B10 Predictions

[StateofHockey78]

First time poster and Gopher Fan. B10 hockey has been so fun to watch, every night is a battle of high quality teams. Even poor Bucky might be above .500 in most other leagues. With the last few weeks of the season upon us and given how tightly packed the positions are, I took a stab at where I think teams will finish. Feel free to throw in your thoughts about the league and/or predictions.

Couple thoughts relating to the prediction:

• I think Michigan is the hottest team in the league at this moment. They are scoring like crazy and getting Holtz back is just another boost to the already strong morale of that team. If you don't keep them outside the dots and win the special teams battle you have almost no chance right now.
• Minnesota is Minnesota. Hard to play in all phases this year. I think they have more grit than any MN team has in the last decade and in my opinion the best two way D corp in the country. Not going to be caught, but this may end closer in the final numbers than some think. I predicted a 3-3 finish mostly because they face two strong teams who are desperate for points and although Wisco is not great, it's hard to beat a rival 4 times in a season.
• Notre Dame sadly I think is all done this year. Losing their best player for the season leaves them too thin in the scoring department and they have to play just about perfect to beat other teams in this league at this point. If anyone can grind out a 1-0 win it is a Jeff Jackson team, but this is a tall order with the remaining games.
• Ohio State has a real chance to finish in good position and lock up the post season. I think they get it done against ND, but they need to manage a least one point against Michigan to stand alone in 3rd. Not going to be easy.
• Penn State could easily go 4-0, they give the Gophers problems and these games are always firewagon hockey.
• Michigan State has shown impressive resilience all season. Problem is they seem to get thumped in the big weekends. One exception, they play their rivals very well. Unfortunately, I think Michigan is flying high at the wrong time for the upcoming series. Still a great season and an outside chance at a bid if they go deep in the B10 tourney.
• Wisconsin has one goal, get at least one from the border battle. Then rest and get ready for a date with Michigan in the first round.

Below is where about where I see the finish. The biggest thing I see here is - PSU and OSU have the most at stake. A first round matchup with a depleted ND team or a feisty upstart in Michigan State.
[TABLE="border: 1, cellpadding: 1, width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD] [TABLE="class: table-active, width: 687"]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl64, bgcolor: white"]Team[/TD]
[TD="class: xl64, bgcolor: white"]

CGP[/TD]
[TD="class: xl64, bgcolor: white"]

W-L-T-SO-OW-OL[/TD]
[TD="class: xl64, bgcolor: white"]

Pts[/TD]
[TD="class: xl68, bgcolor: white"]

W-L-T[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl65, bgcolor: white"]Minnesota[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white, align: right"]24[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white"]17-6-1-0-1-1[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white, align: right"]52[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67, bgcolor: white"]23-10-1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl65, bgcolor: white"]Michigan[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white, align: right"]24[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white"]16-8-0-0-2-2[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white, align: right"]48[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67, bgcolor: white"]24-9-1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl65, bgcolor: white"]Ohio State[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white, align: right"]24[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white"]13-11-0-0-0-0[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white, align: right"]39[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67, bgcolor: white"]20-13-1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl65, bgcolor: white"]Penn State[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white, align: right"]24[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white"]12-11-1-0-0-2[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white, align: right"]39[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67, bgcolor: white"]22-11-1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl65, bgcolor: white"]Michigan State[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white, align: right"]24[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white"]10-11-3-3-1-0[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white, align: right"]35[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67, bgcolor: white"]16-15-3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl65, bgcolor: white"]Notre Dame[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white, align: right"]24[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white"]8-14-2-1-1-0[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white, align: right"]26[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67, bgcolor: white"]13-18-3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl65, bgcolor: white"]Wisconsin[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white, align: right"]24[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white"]4-19-1-0-0-1[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, bgcolor: white, align: right"]13[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67, bgcolor: white"]11-21-1[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


Good luck to all your teams next weekend, we should see a lot of competitive playoff style hockey.