Daily briefing: On wild CFP and Heisman races, Illinois’ surprising loss and the Big Ten West title chase

Ivan Maisel’s “Day by day Briefing” for On3:

4 wonderful weeks to go to get solutions

4 weeks left within the season, and there aren’t a variety of clear-cut solutions. That’s what followers have been clamoring for, isn’t it? It appears to be like as if the eighth Faculty Soccer Playoff would be the first with out both Alabama or Clemson. After Georgia and the Michigan-Ohio State winner, you may make a case for just about anybody within the high 10, or to place a finer level on it, anybody ranked above wherever the Crimson Tide will drop. Extra thrilling is the uncertainty within the Heisman race. Each Hendon Hooker of Tennessee and C.J. Stroud of Ohio State performed nicely under the usual they’ve set. Three video games are sufficient to clean the style of Saturday out of voters’ mouths. However Hooker and Stroud opened the door wider for another person. Bo Nix of Oregon? Max Duggan of TCU? Caleb Williams of USC? Does Stetson Bennett earn consideration for sheer outcomes?

‘That is the definition of how one can lose a sport’

When you ran a pc simulation of the Illinois-Michigan State sport 10,000 instances, the Illini would have gained 9,800 of them. The Spartans gained 23-15 Saturday although Illinois outgained them (441-294), had half the penalty yardage (39-77), the identical variety of turnovers (one) and didn’t miss a area aim. The bluster of 30-mph winds saved kickers on the bench. Extra vital, Michigan State’s protection, which had eight gamers suspended final week after the tunnel brawl at Michigan, gained the shut battles, stopping Illinois 3 times on fourth-and-2 or fewer. Put one other approach: Out of 12 possessions, Illinois completed 5 drives in Michigan State territory with out factors – on the Spartans’ 2 (downs), 22 (fumble), 29 (downs), 20 (downs) and the 25 (time expired). Illinois coach Bret Bielema: “It appeared like each time we tried to get forward, one thing would maintain us again; a variety of them have been self-inflicted. I advised the blokes within the locker room, ‘That is the definition of how one can lose a sport.’ ”

May chaos reign in Massive Ten West?

Illinois’s loss is a present to chaos lovers in every single place. The Illini is 4-2 within the Massive Ten West, with a one-game lead over Iowa, Purdue, Wisconsin and Minnesota. When you’re searching for the Massive Ten West to have essentially the most convoluted tiebreak in current reminiscence, you then’re pulling for the Boilermakers to win at Illinois on Saturday. These two, the Iowa-Wisconsin winner and Minnesota (enjoying Northwestern, which is 1-8) can be tied for the division lead at 4-3. In actual fact, of the groups chasing the Illini, Purdue has the simplest path to the Massive Ten Championship Recreation. The Boilermakers shut with Northwestern and at Indiana (3-6 general, 1-5 within the Massive Ten).