How funny. I've been meaning to start a thread like this for a while now but I didn't want to mess up the happy vibe of 6-1 with five games to go. Glad you started this, homey.
So, where do the other three losses come from? Honestly, we have the talent to run the table. I don't mean winning the playoff championship or whatever they're calling it, but we could beat every team on our schedule, and we could win a bowl game against half the top ten, right now, with the talent we have and the coaches currently on staff.
But... we've kinda had that over the past six years, too. And we've still lost four games a year, every year, for six FREAKING years.
So here's our remaining schedule:
Rutgers
Purdue
BYE
@ Wisconson
Minnesota
@ Iowa
Big Ten Championship?
Bowl Game?
We've all seen the worst of us. We watched McNeese State (currently 4-2 with losses to Nebraska & Sam Houston State) and the first half of Northwestern (currently 3-4). We all watched the first three quarters of Sparty (currently 6-1). This Husker team can lose to Rutgers, to Wisconsin, to Minny..... all of them.
We could also win all of our remaining regular-season games, too. That actually seems more realistic, depending on the mindset of this team. If they take care of business they should get to Indianapolis at 11-1.
If we do that, and that's a HUGE "if," we won't be able to lose four games. Either we win at Indy, win the Big Ten, and lose one more game in the Playoffs and finish at 12-2, or we lose at Indy and lose our bowl game and finish at 11-3.
To get to four losses, we're going to have to scrounge up some losses. Let's say we beat Rutgers & Purdue, teams we should be able to beat. That leaves Wisconsin at Madison, a terribly tough place to win, and Minnesota and at Iowa, another terribly tough place to win.
Honestly, Minnesota at home, the way they're playing, may be the toughest game remaining on our regular-season schedule. So count that as a loss if you want.
Wiscy with Melvin Gordon will be tough, and they've certainly had our number in the last few years. So count that as a loss, too.
But losing to Wisconsin, or losing to Minny, means we won't go to the Big Ten Championship, another very likely loss. Michigan State played like a$$ for half the game and still beat us (although we played like a$$ for 3.75% of the game and nearly won so...?).
The team that's been trouncing everyone the last few weeks is Ohio State and JT Barrett - and we all know how much trouble mobile quarterbacks give Bo's defensive scheme.
Let's pretend we're going to win every game we're favored to win from here on out. According to Vegas, that's every game except at Madison against Wiscy. That puts us at 10-2. No Big Ten Championship, but no extra game, no playoff, and only one more potential loss. Again, three losses.
Basically, in order for this team to earn four losses, they're going to have to utterly mess the bed. They're going to have to lose to two of their remaining regular-season opponents, plus the bowl game. If they lose even one game, to Wiscy or to Minny, they won't go to Indianapolis, and thus won't lose four games.
If they beat every other opponent, but lose at Indy, they will only have the bowl game left, and with a loss there that's only three losses.
If they make it to the Playoffs (a pipe dream, let's be honest), they won't be able to lose more than three, and likely no more than two (presuming a playoff loss, because this is NOT a championship team).
Short story long... it's going to be difficult at this point to lose four games.
Like, pretty unlikely.
How weird is that?
