ADVERTISEMENT

Big 10 bowl results/Comments

mushroomgod_1

All-American
Apr 9, 2012
8,160
8,667
113
I watched all of the BT bowl games. They ended up winning 5, losing 4.

I root for all the BT teams although I'm torn over Purdue......once I know they're going to lose, I'm like 'wth, they might as well get their ass kicked', and just sit back and enjoy the show.

I know a lot of IU fans say they root against all the other BT teams, and I can understand the sentiment. However, I like college football too much to only root for 1 team.....rooting against 9 BT teams is too negative a proposition.......

One thing I will say off the bat is that the BT in general, and OSU in particular, are probably lucky OSU didn't make the playoffs. In almost choking away the Washington game (Washington scored the last 3 TDs), OSU proved, beyond any remaining doubt, that they were incapable of playing with 100% passion over the course of a difficult game. I don't think they would have fared any better than ND against Clemson. Had OSU been one of the 4 playoff teams, Michigan would have been promoted to the RB game, which they absolutely would have lost.

Some comments/observations:

OSU 28 /Washington 23--It sure seems like Haskins will be a good NFL QB. He's pretty slow, but he moves very well in the pocket, makes good decisions, and is very accurate, both on short & long throws. He looks and plays similar to Ben R. At this time, the Herbert kid from Oregon is WAY behind him. Had he come out this year, taking him with a high 1st round pick would have been a hell of a gamble, imo. I don't think drafting an NFL QB is quite the same as the NBA drafting for potential. I will say that the MSU game was the only Oregon game I saw this year, and I know the Herbert kid had great #s.......but MSU made him look VERY average.

MN 34, GT 10--Make fun of Fleck all you will, the guy can recruit & coach. I think he will have Minnesota at 8-4 by 2021, then promptly leave.

Wisconsin 35, Miami 3--Miami should have refused to play Wisconsin in New York in December. What a butt kicking. 90% of the time it would be a lot of fun to be a Wisconsin fan. You just have to be careful not to over-achieve so much that you end up playing an Alabama or a Clemson in the playoffs. That would be no fun at all.

UK 27, PSU 24--PSU should have won this game. A classic case of one team wanting to be there a lot more than the other team. I know we recruited the UK QB. I'm sure glad we didn't get him....he's horrible. But that UK TB is the real deal.

Iowa 27, Mississippi State 22--Iowa had no business beating those guys. A hell of a job by the Iowa staff on D. If you're a big DeBord/Ramsey guy you would also have loved their O. I've seen Stanley play 4-5 games this year other than v. IU, and he pretty much stunk in each one. He had a career day v. us. Go figure.

Auburn 63, Purdue 14--I think Purdue played the wrong team at the wrong time at the wrong place. A Peter Principle situation.

Florida 41, Michigan 15--This situation with Hairball is very bizarre. I hadn't watched his teams all that much over the years, but generally he seemed to on top of things at Stanford and with the 49ers. In the last few years he failed to develop some pretty highly regarded QB talent. And now the guy can't put two understandable sentences together when he talks to the press. He is easily the least articulate BT coach, and that includes Chris Ash, who appears to be a moron. It's almost like an UMeyer situation where you wonder if the guy has some health issues........

Oregon 7, MSU 6--The MSU fans REALLY hate their OC. And unlike most IU fans and our fans, they're not real subtle about it. The guy is named Warner, and apparently he's been around 3 years, which have not gone well offensively. The other thing with them is....what happened to Brian Lewerke? He looked like a rising star, but he made a ton of bad decisions/F***ed up plays this year. I know he was hurt some of the year, but he had a lot of time off and was ok physically for this game. And still stunk it up. Now some of the MSU posters think the guy is ruined mentally. Anyway, MSU wasted what was one of the more amazing defensive efforts you could ever hope to see with their inept offense.

Northwestern 31, Utah 20--NW is amazing. No matter what is going on, they just carry on. I thought I saw some of the same attitude in the one year Wilson & Allen were together. I haven't seen it yet with CTA's teams.....I hope we get back to it.
 
