Big Ten Football: Ranking the League's Biggest Disappointments This Year
As with every season, 2014 has been full of its successes and disappointments for college football fans around Big Ten country.
Whether you're a fan of Michigan or Ohio State, whether you wear green and white on Saturdays or are eternally loyal to Big Red, we can all agree that there have been some rough patches from a conference standpoint this season.
We're going to take a look at the Big Ten from a conference-wide perspective, which is to say that we aren't going to be too concerned with team loyalties. While Ohio State and Michigan State fans are flush with schadenfreude when it comes to the Wolverines, from the Big Ten-centric standpoint, a struggling Michigan is bad for the conference's national reputation (we'll explain that in a few moments).
Michigan, obviously, is going to make this list. But what else has been bothering us about the Big Ten? What else has caused us to look to the heavens, shake our heads and ask, "Why?"
For that, we'll go to our list of top disappointments of the 2014 college football season.
Unless otherwise noted, quotes or references to quotes were obtained firsthand by the writer. All recruiting star ratings and team rankings are from 247Sports.com unless otherwise noted.
College Football Playoff Chances
1 of 5
We're going to start with perhaps the most recent event to affect the Big Ten's College Football Playoff chances, and it wasn't good if you're really hoping to see the conference have a shot at the national title this season.
A lot can still happen, and there's plenty of opportunity for Ohio State to move up into the top four before season's end, but as it stands now, the Big Ten's best hope for playoff participation—Michigan State—has been all but eliminated from contention.
Ohio State's 49-37 win in East Lansing put the Buckeyes in control of the East Division, and Michigan State now has that damaging second loss on its record. The Buckeyes are now the odds-on favorites to win their first Big Ten title since 2009 and earn a spot in the "New Year's Six" slate of bowl games (Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange, Cotton and Peach).
But, if you didn't care which Big Ten team make the CFP as long as one did, this probably wasn't the outcome you were hoping to see.
Take a look at what else happened this past weekend: Notre Dame lost and is likely out of the discussion. That's good if you're the Big Ten hoping to get one of the four spots. Auburn lost to a pretty bad Texas A&M team. That's really good for the Big Ten (and every other non-SEC conference).
We were guaranteed a loss among the top Big 12 schools, and TCU emerged victorious against Kansas State. The Wildcats are sure to drop, which is good for the Big Ten.
Had MSU defeated Ohio State, there was a good-to-excellent shot the Spartans would find themselves in the top six come Tuesday evening, with several big games among the top four still remaining.
Instead, Ohio State, which was six spots behind Michigan State in last week's CFP rankings, will now be moving up. But how much ground will the Buckeyes gain? Is it even possible for the Buckeyes to climb high enough?
If you compare resumes, Ohio State had the much, much uglier loss on its record. Losing to Virginia Tech, a 4-5 team that is in sole possession of last place in the ACC's Coastal Division, is really ugly. On top of that, the loss was in Columbus. Michigan State's loss, on the other hand, came to a team now No. 3 in the most recent AP Poll, and on the road.
We're not saying the committee won't be impressed with Ohio State's win. We're not saying that Ohio State didn't deserve the victory or doesn't deserve playoff consideration. But we are saying that strictly from a numbers standpoint, the road to the playoff was a lot clearer for Michigan State than it is for Ohio State.
For that reason—and that reason alone—Ohio State's win over MSU was disappointing.
Braxton Miller
2 of 5
Might Ohio State's fortunes be different had Braxton Miller not been lost for the season due to an injury before the opening kickoff? We'll never know.
One thing we do know: Retooling your offense with a new quarterback just a few days before the start of a new season isn't easy. Ohio State struggled mightily against Navy in Week 1 before dropping that now-all-important game against Virginia Tech in Week 2.
But beyond the wins and losses Ohio State may or may not have had, there was all the talk about the Heisman Trophy. Love 'em or hate 'em, the Buckeyes had a real opportunity to not only run the table in 2014 with Miller at the helm, but Miller himself could have brought home the nation's premiere individual award for college football.
