Big Ten Daily (Oct. 23): Some Wild Tiebreaker Scenarios Still Exist in the Big Ten
If you're a fan of chaotic college football scenarios, there are a few still alive and well in the Big Ten. Will those situations play out? Probably not. But the bedlam that could arise remains fun to discuss.
Through the first eight weeks of the season, there are still three Big Ten teams that are undefeated: Indiana (7-0), Oregon (7-0) and Penn State (7-0). The fun part? None of those three teams play each other.
It's a possibility, then, that all three teams could finish the year with 12-0 records, meaning one undefeated team would be left out of the Big Ten Championship Game. Who would it be?
For those not familiar, here's the Big Ten's tiebreaker process:
- Head-to-head matchups during the regular season.
- Record against all common conference opponents.
- Record against common opponents with the best conference record and proceeding through the common conference opponents based on their order of finish within the conference standings.
- Best cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents.
- The representative will be chosen based on the highest ranking by SportSource Analytics (team Rating Score metric) following the regular season.
- The representative will be chosen by random draw among the tied teams conducted by the Commissioner or designee.
If this scenario plays out, tiebreaker No. 4 would be the first applicable option. Let's be honest, though, we'd all be rooting for No. 6, where it comes down to a random draw.
Here's the crazy thing — having three undefeated teams at the end of the season may not even be the most fun scenario. There's also a way that five conference teams could end the year with just one loss.
Bill Bender of The Sporting News worked out the scenario in which Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State all conclude the 2024 campaign with one loss.
Here's the rundown:
- Indiana: 11-1, 8-1 in Big Ten (loss to Ohio State)
- Oregon: 11-1, 8-1 in BIg Ten (loss to Illinois)
- Ohio State: 11-1, 8-1 in BIg Ten (loss to Oregon)
- Penn State: 11-1, 8-1 in Big Ten (loss to Ohio State)
- Illinois: 11-1, 8-1 in BIg Ten (loss to Penn State)
Those five teams have just one common opponent this year: Purdue. It creates another incredibly entertaining scenario for the end of the season.
Again, it's unlikely that either of these situations arise. They never really do. But it is fun to think about, isn't it? Bring on the chaos.
Satterfield's comments draw criticism
It's going to be a long week for Nebraska offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield. He made some comments about the Huskers offense that drew plenty of criticism on social media.
After a 56-7 loss to Indiana on Saturday, Nebraska's offense was under fire for its lack of productivity. On Tuesday, Satterfield talked about the team's run game — and his remarks didn't sit too well in Lincoln.
"I've got to make sure I get in the mindset of — to win in this league, you have to establish the run game," Satterfield said. "Through the bye week and through this past week, we're going to work towards getting back to that, for sure."
He also talked about making sure he "calls the right runs" and isn't calling ineffective plays.
Satterfield also drew scrutiny for his response when asked about his "target number" for yards per play. He tossed out a surprisingly low number.
"Betwee four and six (yards)," Satterfield said. "I honestly don't even know what leads the country in yards per play."
Currently, Miami (Fla.) leads the country in yards per play, averaging 8.05. A 4.0 yards per play average would rank second-to-last in the country and 6.0 yards per play would rank 57th. Nebraska currently ranks 88th, averaging 5.54 yards per play.
Dan Lanning doesn't care about Oregon's ranking
Oregon coach Dan Lanning doesn't care about his team's return to the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press poll. With five games remaining on the schedule, he's only concerned about winning.
This week, Lanning was asked what it meant to get Oregon back to the top spot in the polls, fielding the best team in the country. His response was short, sweet and to the point.
"Who cares?" Lanning responded.
Noted.
The Ducks have a chance to secure another big win this weekend, taking on No. 20 Illinois on Saturday afternoon in Eugene.
Related Big Ten stories
BIG TEN WEEK 9 POWER RANKINGS: Indiana is off to a 7-0 start and had an impressive win over Nebraska. Can the Hoosiers compete for a Big Ten title with Oregon, Ohio State and Penn State? CLICK HERE
