The Shailesh-tival

Given the recent resurgence of Illini football, I thought I’d add my math about how the Illini can still make the Rose Bowl. It comes down to this:

1. Illinois wins out against Iowa and Northwestern, finishing at 6-3 in the Big Ten
2. Minnesota loses out against Iowa, Northwestern (stop laughing), and Wisconsin, also finishing 6-3 in the Big Ten
3. Wisconsin goes 2-1, which includes going 1-1 against Nebraska and Purdue, and beating Minnesota (as stated in step (2) ), so they also finish 6-3 in the Big Ten
4. Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota end in a 3-way tie for first in the Big Ten West
5. Using the first tiebreaker for a 3-way tie, all three schools went 1-1 against each other, so the second tiebreaker would be used
6. Using the second tiebreaker, Illinois and Wisconsin finished 4-2 against the Big Ten West, whereas Minnesota is 3-3, so Minnesota gets eliminated from contention for the Big Ten Championship game
7. With a 2-team tie, the tiebreaker reverts to the results of the head-to-head match-up between Illinois and Wisconsin; Illinois wins this tiebreaker by virtue of winning that game
8. Illinois goes the B1G Championship game and beats the Big Ten East winner (likely the winner of the Ohio State/Penn State game)
9. ROSE BOWL!

Go Illini!