After spring practices, Miller was among a short list of favorites to compete for the award, and a playoff-bound Ohio State would certainly be garnering a ton of media attention.
Now we'll have to potentially wait for 2015 to see if Miller returns—and, perhaps more importantly, to where he'll return.
Miller is on pace to graduate from Ohio State in December. At that point, he can either attend Ohio State for graduate school to play out his remaining eligibility, or, per NCAA rules, he can find a graduate program at a school other than Ohio State and play there immediately, provided Ohio State does not offer the same graduate program.
Interesting, to say the least.
Darrell Hazell and Tim Beckman
3 of 5
No one should suggest that both Purdue and Illinois haven't made some forward progress this season. However, no one should suggest that either program is where it should be or expected to be by now.
Darrell Hazell had the worst of things when he took over at Purdue. The Boilermakers were in utter disarray, and four years under Danny Hope had produced just 22 wins and a 13-19 conference mark.
Since then, however, things have been even worse. Purdue is 4-18 under Hazell with just a single win in conference play.
Sure, there wasn't much to work with when Hazell arrived in West Lafayette. Yes, Purdue has tripled its win total from Hazell's first season. But is tripling one win really all that impressive?
Hazell is going to be given the benefit of the doubt (for now) while he works to rebuild a program that's struggling to get up off the mat. But losses to MAC programs like Central Michigan won't keep the natives under control for long.
Just across the way in Champaign, Illinois, Tim Beckman is similarly struggling to get any traction. After two seasons, Illinois was just 6-18. The Illini are 4-5 this season, matching Beckman's win total from 2013 with Iowa, Penn State and Northwestern yet to come.
Beckman was hired to do what Ron Zook couldn't: take Illinois from Big Ten mediocrity to conference contender. So far, it looks as if Zook was actually closer to that goal than what Backman has been able to do.
Beckman's had a year longer at Illinois than Hazell at Purdue, so we expected the Illini to be a little further along in the process. The arrival of transfer quarterback Wes Lunt from Oklahoma State was also supposed to help matters. Lunt has missed time due to injury but is averaging 313.8 yards per game in his five appearances and has 13 touchdowns passes to just three interceptions thus far. Obviously, Illinois fans are eagerly awaiting his return.
There's still hope for Illinois this season, which means Beckman at least has a shot at keeping his job. But there's still no getting around the disappointment the Illinois faithful have been feeling for quite some time now.
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The Media and the Big Ten
4 of 5
It really depends on who you ask: Does the national media have a bias against the Big Ten or not?
Chances are, folks in the north and Midwest would say, "Yes." It's similarly likely that someone from Baton Rouge, Tuscaloosa or Gainesville would say, "Of course not."
We all know where ESPN's Chris Fowler falls after his vehement defense of his network. But let's take a more objective look at the situation—if such a thing is even possible.
First, look at the Big Ten's inferiority complex. As Kevin Trahan from Forbes points out, Iowa fans openly question whether or not Kirk Ferentz is the best Iowa can do in terms of attracting top coaching talent.
Why are Big Ten fans even asking why the conference can't attract better coaches? Is that even true? Apparently Iowa fans believe it is.
This gives a pretty solid rationale for Big Ten fans to feel disrespected: They don't respect their own conference, so why expect respect from SEC fans?
The Big Ten also doesn't help its case when top conference teams like Michigan State go out and lose to Oregon and Ohio State lays an egg against a Virginia Tech team that now has sole possession of last place in the ACC's Coastal Division.
But other conferences have stumbled. Heck, Auburn was beaten by a pretty bad Texas A&M team on Saturday. Oregon lost to Arizona, which barely escaped UTSA this season. Florida State has been barely surviving against much weaker opponents all season long. And let's not even go into the "defense optional" Big 12.