Last edited:
Never,ever root for PU or OSU,had too many interactions with their fans.
I have no problem with any other teams but I do think Dantonio and Franklin are douche bags and Harbaugh is well Harbaugh.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mk23
I watched all of the BT bowl games. They ended up winning 5, losing 4.

I root for all the BT teams although I'm torn over Purdue......once I know they're going to lose, I'm like 'wth, they might as well get their ass kicked', and just sit back and enjoy the show.

I know a lot of IU fans say they root against all the other BT teams, and I can understand the sentiment. However, I like college football too much to only root for 1 team.....rooting against 9 BT teams is too negative a proposition.......

One thing I will say off the bat is that the BT in general, and OSU in particular, are probably lucky OSU didn't make the playoffs. In almost choking away the Washington game (Washington scored the last 3 TDs), OSU proved, beyond any remaining doubt, that they were incapable of playing with 100% passion over the course of a difficult game. I don't think they would have fared any better than ND against Clemson. Had OSU been one of the 4 playoff teams, Michigan would have been promoted to the RB game, which they absolutely would have lost.

Some comments/observations:

OSU 28 /Washington 23--It sure seems like Haskins will be a good NFL QB. He's pretty slow, but he moves very well in the pocket, makes good decisions, and is very accurate, both on short & long throws. He looks and plays similar to Ben R. At this time, the Herbert kid from Oregon is WAY behind him. Had he come out this year, taking him with a high 1st round pick would have been a hell of a gamble, imo. I don't think drafting an NFL QB is quite the same as the NBA drafting for potential. I will say that the MSU game was the only Oregon game I saw this year, and I know the Herbert kid had great #s.......but MSU made him look VERY average.

MN 34, GT 10--Make fun of Fleck all you will, the guy can recruit & coach. I think he will have Minnesota at 8-4 by 2021, then promptly leave.

Wisconsin 35, Miami 3--Miami should have refused to play Wisconsin in New York in December. What a butt kicking. 90% of the time it would be a lot of fun to be a Wisconsin fan. You just have to be careful not to over-achieve so much that you end up playing an Alabama or a Clemson in the playoffs. That would be no fun at all.

UK 27, PSU 24--PSU should have won this game. A classic case of one team wanting to be there a lot more than the other team. I know we recruited the UK QB. I'm sure glad we didn't get him....he's horrible. But that UK TB is the real deal.

Iowa 27, Mississippi State 22--Iowa had no business beating those guys. A hell of a job by the Iowa staff on D. If you're a big DeBord/Ramsey guy you would also have loved their O. I've seen Stanley play 4-5 games this year other than v. IU, and he pretty much stunk in each one. He had a career day v. us. Go figure.

Auburn 63, Purdue 14--I think Purdue played the wrong team at the wrong time at the wrong place. A Peter Principle situation.

Florida 41, Michigan 15--This situation with Hairball is very bizarre. I hadn't watched his teams all that much over the years, but generally he seemed to on top of things at Stanford and with the 49ers. In the last few years he failed to develop some pretty highly regarded QB talent. And now the guy can't put two understandable sentences together when he talks to the press. He is easily the least articulate BT coach, and that includes Chris Ash, who appears to be a moron. It's almost like an UMeyer situation where you wonder if the guy has some health issues........

Oregon 7, MSU 6--The MSU fans REALLY hate their OC. And unlike most IU fans and our fans, they're not real subtle about it. The guy is named Warner, and apparently he's been around 3 years, which have not gone well offensively. The other thing with them is....what happened to Brian Lewerke? He looked like a rising star, but he made a ton of bad decisions/F***ed up plays this year. I know he was hurt some of the year, but he had a lot of time off and was ok physically for this game. And still stunk it up. Now some of the MSU posters think the guy is ruined mentally. Anyway, MSU wasted what was one of the more amazing defensive efforts you could ever hope to see with their inept offense.

