long as Amart is healthy
Wisconsin - JT is a stud and will carry them
Iowa - Solid team, just no difference makers
Purdue - Improving but still young
Minnesota - Still not there. Good Oline and WR, but no QB
Northwestern - New QB, bad secondary
Illinois - Will be better especially on O, but still struggling team
Wisconsin - JT is a stud and will carry them
Iowa - Solid team, just no difference makers
Purdue - Improving but still young
Minnesota - Still not there. Good Oline and WR, but no QB
Northwestern - New QB, bad secondary
Illinois - Will be better especially on O, but still struggling team
What do coaches know? :Rolleyes:
While certainly not the only gauge, Minnesota is clearly the team in the West with the most returning starters and production.
2019 % of Yards returning. – Phil Steele
View attachment 27594
View attachment 27595
Personally I think returning starters and offensive production is misleading. Having a returning QB is pretty important having returning O-linemen is important, but the other skill spots usually can be replaced. I am not nearly as worried about replacing Ozigbo and Morgan as many are on this board. Skill players are a plenty. IF you return 18 starters off of a 3-9 team that doesn't mean you are going to be great the next year.
Michigan St returns just short of 85% of their offensive production, but that offensive production was atrocious. Minnesota wasn't anything that special on offense last year. They were 86 in total offense. Now if they were top 10 in total offense and returned 97% of production that would be worrisome. Minnesota's improvement over their last 3 or so games was on defense. Minnesota has a couple of nice backs that I wouldn't mind having and good receiver, but neither of their QB's is anything special and the one that was probably going to start is out indefinitely.
With all that said, I think it is completely impossible to make a prediction on the B1G west. I think the winner will most likely have 2 conference losses and could have 3 and some sort of tie breaker comes into play.
Nebraska
Minnesota t-2
Wisconsin t-2
Northwestern t-2
Iowa
Purdue
Illinois
Minnesota t-2
Wisconsin t-2
Northwestern t-2
Iowa
Purdue
Illinois
I know Steele produces those numbers as he's found a worthy correlation between returning starters and production and overall year-over-year improvement. Yes, it's not always the case. There will always be exceptions. But Steele is a stat guru that presents his findings with some basis. Otherwise, sure, I get what you're saying. I will add, however, it's generally better to have returning starters and production than not. Northwestern doesn't return a lot in either category -- though they do have their best player (on paper) at QB in school history slated to start -- and also the best coach in the Big Ten.
Actually, my concerns with replacing Ozigbo and Morgan are more due to lost depth of experience than talent that can't be replaced.
I definitely agree with it being impossible to made a prediction of Big Ten West standings with any confidence. Other than Illinois, I can make a case for every other team in the West. And the best team probably won't be separated by the fifth or sixth in the standings by more than a few plays on the season. Actually, it's so tight, I look more at schedule than anything else.