With Ohio State's win over Michigan State, the view can easily shift to the Big Ten beating itself up. But you know the SEC faithful will use that rationale with the SEC West as an excuse to try to get two teams from their conference into the College Football Playoff.
So why does the Big Ten "beat itself up" when the SEC does the same thing, but it's called something like "forged by adversity" or "running the gauntlet" or "surviving murderer's row?" As if wins against Western Carolina, Presbyterian and Samford in November are anything of which a conference should be proud.
This brings us back to the media and its role in college football these days.
Anyone who suggests ESPN has no vested interest in seeing the SEC do well simply isn't paying attention. There are over two billion reasons the "Worldwide Leader" wants the SEC to do well. Trying to separate what's "good for the SEC Network" from what's good for ESPN doesn't make a whole lot of sense. After all, the SEC Network's own logo is designed as if to get a person to say aloud "SEC ESPN Network."
Rolling Stone's Jordan Burchette even came right out and said, "painfully perplexing to witness ESPN use its outsize influence to prop up a Southeastern Conference that, for the first time in a decade, is arguably in a state of decline."
Whether ESPN is actively pushing an SEC-centric agenda is arguable and open for debate. But suggesting ESPN has "no interest" in propping up the SEC is, as Burchette suggested, perplexing.
But lest Big Ten fans swear off of ESPN completely, keep in mind that it was ESPN who—indirectly—spurred the Big Ten to not only expand by adding Nebraska (and now Maryland and Rutgers) to the fold, but also create its own, very lucrative television network.
Why does ESPN get credit? Because they didn't want to pay much for the Big Ten even back then.
Still, it has to be disappointing and more than a little frustrating to see the Big Ten constantly regarded as a "down" conference by the media, who doubt the Big Ten can reach the playoff this season.
And that was all before MSU lost to Ohio State.
Brady Hoke
5 of 5
Poor Michigan. After 59 frustrating minutes in Evanston, it took a failed two-point conversion from Northwestern to escape sleepy Ryan Field with a 10-9 victory over West Division bottom feeder.
What is going on in Ann Arbor?
Shawn Windsor of the Detroit Free Press hit the nail on the head when he pointed out that when it comes to the troubles at Michigan, "it's all about the quarterback." But, he continues, "when a team can't develop one, then it's all about the coach."
Preach it.
Apart from his first season in Ann Arbor, it's been nothing but trouble for Brady Hoke. After taking a Rich Rodriguez team to the Sugar Bowl (and winning), Hoke has been busy "rebuilding" Michigan into a program traditional Michigan and Big Ten fans would recognize. Only Hoke forgot to add in the part about winning football games.
Easier said than done, right? After all, you have to recruit the best players to have the best team. So let's take a peek at how Hoke's done on the recruiting trail.
Last season, Michigan pulled in the No. 4 recruiting class in the Big Ten, according to Rivals.com. Not bad. A year prior, the Wolverines were No. 2 on the list, as they were in 2012. Even the class that signed on just after Hoke was hired in 2011 was No. 3 in the conference.
So where has all that potential talent gone? Well, it's still there. You just can't see it. Again, we have to return to player development.
Michigan is a program that almost recruits itself. It has the tradition and history. It has top-notch facilities and is one of the world's truly elite academic institutions. Even if you hand a coach the best football potential around, he'll still need to transform the raw material into top-notch collegiate talent.
It should be clear to everyone by now that Hoke simply isn't getting the job done.
Maybe he falls into the same category as Will Muschamp, Lane Kiffin, or Charlie Weis: good assistant coach, bad head coach. Hoke had plenty of college coaching experience, from assistant positions at Grand Valley State, Western Michigan, Toledo and Oregon State (and of course Michigan) to head coaching gigs at Ball State and San Diego State before getting his dream job in Ann Arbor.
Hoke will land somewhere, and likely land on his feet too. It's certainly disappointing for Michigan fans that Hoke didn't work out, but if USC can suffer through Kiffin and Notre Dame can survive Weis, then there will be life after Hoke at Michigan.
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