Win projections: Big Ten’s other division title goes through Michigan State

Wednesday, we used the latest F/+ ratings (and the corresponding win expectancy rates) to get an idea for how the SEC East race will play out. Now let’s do the same for the Big Ten Legends Division, or the one Ohio State won’t win.

With three 12- to 14-point wins and a demolition of Illinois in its back pocket, Michigan State has staked an early claim to the division lead. But a week ago, when Football Study Hall’s Paul Dalen used his own ratings to project division winners, the leader was rather unclear. How much of a difference did Nebraska’s loss to Minnesota make?

It makes quite a bit of difference, as it turns out.

Below are the remaining schedules for each of the five teams with a realistic chance of the division title (0-4 Northwestern is done). Again, the win probabilities are based on this week’s F/+ rankings, in which Michigan State ranks 25th, Michigan ranks 33rd, Iowa ranks 39th, Nebraska ranks 49th, Northwestern ranks 51st, and Minnesota ranks 55th. (Nebraska has plummeted in recent weeks.)

Minnesota is favored to win only one of its final four games, so the Gophers are not a legitimate contender despite being only a couple of games back. But you probably already knew that.

Using the odds assigned above, I ran 1,000 simulations of the remaining games. Here are the title odds based on those simulations.

There are a lot of games to be played among these five teams. In fact, the only games that have taken place thus far are Michigan State’s 26-14 win over Iowa, Michigan’s 42-13 win over Minnesota, Minnesota’s 34-23 win over Nebraska, and Iowa’s 23-7 win over Minnesota. So there’s a lot of room for maneuvering ... and still a pretty clear favorite.

It appears Michigan is the wildcard here, with nearly equal chances of finishing with two or three conference wins or six conference wins. Meanwhile, Nebraska could rebound, but there’s a chance that things could go really, really south here.

In 1,000 simulations, Minnesota won the B1G Legends in exactly one of them. Here’s how it happens:

In this scenario, Minnesota finishes 6-2 in a tie with 6-2 Michigan State and wins the tie-breaker. It’s just that easy!

(There are other scenarios, probably, but this is the only one that popped up in 1,000 simulations.)

This is a week of survival as much as anything else. Losses by Michigan, Iowa, and/or Nebraska would dent already diminished odds. Meanwhile, there will be a lot of Michigan fans in Iowa City and Lincoln.

Wisconsin at Iowa (12:00 p.m. ET)

If the Hawkeyes pull the upset, it will hurt Michigan almost as much as it helps Iowa. The Hawkeyes’ odds will certainly rise, from 2.3 percent to 5.0 percent, but they need a lot more help than just that. But Michigan’s odds decrease from 7.4 to 5.7 percent. Of course, it’s not really the win that would help Iowa so much as the non-loss. A loss to Wisconsin all but eliminates Iowa, dropping the Hawkeyes’ odds to 1.3 percent.

Minnesota at Indiana (3:30 p.m. ET)

If Indiana wins, not much changes. But if Minnesota wins, it once again hurts Michigan, dropping the Wolverines’ odds down to 5.5. Nebraska’s odds rise to 7.3 percent, and the Gophers’ odds triple to 0.3 percent!

Northwestern at Nebraska (3:30 p.m. ET)

This game doesn’t have much of an impact either way. If Northwestern wins, Nebraska’s odds sink to 2.8 percent, and others’ crawl up a bit; if the Huskers survive, their odds rise to 7.0 percent at the slight expense of others.

Michigan at Michigan State (3:30 p.m. ET)

This is obviously the biggest game of the week.

If Michigan State wins, this race is over. At least, almost. The Spartans’ odds jump all the way to 96 percent, Nebraska’s fall to 3.6, Iowa’s fall to 0.5, and Michigan’s pull a Blutarsky: 0.0.

If Michigan wins, however, the race is redefined. Michigan State is still the clear favorite at 62.6 percent, but Michigan’s odds jump to 2-in-9 (22.2 percent), Nebraska jumps to 9.3, and Iowa jumps to 6.0.

• Full Week 10 college football TV schedule guide

• FAU coaches gone due to smoking marijuana, apparently

• Why Florida State would be favored to beat Oregon

• The Alphabetical, Week 9, by Spencer Hall

• Long reads: Chip Kelly’s New Hampshire laboratory | Why we love college football