If you’ve been following Northwestern football closely, you know that thanks to Iowa’s loss to Purdue last week the Wildcats only need to win two out of their last three games to guarantee that they make the Big Ten Championship. But several other scenarios are in play as well. Here is every Big Ten West possibility, from the perspective of a Northwestern fan.
A few disclaimers before I jump into things: all accompanying probabilities are via win expectancy from Bill Connelly’s S&P+. The metric is not especially bullish on the ‘Cats, especially compared to their divisional foes: they are currently slotted in at 68th, while Iowa sits at 29th, Purdue is ranked 25th, and Wisconsin is all the way up at 13th.