What? Did something happen to Illinois? We have a game scheduled with them this weekend. Unless somebody has to cancel, why on Earth would you change that?
OSU v Michigan Cancelled
- Thread starter docrugby1
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What? Did something happen to Illinois? We have a game scheduled with them this weekend. Unless somebody has to cancel, why on Earth would you change that?
At the very least, watching Buckeye fans squirm and panic is enjoyable. It may just be for today, but they’re so used to getting everything their way and winning that it’s fun to watch them all losing their **** for even one day.
The games NU deserves are U of I plus IU in the BIG championship.
Game planning is serious businesses. Teams spend off-seasons scouting and preparing for each opponent, while watching tape and adjusting those plans the week of. Forcing teams to adjust on the fly is a nightmare. This was unavoidable for everyone in August/September and will happen again for the championship “+1” Saturday. Why do it again less with less than 5 days notice? The change only helps Ohio State and their playoff odds.
If your program and your opponent are healthy, just play the games on the schedule.
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Yes, it is more complicated for the Big Ten to "fix" the problem, because by definition, doing ~anything~ differently will be seen as some form of favoritism and open the league up to scrutiny. And it would force teams to play against an opponent with less preparation. Makes no sense -- and is certainly not "more fair" as you say.
As for your Big Ten Championship vs. "Big Ten Championship" ...
Look, I get why we all say WE WANT OHIO STATE. If Ohio State didn't have a Covid outbreak and made it to six games, by all means. I was there for that third quarter in 2018. But they didn't make it to six.
Now, NU has put itself in a situation where a win against Indiana (which, by the way, would be a nice way to avenge last year's terrible blowout loss) means it wins a Big Ten Championship! I don't care who we beat to make it happen.
I'll start off by saying I strongly dislike Ohio State.
That said, it's kind of ridiculous to hold them out of the B1G Championship Game. If they were 4-0 that would be one thing. But, they are 5-0 and the outcome of the 6th game is literally meaningless to their winning the B1G East. They only need the game played. They could lose 70-0. They would still be East champions.
Given all of that, the easiest solution to this is to have OSU "forfeit" the Michigan game. OSU would be 5-"1" in that case with the 6 requisite games under their belt. The CFP committee wouldn't care at all about the "loss" because they would recognize the absurdity of it.
That said, it's kind of ridiculous to hold them out of the B1G Championship Game. If they were 4-0 that would be one thing. But, they are 5-0 and the outcome of the 6th game is literally meaningless to their winning the B1G East. They only need the game played. They could lose 70-0. They would still be East champions.
Given all of that, the easiest solution to this is to have OSU "forfeit" the Michigan game. OSU would be 5-"1" in that case with the 6 requisite games under their belt. The CFP committee wouldn't care at all about the "loss" because they would recognize the absurdity of it.
Because the rules going into the season required a team to play at least six games to qualify for the Championship game. If OSU does not play a game this weekend, they do not meet the conference’s pre determined requirements to qualify for the Championship game. The rules are established before a competition starts, not after it starts. You can’t change the rules after the fact because you don’t like the outcome. I know that is all the rage in this country right now but that’s not how it works.
No, it isn't. The league is already under a ton of scrutiny from all angles for the late start and the lack of flexibility in the scheduling. I'm not sure Indiana has much of a leg to stand on here. They lost to Ohio State. If Michigan or Maryland doesn't have an outbreak, they have no shot. If the Big Ten weren't so concerned with the playoff, they could have built in a week for flexibility. But they thought they could move the national needle, and when they couldn't, they caved. And they're about to sacrifice any semblance of legitimacy for their championship game because of that unwillingness to stand up to the CFP.
OSU getting into the CFP is not a sure thing. They need a couple of more games and besides, how legit would it be to claim a B1G championship without the conference's only undefeated and highest ranked team in it.
I don’t know where the Ohio State playing the winner of Wisc/Iowa comes from either. If OS doesn’t have enough games to get into the B1G championship game what possible motivation would there be for them to play a “winner of” game if it’s too late for the B1G championship game?
I don’t think the BCS has stated teams need a minimum number of games to get in so why would OS play a meaningless game they might somehow lose or get someone hurt by playing.
Barring COVID, every B1G team will play on 12/19. The B1G championship game is intended to be one of 7 conference games that day.
It's East 1 vs West 1 (Champ game)
East 2 vs West 2
East 3 vs West 3
and so on....
The 6 game threshold only applies to East 1 vs West 1 (the championship game).
So, as of now, Ohio State will play a ranked Wisconsin or Iowa team in the East 2 vs West 2 game.
I think the reason they moved the game is simpler - the Colts are playing the following day at 1 PM ET.
No such place. I think you mean the University of Tennessee / Chattanooga, home of team formerly known as the Fighting Moccasins.
There is no longer a BCS, but the playoff committee would look at overall scope of work and beating a team like Wisc or Iowa would give them another quality win that they could use to assess. If the committee were on the fence between a 9 win team in Florida vs. a 5 win team like OSU that extra win could be the difference.
To get OSU into the Big Ten Championship Game so the conference can cash some more checks? I still assume that will end up happening, but at this point they're not going to change any of this week's games.