Northwestern 31, Utah 20--NW is amazing. No matter what is going on, they just carry on. I thought I saw some of the same attitude in the one year Wilson & Allen were together. I haven't seen it yet with CTA's teams.....I hope we get back to it.

A very objective and balanced summary. Nice job.
 
Never,ever root for PU or OSU,had too many interactions with their fans.
I have no problem with any other teams but I do think Dantonio and Franklin are douche bags and Harbaugh is well Harbaugh.


If you look at the really great college football coaches, many were/are dicks as human beings.

A guy like Sabam would grind his grandma into the dirt to win a football game. Same for Meyer, Dantonio, Franklin. I suspect the same of Brohm, but our Purdue friends say he's a saint, so who knows?

Is CTA too nice to be a great coach? (Assuming he otherwise has it together, which is a big assumption) Fitzgerald seems highly ethical, and has done pretty well.
 
Good summary. The B1G is a great conference in football, but the gap in speed and athleticism versus the SEC shows once again.


I think right now the Big 10 is the second best football conference, but the gap between the BT and the SEC is bigger than the gaps between the BT and the ACC & the Big 12. The PAC 12 right now is a train wreck.

The BT had a big jump in public perception with the hiring of Meyer, Harbaugh & Franklin. With Meyer gone, Harbaugh exposed & Franklin's game day competency in question, things might be changing. A lot of uncertainty right now....was Wisconsin's fall from grace a 1 year event or a sign of things to come? Can NW go any higher? Purdue? How soon will Frost get it done? How long will Fleck hang around? One thing that has changed very recently---is divisional realignment as big of an issue? Suddenly, the BT West is looking very competitive going forward, the immediate future of the East in question.

Over the long haul, the ACC would appear to have the best chance of overtaking the BT for #2. Miami doesn't look like they'll ever get back to where they were, but they should at least be as good as Wisconsin year in & year out. NC is a top 20 sleeper program. BC should always be at least average +. VT won't be down long. The big question LT is the $ disparity with the SEC & Big 10. At some point that has to hurt them, unless the ACC network really takes off.
 
If you look at the really great college football coaches, many were/are dicks as human beings.

A guy like Sabam would grind his grandma into the dirt to win a football game. Same for Meyer, Dantonio, Franklin. I suspect the same of Brohm, but our Purdue friends say he's a saint, so who knows?

Is CTA too nice to be a great coach? (Assuming he otherwise has it together, which is a big assumption) Fitzgerald seems highly ethical, and has done pretty well.
"Ethical" isn't synonymous with "nice." And if a coach isn't ethical, he has no business being a coach.

Many great coaches, as you've noted, have been dicks. Many, though, are/were gentlemen.
 
If you look at the really great college football coaches, many were/are dicks as human beings.

A guy like Sabam would grind his grandma into the dirt to win a football game. Same for Meyer, Dantonio, Franklin. I suspect the same of Brohm, but our Purdue friends say he's a saint, so who knows?

Is CTA too nice to be a great coach? (Assuming he otherwise has it together, which is a big assumption) Fitzgerald seems highly ethical, and has done pretty well.

You do not know nothing about any of those coaches. I worked with Saban and he is like most coaches in any sport a very determined and intense man who has worked long hours to perfect his ability to succeed in his chosen profession. He is a dedicated family man who has devoted most of his adult life to working with young men. He has one of the most extensive coaching trees in college football history and he also devotes a great deal of time to assisting coaches who have fallen from grace in getting themselves prepared to return to a active coaching. Since he came to Tuscaloosa he has worked closely with the President and university leadership in pumping millions of dollars in excess athletic department funds into scholarships which have been the fuel that has generated the merit money used to increase the Alabama enrollment from the low 20’s to more than 35,000 today. Organizations like Forbes and Bloomberg have called him the most underpaid coach in the country. Why, because his impact on the university has been worth hundreds of millions and if he were to be compensated on the same basis as a corporate executive he would make far more than his reported $11 million compensation. We should all be so lucky to have a Saban fall into our athletic department laps. When I worked with Saban 29 years ago he was a $90,000 a year NFL defensive backs coach.

https://heightline.com/nick-saban-daughter-wife-son/
 
I watched all of the BT bowl games. They ended up winning 5, losing 4.

