Since when did getting to back-to-back BCS National Title games, and three out of the last six, mean that your conference is getting soft?
THE Ohio State University Buckeyes have been one of the most dominant teams in college football's recent memory. They have made it to three out of the last six BCS National Title games. Sure, they're 1-2 in those games, but I don't see anyone else making this run.
The Buckeyes won it all in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl over Miami. They actually went back to the 2004 Fiesta Bowl and embarrassed Notre Dame and the orb that is Charlie Weis.
The 2004 season was a down one by OSU standards, but it began to turn around with the emergence of Troy Smith (even if he did get suspended for the Alamo Bowl). In 2005 they lost early to Vince Young and eventual National Champs Texas. (They would have won that game if Jim Tressel had just let Smith play the whole time and sat Justin Zwick on the bench where he belonged).
In 2006 Smith won the Heisman, and the Buckeyes got pounded by Florida in a title game where everyone thought Michigan should have played OSU in a rematch for the title. Last season, a wild one with teams losing all over the place, OSU made it out and again got embarrassed by an SEC team in LSU in the title game.
But enough with the OSU resume. Why is it that because the Big Ten teams can't seem to win the big ones, some say the Big Ten is on the decline? I mean, I understand when people say that Big Ten teams aren't as good because they lose to these out of conference schools.
But maybe it's not that the Big Ten is declining. Maybe everyone else has finally caught up to one of the all-time great conferences.
It's definitely true of mid-major conferences. Five to eight years ago, a Boise State would have never beaten the likes of Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. A non-BCS school like App. State would never have gone into the Big House and shocked the world in beating that team from the North (one of the greatest days of watching sports in my life!).
Maybe the smaller teams and other conferences have caught up. There is so much more parity in college football than ever before.
I will give credit to the SEC—they produce some great teams. But when does an SEC team come out undefeated? Florida wasn't. LSU had lost twice!
All of this shows how hard it will be to make a great dynasty again. There won't be another Bobby Bowden or Joe Pa ever again. There is too much riding on winning and money.
Tressel has locked himself in for a long time because of the fact that he keeps winning and making money for the school. Also, unlike John Cooper, he does what all Buckeye fans really care about: He beats Michigan. If he goes out and loses five or six in a row, his fate will be just like Lloyd Carr—out.
Maybe we should stop saying how bad the Big Ten is, and instead start saying that college football is the most popular it has ever been. Every year you don't know who will emerge victorious in the BCS and its crazy system, and that's because all of the teams are beginning to level out.
3 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Nick The Only 10 months ago
You do realize that you just succinctly stated why the Big 10 is in decline, don't you?
Everything is relative. If one conference is going to strengthen, another conference necessarily has to weaken. The Big 10 used to attract top level talent from all over the country. Now a lot of that talent would rather play in the sunny and warm southern states or in California. Also, it is no secret that Florida, Texas and California regularly produce the most talented prospects.
The Big 10 is in decline precisely because other conferences on the rise. The whole pie is only so big, and right now the Big 10's slice is shrinking. That means they are in decline.
Also, the fact that Ohio State can so thoroughly dominate their own conference for two straight seasons yet look so inept against SEC competition proves that the rest of the conference is filled with relatively weak opponents. The Big 10 has 1 true powerhouse right now, whereas the SEC and the Big 12 have several national title contenders.
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Donald Fincher 10 months ago
Eric,
Here's the deal. Ohio State has become the USC of the Big Ten. They are getting to the BCS because they are running the table. Just like the Pac 10 is considered the Pac 1, the Big Ten has been called the Big 2. But since Tressel came, it has changed to the Big 1. Whenever a conference is dominated by one team, the rest of that conference will be considered "soft." West Virginia has had the same ability to have been the dominant team in the Big Least but they always manage to screw it up and lose a game or even two that they shouldn't. But again, that conference is considered weak for a number of very accurate reasons but one of the major ones is that it can be b!tchslapped around by one team. That makes a weak conference in most people's eyes.
And when that team that so easily wins the conference loses to a team that lost once (Florida) or twice (LSU) in their conference, it makes it look even worse.
Then you throw out the statistic that Ohio State is 0-9 versus the SEC in bowl games and that the 1 national championship that they did "win" (against Miami) is still seen by many to be a gift from the men in black and white stripes, it adds up to perceptions that aren't' good for the program or the conference.
I believe in Ohio State and think this may be a magical year for them (if they can get past USC). And my wife is a big Michigan fan. I would like to see a resurgence of the once proud Big Ten. I think CFB is better that way and it makes it more likely that ND would jump in and finally join a conference (which I also think would be best for CFB and, with the way CFB is changing I think it will eventually be something the Irish have to do). So I'm not a "hater." I'm just trying to shed some light on it for you.
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Lawrence Duffy 10 months ago
In 2004, OSu played Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl. Notre Dame was in 2006.
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