Conference records during Fitzgerald era

[hollandnucat]

Below are Big Ten win/loss records since Fitz has been head coach:

Team Win - Loss Win%
Ohio St. 90 - 13 87.4%
Wisc 75 - 28 72.8%
Penn St 66 - 37 64.1%
Mich St 64 - 39 62.1%
Neb 37 - 26 58.7%
Mich 60 - 43 58.3%
Iowa 57 - 46 55.3%
NU 53 - 51 51.0%
Mary 13 - 26 33.3%
Minn 34 - 69 33.0%
Pur 33 - 70 32.0%
Ill 27 - 76 26.2%
Ind 24 - 80 23.1%
Rut 7 - 32 17.9%

 

[Deeringfish]

Below are Big Ten win/loss records since Fitz has been head coach:

Team

I don't think your link worked

 

[Noah121]

86[PF]75309

 

[Gladeskat]

PA65000

 

[zeek55]

Given the current 4 year run we're on and the hopes that we all have for the next 3 or so years, I think we all hope that we are in the midst of moving to a higher level of sustained success than we had ever experienced previously.

We're 23-9 in Big Ten games over the last 4 years. That's a remarkable run for us.

 

[Aging Booster]

Below are Big Ten win/loss records since Fitz has been head coach:

Team Win - Loss Win%
Ohio St. 90 - 13 87.4%
Wisc 75 - 28 72.8%
Penn St 66 - 37 64.1%
Mich St 64 - 39 62.1%
Neb 37 - 26 58.7%
Mich 60 - 43 58.3%
Iowa 57 - 46 55.3%
NU 53 - 51 51.0%
Mary 13 - 26 33.3%
Minn 34 - 69 33.0%
Pur 33 - 70 32.0%
Ill 27 - 76 26.2%
Ind 24 - 80 23.1%
Rut 7 - 32 17.9%

It appears as though 8 teams are generally beating the crap out of 6 other teams. There is a big spread between NU at 51% and Maryland at 33%.

 

[hdhntr1]

It appears as though 8 teams are generally beating the crap out of 6 other teams. There is a big spread between NU at 51% and Maryland at 33%.

I think if you looked at most conferences you would see something similar. The BIG middle and bottom tend to be better than other conferences

 

[CappyNU]

Below are Big Ten win/loss records since Fitz has been head coach:

Team Win - Loss Win%
Ohio St. 90 - 13 87.4%
Wisc 75 - 28 72.8%
Penn St 66 - 37 64.1%
Mich St 64 - 39 62.1%
Neb 37 - 26 58.7%
Mich 60 - 43 58.3%
Iowa 57 - 46 55.3%
NU 53 - 51 51.0%
Mary 13 - 26 33.3%
Minn 34 - 69 33.0%
Pur 33 - 70 32.0%
Ill 27 - 76 26.2%
Ind 24 - 80 23.1%
Rut 7 - 32 17.9%

Really glad we added Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten, they bring so much to the table.

 

[eastbaycat99]

Below are Big Ten win/loss records since Fitz has been head coach:

Team Win - Loss Win%
Ohio St. 90 - 13 87.4%
Wisc 75 - 28 72.8%
Penn St 66 - 37 64.1%
Mich St 64 - 39 62.1%
Neb 37 - 26 58.7%
Mich 60 - 43 58.3%
Iowa 57 - 46 55.3%
NU 53 - 51 51.0%
Mary 13 - 26 33.3%
Minn 34 - 69 33.0%
Pur 33 - 70 32.0%
Ill 27 - 76 26.2%
Ind 24 - 80 23.1%
Rut 7 - 32 17.9%

The 2015 seasonwas a real point of inflection. Fitz’s conference record was 30-42 at that point, coming off a two year stretch of 4-12. They started that year’s conference play 1-2 and then have gone 21-7 (.750) since getting blown out by Iowa.

 

[pawildcat]

Really glad we added Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten, they bring so much to the table.

Maryland isn't bad this year despite the off-the-field chaos that has set them back. They are located in a good recruiting area and have a chance to be creditable in football. Both their men's and women's teams have been above average in basketball. Rutgers is a dumpster fire in football, but their new BB coach appears to be recruiting well.