And if that happens, get ready for all the people saying, “The 2nd place game is better than the 1st place game”, which will be fun.
My opinion is rules are rules. If they don’t make the threshold that’s it. I could see with the plus one format. Indiana and NU play for the B1G. Regardless of the winner OSU plays their 6th game and wins and still makes the playoff
"If Michigan or Maryland doesn't have an outbreak, they have no shot."
I see you conveniently left out the fact that Ohio State itself had an outbreak and was responsible for a cancelation.
If that didn't happen, the Buckeyes would be at six games.
It's quite frankly ridiculous that Ohio State was even allowed to play against Michigan State, given the number of cases in its program, but of course they were going to make it happen because they saw the writing on the wall with Michigan and they wanted to cry foul this week.
Correct me if I'm wrong: Has ANY other Big Ten team canceled only one game, and not two, due to a Covid outbreak, other than OSU? I don't think so.
Look. Northwestern in the B1G championship is LEGIT. You earned it. Indiana ? C'mon man. And the problem I have is that 2 out of the 3 games OSU had cancelled were by their opponents which OSU had no control over. Now they pay the price ? If it's a NU-OSU game I'll watch - it's legit. And again, congrats, you have a great coach. NU-Indiana ? Sorry, no interest just like I'm seeing on the other sites. I just read where the Michigan AD said OSU should be in the championship game. C'mon B1G, get it right.
Hmmm... let's see... if 2 of the 3 games were canceled by opponents, and Ohio State didn't have a Covid outbreak itself, then would we be having this conversation?
I feel like you're conveniently leaving out that the "rules" for this season have already been changed multiple times over. If it was Indiana 6-0 and OSU 5-0, and the Indiana - OSU game was cancelled because of OSU Covid positive tests then I would 100% agree with you. But OSU and Indiana played it out on the field, and OSU won.
There's Covid outbreaks everywhere. My point: don't penalize a team for some matters that are out of their control. If all 3 games were cancelled by OSU, well, maybe that's a different story. Plain and simple: you will not be playing the best the East.
Who you or I want to watch play the game is irrelevant. I want NU to play OSU but not at the expense of following the rules that every Big Ten school agreed to before the season started. If OSU does not play in six games, then the rules require that NU and Indiana play for the Big Ten Championship.
To simply change rules for the convenience of aiding a particular team should not be allowed. As much as I would love to see NU vs. OSU, robbing Indiana of their deserved shot at B1G title cannot be justified. If the leadership changes the rules to allow I-oa to leapfrog us, I would have to believe none of us would agree to that. Rules were set for a reason. CFP can select OSU if they deem them worthy, but OSU should not be in B1G Championship Game.
What rules have been changed? I am not aware of any. The rules for this unusual season were agreed to by every school in the conference before the season started. You can’t change the ground rules after the competition starts.
Everywhere? You sure about that?
Big Ten teams that have not had to cancel because of Covid:
Northwestern
Indiana
Michigan State
Penn State
Rutgers
Iowa
Illinois
Nebraska
Purdue (so far)
Originally we had a 12 game season with 9 conference games. Then we had a 10 game season with all conference games. Then we had no season at all. Then we had a 8 game regular season with only conference games and no byes plus the last week's matchups TBD. Since then, a number of games have been cancelled, team schedules changing.
When you are comparing a 5-0 team with a 6-1 team, and the 5-0 team beat the 6-1 in a head to head matchup, notwithstanding what the rules were at one point in an ever-evolving plan for how this season will play out, my vote would be that the most fair outcome is to have OSU play in the B1G CCG.
I would respect Indiana for voting for themselves though - and I suppose it would be fair enough to put it to a conference vote (though most likely one behind the scenes rather than a public vote).
PS Let's beat Illinois first and foremost, but if we do you know that's going to be the first question they ask Fitz in postgame. Would be interesting to see what his view is. Though most likely he would dodge the question (which is probably the sensible thing to do, frankly).
That’s ********. Those “rules” were changed to allow for the season to be played despite COVID. Maybe it’s lost on you but EVERY SCHOOL, INCLUDING OSU, agreed to play under the 2020 rules BEFORE THE SEASON STARTED. One of those rules stipulated that teams had to play at least SIX games in order to qualify for the Big Ten championship game. Unles OSU plays this weekend, OSU will not meet the requirements to play NU in the Big Ten championship game. That PRIVILEGE would go to Indiana.
Who cares. That's Indiana's problem. We deserve to be there regardless of OSU's situation. It's Indiana that is benefiting from this weird scenario.
Different situation. BYU and Coastal Carolina both needed a “marquee” win to get into the playoff race. It was mutually beneficial and BYU is an independent that has been trying to add games throughout the season.
Their decision was similar to a college basketball “bracket buster” game being added mid season.
Not saying it’s impossible to play on little notice, but rather why would you take on that headache if there is no benefit? In the scenario posed by another poster IU and NU gain zilch by playing each other outside of Indianapolis.
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That’s comical. Everyone, including OSU, agreed to the rules before the season started. If in your opinion expecting Big Ten schools to stick to their word and the rules they all agreed to is sanctimonious, that says all that anyone needs to know about you. The end does not justify the means.
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