From: milius@proton.med.umn.edu (Bob Milius (BMEC))
Subject: Re: MIGHTY MICHIGAN ... and notre dame
Organization: University of Minnesota
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 17:36:01 GMT

In article <By4z6G.CI4@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> beckham@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Jeff Beckham) writes:
>milius@proton.med.umn.edu (Bob Milius (BMEC)) writes:
>>In article <1992Nov22.003609.1014@news.nd.edu> rszczerb@mauchly.helios.nd.edu (Robert Szczerba) writes:
>>>In my (obviously biased) opinion ... Michigan is
>>>not even a top 15 team.  The only thing they've
>>>done was tie Notre Dame.  They played poorly
>>>agsint Purdue, Illinois, and Ohio State ...
>>>I don't even think they're the best team in the
>>>Big 10 ...           
>>If not Michigan, then which team do you believe IS the best team 
>>in the BIG10 this year? I like to hear your logic explaining why.
>
>I don't really know who could be the number one team in the Big-10 right now,
>but you think that Michigan really deserves it???  I mean thier (your) record

the team that deserves the BIG10 championship is the one with the best season
record. Two years ago, there was a 4-way tie for the championship and because
of their respective records, EACH deserved a share. This year, there is 
only one undefeated team.

>is 8-0-_3_!!!  Sure... no losses... but THREE TIES!!!  One of which was to an
>unranked Big-10 team (Illinois... of course!!)  There was the tie with Notre
>Dame... not a bad game.  But at times, Michigan was LOSING to Purdue!!!  And 

Do you mean that any team that is losing at any point in the season should
be automatically rejected as a possible BIG10 champ?

>also during the tie with Illinois, Michigan was losing.  Now, yet another tie
>with Ohio State!!!  I can't really comment on that game because I didn't see it.
>But really... if we go by records, they're 1st in the Big-10... but when you 
>step back and look at the whole picture... maybe they shouldn't be 1st in the 

If you look at the whole picture, you might also want to look at who's
leading most of the offensive and defensive stats in the BIG10. Michigan
isn't leading all of them, but I suspect they do lead in most of them.

>Big-10.  Who you might ask???  I don't really know... maybe Ohio State...

Ohio State has 2 conference losses and a tie.
They certainly could have an legit claim to be playing the best ball in
the conference at this time, (they played a heck of a game on Saturday!) 
and their decisive early win over Syracuse showed what they are capable of,
but their early losses are still involved in determining the conference 
championship. However, no BIG10 team has *proven* that they are better 
than Michigan. Ohio State may be better, but they haven't proven it
yet. Illinois might be just as good, if you buy the argument that Illinois
may have forced all those fumbles... maybe, considering that Illinois
didn't fumble that much during the game, but I think I would still bet
on Michigan winning a rematch... but then I'm a fan.  

>maybe Illinois... :-)

Illinois has 3 conference losses and a tie. (yeah, I saw the smiley)

I understand your chagrin at Michigan going to the Rose Bowl considering
their performance in the last few weeks. (think how I must feel :^|)
but by your reasoning, of all of the 107 divIA teams in the country, only 
Miami, Alabama, and TAMU would be deserving of the BIG10 championship, and
even then, I suspect you would find that each of them found themselves
losing at several points in the season to lesser opponents. Football
isn't an exact science, and you'll often find, as shown in basketball, 
baseball, and pro football, that team A may blow away team B, yet only 
to get blown away by the same team later in the season. That's why we
look at the whole season, and not a single game. Any time a football team
survives a season with an unblemished record, it is a remarkable thing no
matter what conference you're in, whether it's the SWC, SEC, or the BigEast.

As an aside, IMHO, I think the BIG10 is somewhat underrated this year. Yes,
I agree they suck this year, but they're not as bad as their record would
indicate at first blush. When you look at their out-of-conference schedule, 
I think you'll find that the BIG10 has played more ranked opponents than 
any other conference (just a speculation, correct me if I'm wrong). Lowly 
Minnesota was a field goal away from beating Colorado; Iowa played Miami, 
North Carolina State, and Colorado; Northwestern played Notre Dame, Stanford, 
and Boston College; Notre Dame also played Michigan, Michigan State, and 
Purdue; Ohio State played Syracuse; Michigan State also played Boston 
College. That's 12 out-of-conference games that with opponents ranked in 
the Top20. Sure, the BIG10 played poorly against them, but I'm not sure
how many other conference would have a winning record against them. 

on the other hand, maybe their out-of-conference opponents have winning 
records because they play so many BIG10 teams... :^/

-bob
a Michigan fan


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Bob Milius                                        milius@lenti.med.umn.edu
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.college