 

[DarthCat]

Really glad we added Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten, they bring so much to the table.

The checks written to each BT team based on the profits of the Big Ten network probably say they have.

These expansions were never about anything more than untapped geographic markets and TV advertising revenue. While the history and tradition of Nebraska made it possible to present it otherwise, it wasn’t the case.

Strange people still think the records and scandals at either Rutgers or Maryland have any bearing on any regret for those decisions. Maybe they do, temporarily, but only so far as viewership is likely down based upon the teams doing relatively poorly.

 

[Medill '03]

I think if you looked at most conferences you would see something similar. The BIG middle and bottom tend to be better than other conferences

The bottom of the Big Ten is better than other conferences? That would be really hard to believe with Rutgers and Illinois.

 

[zeek55]

The checks written to each BT team based on the profits of the Big Ten network probably say they have.

These expansions were never about anything more than untapped geographic markets and TV advertising revenue. While the history and tradition of Nebraska made it possible to present it otherwise, it wasn’t the case.

Strange people still think the records and scandals at either Rutgers or Maryland have any bearing on any regret for those decisions. Maybe they do, temporarily, but only so far as viewership is likely down based upon the teams doing relatively poorly.

Yeah, and you could argue further that given the way the divisions are set up, Maryland and Rutgers were added to further balance out the east with 2 teams that will lose to Ohio State/Penn State/Michigan/Michigan State in most years.

So the schools serve two purposes: 1) Get the BTN into the NYC and Washington D.C. Designated Market Areas for the giant boost in cash flow that you get from all those extra monthly subscribers and local Big Ten alumni viewers, and 2) Let the Big Ten split into East-West divisions with those 2 giving wins to the bigger programs in the East.


Those 2 teams start out with 3-4 losses on the schedule most years. It's very hard for me to imagine either having a decade where they win more than 50% of their Big Ten games. Maybe Maryland can pull it off given their good recruiting situation (they recruit the Mid-Atlantic area very well, which is fairly talent rich), but Rutgers? lol...

 

[hdhntr1]

Really glad we added Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten, they bring so much to the table.

Victories for other BIG teams. Not so much for us so far as I think we have only played each one once

 

[GreenBayCat]

Given the current 4 year run we're on and the hopes that we all have for the next 3 or so years, I think we all hope that we are in the midst of moving to a higher level of sustained success than we had ever experienced previously.

We're 23-9 in Big Ten games over the last 4 years. That's a remarkable run for us.

Indeed. And remarkable enough to finally get Fitz, this year, into positive territory for his B1G record.

 

[Sheffielder]

Without knowing the numbers I probably could have guessed the standings with nearly 100% accuracy. We're the worst of the best and the best of the worst, about in the middle just below Iowa in the grand scheme of things. I think by the time Fitz retires, he will have us where Ferentz has taken Iowa, one peg above where we currently sit...but then again, Ferentz has coached a Rose Bowl team...

 

[CatManTrue]

Victories for other BIG teams. Not so much for us so far as I think we have only played each one once

Indeed. And remarkable enough to finally get Fitz, this year, into positive territory for his B1G record.

Fitz is 53-51. If not for his perfect 2-0 record against Buttgers & Murdaland, he’d Be 51-53 and still own a losing record in the B1G.

 

[Dugan15]

Fitz is 53-51. If not for his perfect 2-0 record against Buttgers & Murdaland, he’d Be 51-53 and still own a losing record in the B1G.

"I'm not sure that I agree with you 100% on your police work there, Lou."

 

[CatManTrue]

"I'm not sure that I agree with you 100% on your police work there, Lou."

...what? It’s simple math. He’s 51-51 aside from those two games, and had he faced, say, Ohio State last season & Ped State this year instead he’d likely have lost both and be 51-53.

I thought you were a numbers guy? Stick to copy and pasting stats, and leave the “police work” to the real board detectives.

 

[zeek55]

Victories for other BIG teams. Not so much for us so far as I think we have only played each one once

I don't think that's the right way to look at it.