I root for all the BT teams although I'm torn over Purdue......once I know they're going to lose, I'm like 'wth, they might as well get their ass kicked', and just sit back and enjoy the show.

I know a lot of IU fans say they root against all the other BT teams, and I can understand the sentiment. However, I like college football too much to only root for 1 team.....rooting against 9 BT teams is too negative a proposition.......

One thing I will say off the bat is that the BT in general, and OSU in particular, are probably lucky OSU didn't make the playoffs. In almost choking away the Washington game (Washington scored the last 3 TDs), OSU proved, beyond any remaining doubt, that they were incapable of playing with 100% passion over the course of a difficult game. I don't think they would have fared any better than ND against Clemson. Had OSU been one of the 4 playoff teams, Michigan would have been promoted to the RB game, which they absolutely would have lost.

Some comments/observations:

OSU 28 /Washington 23--It sure seems like Haskins will be a good NFL QB. He's pretty slow, but he moves very well in the pocket, makes good decisions, and is very accurate, both on short & long throws. He looks and plays similar to Ben R. At this time, the Herbert kid from Oregon is WAY behind him. Had he come out this year, taking him with a high 1st round pick would have been a hell of a gamble, imo. I don't think drafting an NFL QB is quite the same as the NBA drafting for potential. I will say that the MSU game was the only Oregon game I saw this year, and I know the Herbert kid had great #s.......but MSU made him look VERY average.

MN 34, GT 10--Make fun of Fleck all you will, the guy can recruit & coach. I think he will have Minnesota at 8-4 by 2021, then promptly leave.

Wisconsin 35, Miami 3--Miami should have refused to play Wisconsin in New York in December. What a butt kicking. 90% of the time it would be a lot of fun to be a Wisconsin fan. You just have to be careful not to over-achieve so much that you end up playing an Alabama or a Clemson in the playoffs. That would be no fun at all.

UK 27, PSU 24--PSU should have won this game. A classic case of one team wanting to be there a lot more than the other team. I know we recruited the UK QB. I'm sure glad we didn't get him....he's horrible. But that UK TB is the real deal.

Iowa 27, Mississippi State 22--Iowa had no business beating those guys. A hell of a job by the Iowa staff on D. If you're a big DeBord/Ramsey guy you would also have loved their O. I've seen Stanley play 4-5 games this year other than v. IU, and he pretty much stunk in each one. He had a career day v. us. Go figure.

Auburn 63, Purdue 14--I think Purdue played the wrong team at the wrong time at the wrong place. A Peter Principle situation.

Florida 41, Michigan 15--This situation with Hairball is very bizarre. I hadn't watched his teams all that much over the years, but generally he seemed to on top of things at Stanford and with the 49ers. In the last few years he failed to develop some pretty highly regarded QB talent. And now the guy can't put two understandable sentences together when he talks to the press. He is easily the least articulate BT coach, and that includes Chris Ash, who appears to be a moron. It's almost like an UMeyer situation where you wonder if the guy has some health issues........

Oregon 7, MSU 6--The MSU fans REALLY hate their OC. And unlike most IU fans and our fans, they're not real subtle about it. The guy is named Warner, and apparently he's been around 3 years, which have not gone well offensively. The other thing with them is....what happened to Brian Lewerke? He looked like a rising star, but he made a ton of bad decisions/F***ed up plays this year. I know he was hurt some of the year, but he had a lot of time off and was ok physically for this game. And still stunk it up. Now some of the MSU posters think the guy is ruined mentally. Anyway, MSU wasted what was one of the more amazing defensive efforts you could ever hope to see with their inept offense.

