The Big Ten's image took a hit nationally last January after both Ohio State and Michigan got beat up in their bowl games. Big Ten fans and defenders such as myself chalked it up to both teams having been off for so long before their games. Sure, it's a weak excuse, but we hold on to whatever we can.The plan going into this season was for the Big Ten to rebound and show once again that they're one of the premier conferences in the country.
The plan isn't going so well as everywhere you look, there's a Big Ten team struggling. Everybody knows about Michigan, and even though they aren't doing the Big Ten any favors with their play, the Wolverines are hardly alone.
Wisconsin barely survived their trip to Nevada, just edging out UNLV.
The Buckeyes are 2-0, but only managed 20 points and looked very sloppy on offense.
Illinois could only manage 21 points against Western Illinois, and Minnesota nearly lost to a MAC opponent for the second straight weekend.
Iowa, Michigan State, Purdue, Northwestern, and Indiana are all 2-0, but have done so against weak opponents.
Right now it could be easily argued that Penn State is the best team in the conference, and Penn State has plenty of problems it still needs to fix.
So what is it? Is the Big Ten just slipping talent wise, or is parity really starting to spread throughout college football? I mean, the Big Ten isn't the only conference experiencing problems right now. As Ryan Ferguson wrote about earlier, the SEC isn't exactly tearing things up either.
I have a hard time believing that the Big Ten isn't talented, so I guess it's parity that's wreaking havoc across the conference right now. All of which is fantastic for us fans, and for non-BCS schools, but it's doing a number on the Big Ten's reputation. They've looked more like the Little Ten so far.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-10-2007 @ 1:19AM
jimmy smith said...
The Big Ten also has quite a few young teams. Once they get used to starting, they could look much better. Michigan is in real trouble though.
Iowa started real slow against N Ill, but by week 2 looked much improved. Scoring was held to the least yardage allowed by Iowa with Kirk Ferentz as coach.
I wish the Big Ten Network would sell their channel as part of a sports package. It is unavailable in Florida unless you want to use DirecTV (which many refuse to do).
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9-10-2007 @ 2:45AM
truthman said...
Michigan is "OVERRATED" every year just because of its name... They shouldn't even start the ranking's until after the 4th or 5th game of the season... or else assign each team a "number" to take out the built in BIG NAME BIAS!
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9-10-2007 @ 10:53AM
inlandvalleywild said...
It's nice to know that Northwetern may be the Big Eleven powerhouse.
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9-10-2007 @ 10:54AM
Bryan Shelton said...
But I have to agree that the Big Ten is looking lackluster this year. Ohio State is ranked where they are on name alone. The team has not looked good. And I am a Buckeye fan. Of course, they never looked good in 2002...
Penn State is looking solid though that is hard to gauge with their non-conference schedule.
It will interesting to see how the year plays out and what happens come bowl season.
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9-10-2007 @ 12:20PM
Grassgator said...
Ahhhhh.....The Big Rinny Tin Tin...Why am I not surprised...Heh, heh, heh.
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9-10-2007 @ 1:19PM
James said...
Maybe this will be the year that someone else in the Big Ten manages to gain some respectability. Purdue has the potential and Indiana's Schedule is such that it could wind up with a reasonably good record. A little momentum can do wonders. Before Alvarez arrived, The Badgers weren't a perennial contender either. Maybe we're getting ready to expereince a changing of the guard in the Big Ten
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9-10-2007 @ 3:59PM
KGar said...
Way too early to gauge the Big 11. They look weak, but let the season play out, time will tell.
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9-17-2007 @ 10:13AM
TC said...
While we're all taking jabs at one another, I thought it would be nice to interject one fact: When we're discussing whose best in the SEC, we're discussing whose best in the country. Just like those sad pieces of crud up in Tallahassee when they used to win, Southern Cal now, OSU last year, anyone in the big ten or anyone in any other conference like to look big when they have no competition and all season to prepare for only a couple tough games.
As a Florida alumnus, I'm most proud my team finally closed the fat, flappin' lips of Buckeye fans crowding every sports bar in our sunshine state. Unless the BCS protects them, a team from our conference will do the same to the overrated goobers at Southern Cal. this year.
Yes, the Gators kicked the living hell out of Ohio State last year for all the honors. But LSU, Tenn, Ark, Georgia, S. Car., etc. etc. would have beaten them too...they sucked. So, perhaps instead of talking about "who is the best SEC team this year," we should just "ask who is the best team?" There is no other conference.
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