Big Ten Football: A Shadow of its Former Self

Let’s face it; the Big Ten is no longer what it used to be.  You might use the cliché, the conference is just a shadow of its former self.  This is a very controversial statement, sure to stir the Midwestern states into a tizzy.  Before you get yourself all worked up, look at the facts and then feel free to throw the venom this way.

The class of the conference, year in and year out, is the Ohio State Buckeyes.  They are also the main target for the Big Ten detractors, which is as it should be.  The Buckeyes have made it to the last two National Championship games, but that is where the good story ends.  They lost to Florida 41-14 in 2007 and to LSU 38-24 just last season.  In layman’s terms, they were housed.  The Buckeyes were just outclassed.  But they aren’t the only cause of the down turn the conference has taken.

The blame also falls on the rest of the teams in the Big Ten.  You can see this by looking at their Bowl Game records over the last two season’s (OSU’s will be included).  In the 2006-2007 season, they went a combined 2-5 with Wisconsin and Penn State carrying the banner.  In 2007-2008 things weren’t much better with the conference going 3-5, Michigan, Purdue and Penn State as the wins. 

It appears that the teams in the Big Ten cannot beat teams from the other elite conferences.  From the looks of the last two seasons, the argument seems to hold water.  For some reason they just can’t stand up to the competition anymore. 

Maybe it’s because of how much college football is on television now.  More schools get more press so there is more opportunity to get noticed.  This means that the best athletes become scattered.

Whatever the reasons are, there is only one way to make this kind of talk disappear.  It’s very simple too, win your games against the elite conference.

The Big Ten has the opportunity to do just that in the first three weeks of the season.  In week one Illinois take on Missouri, Michigan plays Utah and Michigan State goes to Cal.  In week two, Purdue plays Oregon and the fighting Jo Pa’s play Oregon State.  Week three has Wisconsin traveling to Fresno and Ohio State plays USC in what is being called the biggest game of the early season. 

If the Big Ten can win four of five of these games then they will be well on the way to proving the doubters wrong.  Lose four or five then all the talk will continue.  If the former happens, send that plate of crow this way and it will be eaten.  If the latter happens, then the “told you so’s” will continue to come from all angles.   

Will the Big Ten drag itself back up?  The answer will be clear after week three is over.