We play Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State significantly less than we used to...; that's eased our schedule even as we've gone from 8 to 9 Big Ten games.


I like it though, we can build a program in this West division. I hope the Big Ten keeps these divisions as long as possible.

 

[rwhitney014]

Fitz is 53-51. If not for his perfect 2-0 record against Buttgers & Murdaland, he’d Be 51-53 and still own a losing record in the B1G.

If not for the games we lost, he'd be undefeated. Then again, if not for the games we won, he'd be winless.

 

[CatManTrue]

If not for the games we lost, he'd be undefeated. Then again, if not for the games we won, he'd be winless.

The point is that we have benefitted (slightly?) by RU & UMD’s additions to the B1G. We’re making hay over Fitz’s winning record in conference play, but it’s only two games over .500 and those games made a difference.

I was just joking about being a board detective of course - I dig Dugan’s statistical posts, I just didn’t get his response.

 

[eastbaycat99]

The point is that we have benefitted (slightly?) by RU & UMD’s additions to the B1G. We’re making hay over Fitz’s winning record in conference play, but it’s only two games over .500 and those games made a difference.

I was just joking about being a board detective of course - I dig Dugan’s statistical posts, I just didn’t get his response.

But since Rutgers and Maryland joined, the Cats have only played Indiana once. In 5 years of interdivisional play, the Cats have played the 3 bottom feeders of the East 3 games total, where they used to play Indiana every year. I really don’t think your argument holds up that well.

 

[CatManTrue]

But since Rutgers and Maryland joined, the Cats have only played Indiana once. In 5 years of interdivisional play, the Cats have played the 3 bottom feeders of the East 3 games total, where they used to play Indiana every year. I really don’t think your argument holds up that well.

You’re assuming that a win over the Hoosiers is a given? We’re probably .500 against Indiana all-time as a program, and every game that I can recall against them has been very competitive during the PF era. Indiana likely would have beaten us if they switched place with Rutgers two weekends ago... I’m pretty sure RU is the only team in the conference that we would have beaten that day, given how poorly we played.

My argument is just that we’ve slightly benefitted from their addition, not that it’s made that huge of a deal. Assuming we played Indiana and went 1-1, PF would no longer have a winning conference record. I hope he wins the last four conference games (including in Indianapolis) to put .500 in the rear view.

 

[rwhitney014]

You’re assuming that a win over the Hoosiers is a given? We’re probably .500 against Indiana all-time as a program, and every game that I can recall against them has been very competitive during the PF era. Indiana likely would have beaten us if they switched place with Rutgers two weekends ago... I’m pretty sure RU is the only team in the conference that we would have beaten that day, given how poorly we played.

My argument is just that we’ve slightly benefitted from their addition, not that it’s made that huge of a deal. Assuming we played Indiana and went 1-1, PF would no longer have a winning conference record. I hope he wins the last four conference games (including in Indianapolis) to put .500 in the rear view.

We're 47-34-1 against IU all-time. In the last 25 years, we're 13-3. Fitz is 6-1. The loss was by 2 in Bloomington, and we've won by double digits in 3 of the 6 wins.

 

[zeek55]

To settle this argument, let's look at Fitz's first 5 years and most recent 5 years (middle 3 years had Legends/Leaders with Nebraska but not Rutgers/Maryland), to compare 5 years with current divisions and 5 years without. [I'll scale by total number of games to balance them]


2006-2010 (max 5, 40 games total)
Ohio St. 3
Wisc 3
Penn St 3
Mich St 5
Mich 3
Iowa 5
Minn 4
Pur 5
Ill 5
Ind 4


2014-2018 (max 5, 43 games total)
Ohio St. 1
Wisc 5
Penn St 3
Mich St 3
Mich 3
Iowa 5
Neb 5
Mary 1
Minn 5
Pur 5
Ill 5
Ind 1
Rut 1


I moved Nebraska under Iowa because they've been around 0.500 in Big Ten play over the last 5 years (17-17 + their 1-4 start this year).


