So, this started as a comment in the “The B1G West Could Be a Disaster” thread, and after typing it all in, it seemed appropriate for its own thread.

Steeb_Hall_RA posed the question, “Who wins the division if (God forbid) Penn State pulls the upset this weekend, The Buckeyes go on to beat TTUN, and all three end up 11-1 having only lost in round Robin to each other?”

The way I read the B1G Divisional Tiebreakers, the first hard decision point would be #5:

5. The records of the three (or more) teams will be compared based on the best cumulative conference winning percentage of non-divisional opponents.
               (a) Example: East 1 non-divisional opponents are 20-7, East 2 non-divisional opponents are 19-8, East 3 non-divisional opponents are 14-13 – East 1 would be the representative.

So, It would depend on how the remaining B1G West plays out. Currently in this scenario, TTUN wins because they will have beaten Iowa (1-3), Nebraska (2-2) and Illinois (3-2). PSU is 2nd with wins over NU (1-3), Minn (1-3) & Purdue (3-2). OSU is last with wins over NU (1-3), Iowa (1-3) & Wisc (2-3).

But many of these teams still play each other, so who should we be pulling for in the West?

Nebraska has to play Illinois, Minny, TTUN, Wisc & Iowa. There’s a chance they go 2-7. Need the Huskers to to lose to Iowa, because that’s a push for TTUN and it hurts the Buckeyes. Also need Wisconsin to beat Nebraska: hurts TTUN & helps the Buckeyes. A Husker win over Minny helps TTUN & hurts PSU.

Illinois plays Nebraska, Sparty, Purdue, TTUN and NU. Every game Illinois loses hurts TTUN & helps OSU/PSU. Except Nebraska: that one’s a push for TTUN.

Iowa has NU, Purdue, Wisconsin, Minny and Nebraska remaining. This one’s complicated because OSU and TTUN both have wins over Iowa. Almost anything they do helps/hurts both. Except for Nebraska (see above) and Wisconsin. A Wisconsin win is a push for the Buckeyes, but hurts TTUN. Regarding Penn State, Hawkeye wins over Purdue and Minnesota hurt Penn State and help the Buckeyes/TTUN. 

Wisconsin has Maryland (East, so no help), Iowa, Nebraska and Minny left. We’ve already covered Nebraska & Iowa. A win over Minny helps the Buckeyes & hurts Penn State. It doesn’t help TTUN, except that it hurts PSU.

Edit: Actually, the tiebreaker says “best conference winning percentage.” So a Wisconsin win over Maryland does help  Go Bucky!

Northwestern is a sea anchor for the Buckeyes and PSU. Wouldn’t hurt to have them beat Illinois, which hurts TTUN & helps OSU/PSU. While they’re at it, we should root for Fitz’s boys to beat Minny and Purdue. Those would be pushes for Penn State & they help the Buckeyes, but not TTUN.

Purdue has Iowa, Illinois, NU and Indiana left. Every loss they take hurts Penn State. But, if they can beat Illinois, it hurts TTUN & helps PSU.

To recap, the best B1G West outcomes for Ohio State the rest of this season are:

• Iowa defeats Purdue, Nebraska, & Minny, but loses to Wisconsin & Northwestern.
• Nebraska loses to Iowa, Minny & Wisconsin.
• Illinois loses all remaining games (but beats TTUN, of course).
• Purdue beats Illinois & loses all the rest.
• Wisconsin wins out.
• Northwestern wins out, except against the Buckeyes, of course.
• Minnesota needs to beat Nebraska and lose the rest of its games.

If I missed something feel free to call it out in the comments.