Northwestern 31, Utah 20--NW is amazing. No matter what is going on, they just carry on. I thought I saw some of the same attitude in the one year Wilson & Allen were together. I haven't seen it yet with CTA's teams.....I hope we get back to it.
Great post. I enjoyed reading this.

I think the bowl season proved the Big Ten was very overrated at the top, but under appreciated in the middle to bottom. A lot of solid teams but none truly elite.

I can’t believe most Michigan fans seem content with Harbaugh.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vesuvius13
I think right now the Big 10 is the second best football conference, but the gap between the BT and the SEC is bigger than the gaps between the BT and the ACC & the Big 12. The PAC 12 right now is a train wreck.

The BT had a big jump in public perception with the hiring of Meyer, Harbaugh & Franklin. With Meyer gone, Harbaugh exposed & Franklin's game day competency in question, things might be changing. A lot of uncertainty right now....was Wisconsin's fall from grace a 1 year event or a sign of things to come? Can NW go any higher? Purdue? How soon will Frost get it done? How long will Fleck hang around? One thing that has changed very recently---is divisional realignment as big of an issue? Suddenly, the BT West is looking very competitive going forward, the immediate future of the East in question.

Over the long haul, the ACC would appear to have the best chance of overtaking the BT for #2. Miami doesn't look like they'll ever get back to where they were, but they should at least be as good as Wisconsin year in & year out. NC is a top 20 sleeper program. BC should always be at least average +. VT won't be down long. The big question LT is the $ disparity with the SEC & Big 10. At some point that has to hurt them, unless the ACC network really takes off.
Agree on all of this. You’re going to get ripped for saying the SEC is better than the Big Ten.

Apparently OSU would “blast” Alabama.

Thank you for being reasonable.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vesuvius13
Good summary. The B1G is a great conference in football, but the gap in speed and athleticism versus the SEC shows once again.
Because of the continual hype by ABC/ESPN and their
link with the SEC bank account the gap is not as large
as we have been led to believe.
 
You do not know nothing about any of those coaches. I worked with Saban and he is like most coaches in any sport a very determined and intense man who has worked long hours to perfect his ability to succeed in his chosen profession. He is a dedicated family man who has devoted most of his adult life to working with young men. He has one of the most extensive coaching trees in college football history and he also devotes a great deal of time to assisting coaches who have fallen from grace in getting themselves prepared to return to a active coaching. Since he came to Tuscaloosa he has worked closely with the President and university leadership in pumping millions of dollars in excess athletic department funds into scholarships which have been the fuel that has generated the merit money used to increase the Alabama enrollment from the low 20’s to more than 35,000 today. Organizations like Forbes and Bloomberg have called him the most underpaid coach in the country. Why, because his impact on the university has been worth hundreds of millions and if he were to be compensated on the same basis as a corporate executive he would make far more than his reported $11 million compensation. We should all be so lucky to have a Saban fall into our athletic department laps. When I worked with Saban 29 years ago he was a $90,000 a year NFL defensive backs coach.

https://heightline.com/nick-saban-daughter-wife-son/


I don't know him personally. I only know what I see & hear from him.

I don't doubt that he is an extraordinary person and has many admirable qualities. I also think he's ruthless, and a jerk as an individual. Just my opinion.
 
Great post. I enjoyed reading this.

I think the bowl season proved the Big Ten was very overrated at the top, but under appreciated in the middle to bottom. A lot of solid teams but none truly elite.

I can’t believe most Michigan fans seem content with Harbaugh.


What's amazing is that OSU was 13-1 and yet under-achieved on the year. I don't know anyone could have watched them more than a couple of times and not concluded that their D, STs, and running game never reached their potential. Their talent was just so much greater than their opponents, and Haskins played so well, that 13/14 games it didn't matter.

Otherwise, Wisconsin, Michigan, PSU,and MSU all disappointed. Weren't all those teams solidly in the top 15 when the season started? It's not surprising that all of these teams fell short in one way or another, but its pretty amazing that all did. All their potential weaknesses turned out to be real weaknesses that were never fixed.,,,,,although in Michigan's case it was their principle strength, namely their D, that ultimately disappointed. I think IU also disappointed, but less than those teams.