If you look at it like that, we play the top teams a bit less with the exception of Wisconsin.

So yeah, though we've played Rutgers and Indiana less, our schedule has still been weighted to the bottom 2/3 of the conference, just a bit heavier on the middle than before.


And if you think about it in terms of talent, I'd much rather play Wisconsin an extra 2 times than Ohio State. We're 3-2 against Wisconsin in our last 5 games.

 

[eastbaycat99]

You’re assuming that a win over the Hoosiers is a given? We’re probably .500 against Indiana all-time as a program, and every game that I can recall against them has been very competitive during the PF era. Indiana likely would have beaten us if they switched place with Rutgers two weekends ago... I’m pretty sure RU is the only team in the conference that we would have beaten that day, given how poorly we played.

My argument is just that we’ve slightly benefitted from their addition, not that it’s made that huge of a deal. Assuming we played Indiana and went 1-1, PF would no longer have a winning conference record. I hope he wins the last four conference games (including in Indianapolis) to put .500 in the rear view.

In the years the Cats did not play Indiana, they have been 6-25 in conference with their only wins coming against Rutgers, Illinois, Maryland and Purdue. So yes, they were on the same level as Rutgers and Maryland, and trading 4 games against them for 1 game with Rutgers and 1 with Maryland probably made the Cats’ schedule easier. Of the 13 crossover games since realignment the Cats have had, 10 have been against MSU, PSU, Michigan and OSU.

 

[FanatiCat]

The point is that we have benefitted (slightly?) by RU & UMD’s additions to the B1G. We’re making hay over Fitz’s winning record in conference play, but it’s only two games over .500 and those games made a difference.

I was just joking about being a board detective of course - I dig Dugan’s statistical posts, I just didn’t get his response.

I do t get your argument. You could go ahead and remove wins against NU from every B1G team record in the mid 70s - 90s because we were so bad. What is the point of that?

 

[zeek55]

The point is that we have benefitted (slightly?) by RU & UMD’s additions to the B1G. We’re making hay over Fitz’s winning record in conference play, but it’s only two games over .500 and those games made a difference.

I was just joking about being a board detective of course - I dig Dugan’s statistical posts, I just didn’t get his response.

It's fair to point out that scheduling dynamics are slightly more favorable (avoiding Ohio State more for example), but at the same time, we've really lifted our performance:


12-1 in the last 13 Big Ten games

23-9 over the last 4 Big Ten seasons


Compare those to:

30-42 over first 9 seasons of Fitz

24-32 over 7 seasons of Walk

23-33 over 7 seasons of Barnett



The question is whether we can sustain the last 4 years into the future: With recruiting boosted by the Fieldhouse as well as a successful Hunter Johnson era; I think we can.

 

[CatManTrue]

I do t get your argument. You could go ahead and remove wins against NU from every B1G team record in the mid 70s - 90s because we were so bad. What is the point of that?

Wow, this isn’t that complicated. I hope the US News folks aren’t reading this thread or they may pull back their Top 10 ranking of our university.

I’m not saying we didn’t earn our victories over Buttgers and Murdaland outright or don’t deserve them. Just that if, say, Missouri & Notre Dame had joined instead of them (or the conference had stayed at 12 teams), then maybe we wouldn’t have this incredible two-games-over-.500 record in conference play under Fitz. Specifically if we had gone 1-1 against Indiana or 0-2 against the power teams.

These are two programs that we should now beat regularly when we face them. We’re a bit over .500 against Indiana and have losing records against every other B1G team, so it’s nice that we don’t have to face blue blood powerhouses on the regular instead of Buttgers.

 

[MRCat95]

This is the most active thread 2.5 hours before NU plays Notre Dame?

Sheesh! This is a Tuesday bye-week thread at best.

 

[CatManTrue]

This is the most active thread 2.5 hours before NU plays Notre Dame?

Sheesh! This is a Tuesday bye-week thread at best.

Haven’t you heard? We’re “playing with house money”, with “nothing to lose”.

Can’t get distracted by the game - the Cats seem to play better when there’s no pressure. This thread is the perfect distraction!