T-Mill’s Big Ten Football Picks: The Review

I have been dreading this for awhile, but with many of the SB Nation site out there reviewing how they picked the Big Ten at the start of the season I thought I would go back to my picks entry and see how I did.

Not Good:

What T-Mill Got Right:

• Ohio State and Wisconsin as 1-2 in the Leaders Division - Now granted, this was not that hard, as these two teams were far above the rest of the Division. It would have taken some major upset for either to fall out of the top two and the only one that happened was Penn State over Wisconsin
• Indiana in 4^th place - I called this one perfectly: the Hoosiers has a great offense and a lousy defense. The result was a 5-7 record and they missed a bowl game, which probably doesn't happen if they have any sort of a defense, especially against Navy and Michigan.
• Braxton Miller as B1G Player of the Year - I know, I really went out on a limb there.
• Illinois would be awful - Congrats on breaking the 20-game Big Ten losing streak. Too bad for us it took Purdue being one of the worst Big Ten teams of all-time.

What T-Mill Got Wrong:

• Purdue in a bowl game - At least I was right in calling it a homer pick. I was enamored with the promise of a new season and really felt Purdue would find a way to win six games, especially with Indiana and Illinois on the schedule.
• Northwestern as the Legends Champ - Through 4.75 games this looked prophetic. Then Northwestern's own Fumble happened.
• Underestimating Minnesota - If you had the Golden Gophers with a chance to win the Division with two weeks left after losing their first two Big Ten games put your hand down because you're a filthy liar.
• Underestimating Iowa - They got a lot better than I thought they would after last year.
• Darrell Hazell as Coach of the Year - I was technically right here. He was a coach in 2013.

So was Purdue the worst Big Ten Team Ever?

This was something I regularly tracked all year, mostly out of morbid curiosity, but the 2013 Boilermakers certainly have to rank among the worst teams in Big Ten history:

• Purdue scored only 179 points total, 36 of which came in the final game, and 25 of those long after the outcome was decided. Basically, 1 in 7 of Purdue's points were scored after Purdue was down 49-9 at Indiana.
• Purdue led at the end of a quarter in a Big Ten game just once, 14-7 at the end of the first quarter against Illinois. Illinois would tie the game on the first play of the second quarter. All told, Purdue held a lead for just 6 minutes and 39 seconds of Big Ten play, all against Illinois in the first quarter and for 6 seconds of the second quarter.
• Purdue gave up 456 points, which was a school record, topping 406 points given up in 13 games in 2012.
• The Ross-Ade Stadium record for points for a visiting team was broken not once, but twice, as Northern Illinois scored 55 (setting a MAC vs. B1G record) before Ohio State topped them by scoring 56.
• Purdue held a lead in just four games total: against Notre Dame, Northern Illinois, Illinois, and Indiana State.
• Purdue was shut out in consecutive games for the first time since 1953.
• Purdue famously did not even visit the red zone for three straight games.
• The 10-game losing streak is the longest since losing 11 in a row from October 20, 1906 until October 10, 1908.

So we might as well put it up for a vote: