Say what?
How is it possible that Braxton Miller’s injury is a good thing for the Wisconsin Badgers, especially since UW and OSU don’t tangle in the 2014 season?
Hear me out for a moment.
We all know that Wisconsin avoids Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State out of the East division in 2014 and 2015.
So, with the news that Braxton Miller is down for the season with a likely dislocated shoulder, it serves the Badgers schedule well that OSU doesn’t show up on it.
Ohio State will be turning over its offense to redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett, who has never taken a snap in collegiate football. He’ll in turn be protected by an offensive line breaking in four new starters and will be handing the ball off to a backfield minus star Carlos Hyde.
That’s how important having Miller in the fold was to the chances of Ohio State being a top team in 2014. For now, those dreams seem likely dashed.
It also means that the Badgers likely avoid a team that may not be as good as it would’ve looked on paper just a few days ago.
Considering this is the day and age of the College Football Playoff, and strength of schedule means everything — UW catches a break not having to play a team that won’t likely live up to its lofty preseason expectations.
Take Braxton Miller away and Ohio State has already begun tumbling down Las Vegas odds boards, and is likely to lose a few more games than expected in 2014.
Having Ohio State directly on the Badgers’ schedule and having them with a few loses hurts UW far worse than OSU not showing up on the schedule at all. Let’s face facts, looking at a season with OSU in the upper echelon of preseason thoughts means hanging a lot on getting a win against them.
Now, a win likely wouldn’t mean as much for those out of the Big Ten West division. Instead, Big Ten West teams that get to take on Michigan State earn bonus points for strength of schedule.
Of course, this is all speculation, but the fact that Wisconsin doesn’t need to worry about having Ohio State to hang its hat on for strength of schedule makes this news easier to absorb from a Wisconsin perspective.
A lot of this also depends on LSU being as good as preseason predictions think they will. I’ve said it all summer, but Wisconsin needs three teams to play well all season and lose to UW for it to have a chance at the College Football Playoff — LSU, Nebraska and Iowa.
OSU’s big hit will have only a slightly minor impact on Wisconsin’s season, and it really will only affect it if the champion of the Big Ten East takes a loss at all.
Now, the pressure is on Michigan State or even Michigan to be a team that can run the table in the East. The truth is, who comes out of Indianapolis as Big Ten champion will likely need to run the table in conference play — whether that’s Wisconsin or anyone else.
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