That makes a little more sense? I actually think I like that plan. Iowa is open on the 23rd, Illinois is open on the 4th, and NW is still open on the 25th. So we can still get in 18 and now Illinois would be on 3 days rest instead of 1.
Only problem is Illinois has a game on the 27th and 2nd, so I’d be surprised if games were moved around such that we’d play them on 3 days rest vs their 1 vs playing on the 25th when we’re both on 1 days rest.
let’s give em something to whine about 
If we only play 17 games, then 13-4 Big Ten Champs is going to be even MORE drama than 14-4 Big Ten Champs (because 13-4 still places ahead of 15-5)
Yeah I’d really prefer we get to 18, especially since one of those games could be @NW
The 15-5 finisher could hang a banner if they want. Wouldn’t bother me.
How about we just win out and put the “controversy” to bed.
Ideally yes, but in the probable scenario it doesn’t happen, 17 vs 18 becomes an important conversation
TBH, playing around with the math a bit, I don’t think that @NW game does anything for us as far as a B10 title. 13-4 and 14-4 both beat 15-5 but lose to 16-4 and then we are 100% going to win the title with 14-3 or 15-3 either way (would require Illinois to win out)
A split with Illinois/Ohio will more than likely put this conversation to bed. They still play each other and both have a few other tough matchups.
Haven’t listened to it yet but John Beilien is on the Titus and Tate podcast today talking about Juwan Howard and previewing the Ohio State game. About to listen to it as I go shovel!
Feels good to far to be dominating it.
B1G has to win the title this year
Haha first thought was “oh cool! excited to listen to that!” Second thought immediately after was “dammit, now I’m going to voluntarily listen to Titus and Tate?”
In reality they’re mostly harmless, and I’ll always appreciate the national shine they gave to Duncan and the team in 2018. But I’m not an old man at all, and they still manage to come across as very young, if that makes sense.
Who cares about other fanbase drama? What matters is not overworking this team right before 2 tournaments. 17 is the right number.
Yeah I ultimately don’t care that much about whether other fanbases are big mad or not. I just want to officially raise that regular season title.
I mean we’re the ones that should be big mad. We’d be missing games against PSU, Northwestern, and Indiana if this schedule is true.
I mean they’ll be mad either way right? If your team loses a close conference race and there are schedule changes during a season made by the team that wins, fans will generally say things were unfair to their team.
Part of it is of course true, it’s not fair. But unbalanced schedules are never fair, and this particular season has exacerbated that problem.
Either way though, winning the conference is a huge deal imo. I don’t really care if other fan bases are upset
I think so, and agree. It’s just a Bill Simmons thing, to me. Anything he touches could be shorter by 30 minutes, by 2000 words, or by whatever other appropriate measurement. Completely and gleefully ignorant of the benefits of brevity.
One thing about that ‘18 run is that they’d talk about a game in the tournament but just one element of it. 20 minutes on a small part of it, and sometimes it might have been as trivial as ``those uniforms are stupid’’.
Seems like this is the big 10s approach. Schedule next week right now, and then if Michigan has locked up the title maybe just leave it at 17. If needed, squeeze in one or more of the three games left