Big Jeff McMichael

Big Ten football expert at providing data based Big Ten content @bigjeffsftball & Thurs 9 pm EST podcasts on @TheBigTenHuddle

[Big Jeff McMichael @bigjeffsftball]

I am both an Ohio State and Indiana football fan believe it or not. I can speak from experience with these models and even the majority of people don’t factor in enough how damn hard it is to repeat as champions. The biggest issue is for 7 months running everyone’s telling you how great you are, and despite coaches doing the best they can to negate that the reality is you lose that chip on your shoulder that was so key to you winning the championship in the first place. It’s magnified the younger you are. That was the case for Ohio State last year despite them playing pretty damn well throughout the season. That is what Indiana is going to face this year plus the people they beat are going to have the chip on their shoulder, wanting to get revenge. It’s a completely underrated factor when people predict what a Champion will do the next season. Plus, there’s almost always a little luck involved in winning a championship. But you have to put yourself in position to take advantage of that luck which both Ohio State and Indiana did the last two years.That being said, I think Indiana is going to be a really really good football team (kind of an obvious statement yes). Cignetti is an elite coach. But so is Ryan Day and Kirby Smart. And other schools like Notre Dame, Miami and Oregon have that chip on their shoulder and are dying to breakthrough.

[Big Jeff McMichael @bigjeffsftball]

@CFBwSam It depends. If OSU believes one specific flair can be the difference in getting them over the top then you can justify “overpaying” for a specific position. Sometimes you go with your gut on a player.

[Big Jeff McMichael @bigjeffsftball]

@BBGreatMoments Yeah. Guys who say the F bomb left and right are fake tough guys. They think they’re tough, but it’s the exact opposite. What a piece of shit.

[Big Jeff McMichael @bigjeffsftball]

@CFBwSam Sam. My son’s team who will be a senior WR and is playing Jacobs Blessed Trinity team October 2. And DJs brother is at their other defensive end for them. Should be “fun”. My boy could even play some wildcat quarterback in the game, which I’m not excited about.

[Big Jeff McMichael @bigjeffsftball]

@CFBwSam But I certainly wasn’t mad when Indiana beat Ohio State and went on to win the Natty.

[Big Jeff McMichael @bigjeffsftball]

So you might be surprised, but Indiana has between football and basketball has given me so much heartache actually and Ohio State has rewarded me with great consistency and periodic championships that I’m most loyal to Ohio State football. Their consistency of always being very good is quite amazing actually.

[Big Jeff McMichael @bigjeffsftball]

@CHSKnightsBball That’s my boy!

[Big Jeff McMichael @bigjeffsftball]

By “everyone” on Indiana are we mostly talking X people? Because you’ll find whatever crazy argument you want on X but the real college experts all know Indiana is for real and I haven’t seen indications otherwise. Now did they have good fortune to go undefeated last year. Absolutely they should’ve lost one or two games but when I say that they still could’ve won the title with those losses, you don’t have to win every game to be a great team. And almost all national champions have a little bit of luck. You have to put yourself in position though to take advantage of that. Under Cignetti, Indiana is here to stay.

[Big Jeff McMichael @bigjeffsftball]

I agree they won’t step back Sam. Too much talent, too well coached and a very manageable schedule. It’s just that when talking who’s going to win it all the littlest of things can matter and the motivation of people not believing in you completely is a big deal. The whole disrespect card. Hard to really feel really disrespected when people are wanting to pat you on the back.

[Big Jeff McMichael @bigjeffsftball]

@jrs_rankings @asianposh2022 @BuckeyeHuddle @IllinoisRivals Nice work JR! You can bring a very well rounded perspective.

[Big Jeff McMichael @bigjeffsftball]

@CrimsonCast Lane is a very good coach but thinks he's elite. He will get a chance to prove that at LSU. There will be no good excuses.

[Big Jeff McMichael @bigjeffsftball]

@IUFBguy @NanduriNFL @CFBwSam It is super impressive but it is a small sample size as has been pointed out. That is irrefutable. But it doesn’t mean after 20 or 30 games Cignetti may have similar stats. It just means Ryan Day’s consistency has been excellent. It’s OK to admit both coaches are great folks.

[Big Jeff McMichael @bigjeffsftball]

So true that it’s not talked enough about Day losing to Michigan was against a couple of their best teams in probably 25 years. Also not talked enough how much Jim Knowles failed him especially in the Michigan game at Ohio State with CJ Stroud unnecessarily being hyper aggressive on playcalling that did Ohio State in. And against Georgia. But then Knowles did scale back the championship season and was a big reason they won it all. But it took some learning to get there. Finally, remember Ryan Day is one 50 yard FG away on turf, indoors against Georgia from having two national titles and thus being the consensus best coach in the game.

[Big Jeff McMichael @bigjeffsftball]

@HoosierHaze Even Ohio State doesn’t get the best players from Ohio. That’s just the way things work. I wouldn’t panic over it at all or read too much into it. There are a lot of dimensions that kids consider when choosing a school.

[Big Ten information and news @Genetics56]

Yikes, the Big 12 is getting killed off. Basically 8 weeks of Big Ten football.

[Big Jeff McMichael @bigjeffsftball]

Especially with their schedule. Which reminds me of 2024. And I am an IU and big Indiana football fan. Just flat out embarrassing how they dropped Virginia from the non conference slate. And I don’t wanna hear anything different from Indiana fans. You can still love your team and think they’re very good, which they are and maybe great again, and still admit that dropping a mid school like Virginia just is so weak. It makes me angry because I’m also a lover of college football and want to see good games.

[College Football Report @CFBReport]

Colleges With Most Active NFL Players, per @spotrac 🏈

[Big Jeff McMichael @bigjeffsftball]

@TopTierUGA @Buckeye_GDG Yeah. Looks like a list from someone from Georgia.