Is anyone else kind of relieved that we have only "tough games" left? I think this team can play with anyone in the conference, including Michigan, and my heart can't take many more games like last night - win and you move on, lose and you severely damage your seeding prospects. Give me the Wisconsins and OSUs of the world! With that said, We have put together a MIGHTY fine resume so far, boys! I think people were really overreacting at having 5 losses early on, as they were all to good teams:
Record: 12-5 (8-3)
NET Ranking: #5
SOS Ranking: #2
Q1 Wins: vs. #7 Iowa, vs. #28 Purdue, at #35 Penn State, at #48 Indiana, at #66 Duke
Q2 Wins: vs. #35 Penn State, vs. #47 Minnesota, vs. #48 Indiana, at #88 Northwestern
Q3 Losses: None
Q4 Losses: None
Road Record: 4-2
That is impressive, and I don't even think our own fans appreciate it quite enough, as the five losses have been especially painful. Here is what we have coming up and what we can potentially add (leaving Michigan off for now, to be conservative)!
vs. #16 Wisconsin (
Q1 Win)
vs. #88 Northwestern (
Q3 Loss)
at #47 Minnesota (
Q1 Win)
vs. #166 Nebraska (
Q4 Loss)
at #16 Wisconsin (
Q1 Win)
at #12 Ohio State (
Q1 Win)
Bottom line is there is nothing average left. There are two games we ABSOLUTELY cannot lose (vs. NU and vs. UNL), and the rest would ALL be Quad 1 wins.
Not expecting us to run the table or anything, but if these guys have really turned a corner effort-/preparation-wise (as I think they have!), a realistic finish might be only losses at Wisconsin and OSU ... with both winnable. That would lead us to this final resume:
Record: 16-7 (12-5)
NET Ranking: ~ #5 (or higher!)
SOS Ranking: ~ #2
Q1 Wins: vs. #7 Iowa, vs. #16 Wisconsin, vs. #28 Purdue, at #35 Penn State, at #47 Minnesota, at #48 Indiana, at #66 Duke
Q2 Wins: vs. #35 Penn State, vs. #47 Minnesota, vs. #48 Indiana, at #88 Northwestern
Q3 Losses: None
Q4 Losses: None
Road Record: 5-4
Given the strength of the Big Ten this year, I think that is EASILY fighting for a 2- or 3-seed. If we were able to nab one at Wisconsin or OSU in addition, we would be on the border of the 1-seed line.
Obviously a long way to go, but this illustrates how huge the Iowa win really was for our resume and how important it is to rough out games like last night. I can't wait for the final stretch!