The 2021 Big Ten season kicks off this Saturday with Nebraska vs. Illinois at 1 p.m. Eastern. This will be the first Big 10 game of the year, and the first game in over a year that will resemble what we are used to imagining Big 10 football to look like as the Big 10 did not allow fans last season.
(more…)College Football Elo Ratings
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Week 16 Elo Rankings
Well folks, after 15 weeks that felt like 30 weeks, we finally made it. Conference Championship week is here, and all five Power-5 conferences are hosting games. We’ll have those win probabilities up later this week, but for now, let’s see how the Elo rankings look after the regular season.
For more CFB Playoff analysis, subscribe to the Staturdays newsletter for weekly college football stats and insight straight to your inbox. I’ll be looking deeper into the Heisman trophy race this week.
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Week 15 Elo Rankings
After 14 weeks of college football, Elo has the same top 4 as the College Football Playoff Committee (in a slightly different order). After that, things look a bit different, notably with LSU at 5, who fell off significantly from last year’s National Championship team. With shortened seasons in some conferences, prior-year performance is still weighing pretty heavily on the placement of some teams with losing records.
In other news, Ohio State will play in the Big Ten championship after a change in the rule by the conference. With only five games played, a lot of what we’re inferring about their ability is based on their success last season. Northwestern will be their final chance to show off their explosive offense and try to shore up their defense, although a good defensive performance against Northwestern’s offense won’t be too convincing to most.
For more CFB Playoff analysis, subscribe to the Staturdays newsletter for weekly college football stats and insight straight to your inbox. I’ll be looking deeper into the playoff this week.
Staturdays 