[NU Sports] When will we ever see another title ?

[Tom Maycock]

In one sense, another championship will be harder to come by simply because 
there won't be any more shared championships. Remember, 2 of our 3 titles were 
shared, and in '95 we didn't have to play the other dominant team in the 
conference. 

Now, there will only be one champion each year. And we've added another team, so 
if everything were equal, our chances dropped from say 2 (or even 3) out of 11 
to 1 out of 12. And of course, everything isn't equal.

On the other hand, the conference championship game means that the "best" team 
won't always be the conference championship, because when it all comes down to 
one game, sometimes the best team loses. So, all you need to do is win your 
division (or win the tie-breaker in your division) and you have a shot. 

Consider next year in our division. I'd say Nebraska has a good chance of being 
the best team (assuming Martinez stays healthy and continues to develop). But 
Nebraska plays a *killer* schedule. Could we lose to Nebraska but still finish 
ahead of them in the standings? Yeah, I think so. Can we make it to the 
championship game? Hmm, maybe. 

As for the other side of your question, I think Pat has come close to equaling 
at least the 2000 team, in both '08 and '09. The '09 team might have had a real 
shot of equaling or bettering the '00 team's B10 record if it weren't for 
injuries (the defense the first half of the year, Kafka vs PSU, etc.). Of 
course, both those teams had a lot to do with Walker.

Can Fitz win a championship in the new B10? Yeah, I think so. In fact, I think 
he will. Probably more than one.

Tom







----- Original Message ----
> From: "cherron604 at aol.com" <cherron604 at aol.com>
> To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
> Sent: Fri, February 4, 2011 12:31:07 PM
> Subject: [NU Sports] When will we ever see another title ?
> 
> 
> A question/mental exercise for a cold day
> 
> Gary Barnett arrived in  1992.  In his 4th year, we had an unbeaten conference 
>title(8-0).  In  his 5th year, we had a share of the conference title(7-1)
> 
> Randy Walker  arrived in 1999.  In his 2nd year, we had a share of the 
>conference  title(6-2)  That represents an incredible 3 conference titles in 6  
>years.
> 
> Fitz arrived in 2006.  After 5 years, there have been no  titles, but 3 
>consecutive bowl teams (2-4th place finishes and a 7th place  finish)
> 
> With the new divisional set-up, will we ever see another Big Ten  title ?
> 
> Are we more in annual bowl-game mode nowadays ?
> 
> Will we  ever see an accomplishment like GB/RW 3 titles in 9 seasons after 
>Francis Peay  ?
> 
> Chuck Herron   Tech  '85
> 
> 
> 
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