This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/AllLinesAreStraight on 2024-07-21 16:47:22+00:00.

Continuing on in my series looking at the closest each power conference team has come to a title this century. We’ve looked at the Big 12 and SEC, now we look at the Big 10.

Have won a national title

  • Ohio State - 2002, 2014
  • Michigan - 2023 (our newest addition!)
  • USC - 2003, 2004 (I’m counting them both, no vacated wins here!)

And now, the rest of the teams. They are roughly ordered by how close they got to a national title:

  • Oregon - 2010 - Oregon has had quite a few realistic national title shots this century, including two national title game appearances. 2010, though, was easily the closest, losing on a last second fg after Auburn got into range initially due to Michael Dyer not being down.
  • Washington - 2023 - Washington’s had a pair of playoff appearances but only one ended with a semi-final win and a national championship game appearance. And, although ultimately Michigan won without a nail biting finish, Washington certainly had opportunities in the game. Unfortunately, an uncharacteristically poor game from Michael Penix ultimately doomed the Huskies.
  • Nebraska - 2001 - Interestingly, I had multiple people comment on the SEC and Big 12 threads specifically saying they couldn’t wait for the Big Ten thread because Nebraska sucks. Funnily enough, Nebraska has actually come closer than most Big Ten teams this century, having made the national title game in 2001. Now, it is worth noting that Nebraska needed a series of incredibly weird events to make the national title game, having not even won their division that year. And once they made the national title game, they got murdered by arguably the best college football team ever (which is why no one really brings up 2001 as being a controversial year for the BCS compared to some others). The final score of 37-14 makes it look 100x closer than it actually was. Miami took a 34-0 half time lead and then half-assed the rest of the game with the natty already in hand. But still, Nebraska got there!
  • Michigan State - 2013 - This will probably annoy some people as the 2015 MSU actually made the playoff but I think the 2013 team was just better. An early season loss to ND (by 4 pts, on the road) was enough to make it so MSU could never get back up into the top 2 despite running the table (ending behind FSU and Auburn), finishing the season 4th in the BCS rankings before beating Stanford (who finished at 5) in the Rose Bowl. I tihnk there is a good chance that MSU wins a semi-final against Auburn in 2013 if there had been a playoff (I think it likely that, had there been a 4 team playoff in 2013, MSU would have been 3, with Bama at 4 to avoid the immediate iron bowl rematch in the semis). Meanwhile, the 2015 team, while very good, never really had a chance against Derrick Henry. 2013 MSU just had the bad luck of the playoff not starting until the next year.
  • Penn State - 2008 - PSU has, imo, 4 different reasonable choices here, and I actually picked 2005 last time I went through this exercise. In 2005, PSU finished 3rd in the BCS with the only loss being by 2 pts to Michigan, with the Wolverines scoring on the last play to win. However, even if PSU wins that game, they probably still get left out of the BCS NCG for Texas and USC that year. I’ll take, instead, the 2008 team that would have made the national title game if not for a 1 pt loss to Iowa on a last second fg. 2016 and 2017 also both have arguments, as a single result being flipped would have meant a playoff berth.
  • Wisconsin - 2017 - Wisconsin has had quite a few strong teams in the last couple decades, with 2006 and 2010 both having a reasonable argument. That said, in 2017 Wisconsin entered the Big Ten CCG undefeated knowing a win would mean a playoff berth. Alas, they lost a close one to OSU and had to settle for an Orange Bowl berth instead.
  • Iowa - 2015 - Extremely similar to Wisconsin, Iowa has had a few different good teams but only 1 team that had a very clear shot at the national title late in the season. In 2015, they entered the Big Ten CCG undefeated, knowing a win meant a playoff berth. However, MSU went on a dramatic 8+ minute drive to score the winning TD with less than a minute left.
  • Minnesota - 2019 - After starting 9-0, including a huge win over Penn State, Minnesota got all the way to number 7 before stumbling down the stretch. But even going in to the last week of the regular season they still had a chance at the playoff.
  • UCLA - 2014 - UCLA was able to get all the way up to 8 in the AP poll before back to back losses knocked them out of the playoff race. Had they not lost the Utah game, they would have likely gone into the Stanford game with real playoff opportunities still on the table.
  • Illinois - 2001 - This team went 10-1 in the regular season but the one loss was a 25 point loss to Michigan. If they won that they likely would have actually made the BCS title game as the sacrificial lamb to play Miami.
  • Maryland - 2001 - This team went 10-1 in the regular season but the one loss was a 21 point loss to Florida State. If they won that they likely would have actually made the BCS title game as the sacrificial lamb to play Miami.
  • Rutgers - 2006 - I remember this season, and specifically, one game quite vividly. Thursday night, week 11, #3 Louisville coming to NJ to face undefeated Rutgers. Do to an amazing 2nd half comeback, and a Louisville offside on a missed FG, Rutgers was able to prevail on a last second fg to move to 9-0. They would stumble the following week before losing in triple OT to WVU on the final week of the regular season.
  • Indiana - 2020 - Though this is in large part due to the incredible weirdness of 2020, Indiana’s only regular season loss was a 7 point road loss to OSU. Had they won that they would have played in the Big Ten title game with a win there sending them to the playoff.
  • Northwestern - 2020 - There aren’t many clear opportunities but I think 2020 was the closest chance. Northwestern finished 7-2 but had they beaten OSU in the Big Ten CCG, they may have made the playoff. The defense of that 2020 team was realllllly good. The offense was…not.
  • Purdue - 2004 - You could definitely make an argument for other years but Purdue did win their first 5 games, getting all the way up to #5 before collapsing down the stretch. There wasn’t another season where they got as high up in the rankings.