The B1G-MAC Swap Week 2: Say Hello To Purdue

This past week Jesse Collins from Off Tackle Empire and myself debuted a weekly feature we're calling The B1G-MAC Swap (real original, right?). The premise is simple: Every week we pretend we have the powers to promote/relegate teams to and from the B1G and MAC. Swapping out the B1G's worst team of the week for the MAC's best team. In Week 1 Ohio got sent up to B1G land and lost to Kentucky (which may have been the best loss by a B1G team that week), while the MAC welcomed Northwestern into the mix, and then NIU feasted on some Wildcats.

This week, who gets promoted and who get's demoted? Let's start with a look at which team is being relegated to the land of MACtion.

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Bryan: Hey Jesse, I see you managed to survive the doomsday scenario that was Week 2 of the B1G football season. Your Cornhuskers weren't able to drive you off the cliff just yet, were they? You know, if you're looking for a new team, I heard Ohio can use some new fans. It even has some Nebraska charm, being that most of the coaching staff once played for Big Red. There's disappointing performances in Athens too, so it's just like being a Nebraska fan,

Jesse: The OTE peeps know I am a fan of underachievement - as a Cubs fan and Bills fan on top of my Husker fandom, this is an understatement - so I don't know if I have it in me to root for another mediocre team. That said, hey, Ameer Abdullah is a beast, and Nebraska is still 2-0 and on its way to the CFP... because Power 5... which, yeah. All in all, it was a bad week for the B1G, there are far too many candidates for this piece.

Bryan: It was a fairly decent week for the MAC, and I'm glad we aided in ruining the B1G's week. But how about those Ohio Bobcats? They lost to an SEC squad, which I believe makes them the best team in the B1G last week, correct?

Jesse: Ouch. Even though last week was considered B1Gpocalypse, I still think we will be fine. I said it on twitter, but you just don't worry too much about what happens in Week 2. Or, you don't worry what happens ever as your ADs and Presidents take another swim in their money pools a la Uncle Scrooge. But enough of this, we're here to give the people what they want, right? I got to take someone on first last time, so how about we switch this up and let me send someone down. This week, you're getting one of your old friends - even though Northwestern really shouldn't be off the hook. I give to you: PURDUE!

Bryan: Do we have to take Purdue? Can we somehow work this deal out so that the OVC winds up with Purdue, and the MAC gets a big bag of McDoubles? Purdue is awful, even more so than I think most MAC fans could accept. But if we have to take Purdue, I guess we can slap them in the bottom of the West with EMU, the only MAC Michigan team they haven't faced yet.

Jesse: I'm disappointed Purdue didn't get to take on EMU? I feel like Purdue Pete would've done at least as decent as their football team did at taking down that brick wall...

Anyhow, you get Purdue for all of the obvious reasons. When we started this piece, my initial thought was that we would try really hard not to take historical biases into too much considerations. After all, this won't be super fun to read if we talk about how bad Purdue is each week. Then, Purdue went out and got whacked by Central Michigan, and while you might be able to convince me CMU has a pulse this year, I'm probably not going to be able to get past the part where Purdue still sucks.

That said, tell me about that CMU game a bit. Are they better than I think? Am I making a bad call on this one? Should we have given you our friends from ‘Chicago' again?

Bryan: Naw, we hosted those Chicagoans last week, and they were kind of boring. At least Purdue is comically bad. I think this is a fair call. Purdue didn't just lose to a MAC team, it got, and pardon the train pun, steamrolled. Purdue played worse against a directional Michigan school than UMass does. So the Boilermakers seem like a logical fit for relegation this week.

Being that Purdue is in Indiana, and Indiana is West to us mid-Americans, they'd be stuck in the West, with the likes of WMU, CMU, EMU and NIU (so let's call Purdue, PU). Out here I think Purdue could beat WMU (I mean, we know they could), and probably EMU, but against the likes of Ball State, NIU and Toledo, the Boilermakers wouldn't stand a chance. Point is: Purdue wouldn't be the worst team in its division anymore, so that's progress. I think.

Jesse: Honestly, while the money is better in B1G land, if I were to give Purdue fans a chance to not be the worst team in their division, and by default, not the worst team in the conference, they'd at least consider it, right? So you've slated Purdue somewhere in the bottom four or five. That seems about right. I mean, until further notice, they have 1 win over a FBS school in two years. That's just not good.

Bryan: Welcome to the MAC, Purdue. We don't expect to host you long. We're in the process of trading you for a toaster oven.

To see who gets promoted this week, head on over to Off Tackle Empire.