It's just about time for bowl season to begin, which means that it's also time for everybody around the country to start tearing down the Big Ten for being a weak, inferior conference.
It's becoming an annual tradition, but is this criticism of the Big Ten conference justified?
No way.
These criticisms are rooted in myth and misconception. It's become the nature of the college football fan to disparage a conference that doesn't contain the defending national champion.
Some fans have been so delusional that they find fault with the Big XII North, which boasts four teams in the top 13 BCS slots. They don't play defense, say the analysts. They're winning somehow, aren't they? Last I checked, a 'W' was the only thing that mattered.
As much unfair criticism as that division has endured, the Big Ten has put up with more. Fans of Big Ten teams are supposed to believe that we're still attached to our horse-drawn carriages while the stupendously-rich SEC and Big XII are driving Bugatti Veyrons.
It's time to put these lies to rest and give the Big Ten the respect it deserves.
Myth No. 1: Ohio State is terrible
This is the argument that people love to use against the Big Ten. It's also the argument that makes the least amount of sense.
The Buckeyes are one for three in BCS title games this decade, and they've lost their last two, in consecutive years. The SEC has convincingly beaten OSU two times in a row, and many people have taken this to mean that OSU, and by extension the Big Ten, is incapable of winning important games.
How many teams aside from OSU have even made it to two consecutive title games?
Let's see, Florida State played for three straight BCS titles, winning just one of them. Miami and USC have each played for two titles in a row, each coming up short on their second attempt. And Oklahoma also played in two title games in a row, losing them both by a combined score of 76-33.
I don't recall anybody jumping on Oklahoma and the Big XII the way that they have with Ohio State and the Big Ten. Oklahoma's 55-19 loss to USC in 2004 is the biggest beat down in BCS title game history, yet they were never disrespected to the extent that Ohio State has been.
Look, winning a title is hard. Less than two percent of the Division 1-A population even gets to play for one at the end of the season. Probability says that it's extremely unlikely that the same team would even make it to the title game twice in a row, but that's exactly what Ohio State did.
But they beat weaklings to get there, you'll say.
Not true, not by a long shot.
In 2006, Ohio State beat No. 2 Texas, No. 24 Penn State, No. 13 Iowa and No. 2 Michigan en route to the title game. 2007 featured wins over No. 23 Purdue, No. 25 Penn State, No. 21 Wisconsin and No. 21 Michigan. Four ranked teams each season.
In the 2006 season they had even bigger wins than Oklahoma enjoyed this season. The 2008 Sooners have beaten only one top five opponent.
It's also worth mentioning that this year's Fiesta Bowl will be Jim Tressel's fourth straight appearance in a BCS bowl game. Along with Pete Carroll, he's proven himself to be one of the most consistent coaches of the BCS era.
You know who hasn't been to four straight BCS bowls? Texas and Florida come to mind.
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