As you say, other teams surprised, including NW, Purdue, and Minnesota. I also think Iowa was better than expected, although their record didn't really show it. Illinois, MD, and Rutgers were about as expected.
 
I know this is DAYS late & $'s short(because I DVR basically all of the bowl games & then s-l-o-w-l-y watch them over the course of the next 8 months, so as to have football to watch year 'round)& I haven't seen much of the B1G teams yet, but I will say Minnesota surprised in their game. They were clearly the bigger, stronger, & faster team against Georgia Tech. That was a good look for the B1G. Impressive...physically, schematically, & otherwise.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vesuvius13
I know this is DAYS late & $'s short(because I DVR basically all of the bowl games & then s-l-o-w-l-y watch them over the course of the next 8 months, so as to have football to watch year 'round)& I haven't seen much of the B1G teams yet, but I will say Minnesota surprised in their game. They were clearly the bigger, stronger, & faster team against Georgia Tech. That was a good look for the B1G. Impressive...physically, schematically, & otherwise.
If you're looking for other impressive Big Ten bowl performances, you may want to delete the Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State games. On the other hand, don't miss Northwestern's big comeback against the Utes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vesuvius13 and 76-1
What's amazing is that OSU was 13-1 and yet under-achieved on the year. I don't know anyone could have watched them more than a couple of times and not concluded that their D, STs, and running game never reached their potential. Their talent was just so much greater than their opponents, and Haskins played so well, that 13/14 games it didn't matter.

Otherwise, Wisconsin, Michigan, PSU,and MSU all disappointed. Weren't all those teams solidly in the top 15 when the season started? It's not surprising that all of these teams fell short in one way or another, but its pretty amazing that all did. All their potential weaknesses turned out to be real weaknesses that were never fixed.,,,,,although in Michigan's case it was their principle strength, namely their D, that ultimately disappointed. I think IU also disappointed, but less than those teams was better than expected, although their record didn't really show it. Illinois, MD, and Rutgers were about as expected.

OSU most certainly underachieved. Their defense was piss poor, & has absolutely no excuse to be so. They should be in lock step with Clemson & Alabama, every year. Well, I guess "could" be is more accurate. Clearly they don't have their act together off the field & in terms of cohesion, leadership, & intangibles the way that Clemson & 'Bama do.
 
I don't know him personally. I only know what I see & hear from him.

I don't doubt that he is an extraordinary person and has many admirable qualities. I also think he's ruthless, and a jerk as an individual. Just my opinion.

Based on what? How can you call someone a "jerk" unless you know them personally?
 
I don't know him personally. I only know what I see & hear from him.

I don't doubt that he is an extraordinary person and has many admirable qualities. I also think he's ruthless, and a jerk as an individual. Just my opinion.
you admit to not knowing the man but insist he is a ruthless jerk? i don't get it. i also don't get how you got 2 likes for saying it
 
I know this is DAYS late & $'s short(because I DVR basically all of the bowl games & then s-l-o-w-l-y watch them over the course of the next 8 months, so as to have football to watch year 'round)& I haven't seen much of the B1G teams yet, but I will say Minnesota surprised in their game. They were clearly the bigger, stronger, & faster team against Georgia Tech. That was a good look for the B1G. Impressive...physically, schematically, & otherwise.
wow. you must be retired. more power to ya
 
OSU most certainly underachieved. Their defense was piss poor, & has absolutely no excuse to be so. They should be in lock step with Clemson & Alabama, every year. Well, I guess "could" be is more accurate. Clearly they don't have their act together off the field & in terms of cohesion, leadership, & intangibles the way that Clemson & 'Bama do.
Well, they technically did lose Nick Bosa early in the year. I'm not saying that him being healthy all year would have magically made their defense the '85 Bears, but losing a defender who will likely go in the top 5 of the NFL draft was definitely a hit.
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT