Big Ten Football: Five Things That Need To Happen To Become Better Than the SEC
Heading into October, there is no doubt that the SEC is the toughest conference in college football, and little doubt that the Big Ten is the premier challenger to that crown.
Once a laughingstock, the Big Ten has become much stronger in the past two seasons, matching the SEC with six teams in the USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll.
But even though the Big Ten has improved, they still need to achieve several goals in order to legitimately push the SEC for the title of best conference in the country.
Adding a revitalized Nebraska in 2011 and having a conference championship game should help, but there is plenty the current 11 teams in the Big Ten can do to bolster their image much more.
Here are five of the things that can shape the Big Ten's image much more effectively.
5. The Big Games Have To Live Up To The Hype
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The Big Ten season gets off to a big start with two games featuring ranked teams: No. 9 Wisconsin at No. 21 Michigan State (3:30 P.M) and No. 20 Penn State at No. 18 Iowa (8:00 P.M).
In recent years, both of these rivalries have had very close games.
The only difference is now the spotlight will be much brighter considering not only the fact that all four teams are ranked, but that the teams have combined to lose only two games, Penn State against Alabama, and Iowa against Arizona.
And for these games to really show the strength of the Big Ten, they need to be good old-fashioned physical games, of which all four teams are very capable of doing.
Despite the fact that these two games are being overshadowed by more attractive name matchups at the same time (Red River Shootout during Wisconsin-MSU, UF-Bama during PSU-Iowa), they should be games that are just as exciting.
Ready the DVR, especially if you live in Big Ten country, and be prepared for what ought to be two fantastic games.
And in addition to these games, the conference should hope its big games all are very spectacular showdowns.
4. Hope Michigan Stays Hot and Wins Games in The Conference
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It's no question that Michigan is just not what Michigan used to be. Four seasons ago they were No. 2 in the country before losing to Ohio State, and beginning the eventual decline what you see today.
But for the second season in a row, the Wolverines are 4-0 riding on the strength of spectacular QB play, this time from Heisman hopeful Denard Robinson.
While Robinson's status for this week is uncertain after sustaining an injury against Bowling Green, it's clear that his abilities have made Rich Rodriguez's offense a force to be reckoned with in recent weeks.
But the problem last season was when Michigan got into Big Ten play, the defense was the Achilles' heel and they only won one in-conference game.
This year, the defense is only looking marginally better, and against some of the tough physical teams in the Big Ten, that might not help.
Robinson will need to continue to play at a high level to get a few wins in Big Ten play and get back to a bowl game.
They will not win the conference title barring some divine intervention, but Michigan has a great chance to win some games and start to win back respectability.
3. Get Two BCS Teams and Have Another Winning Bowl Record
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Part of the reason for the hype of Big Ten resurgence was because of the performance of Iowa and Ohio State in their BCS bowl games, and Wisconsin and Penn State both overcoming underdog statuses to win their postseason showdowns against Southern schools.
And in order for the Big Ten to keep its high status and even improve on that, they will need to do it all over again.
The only difference is that a winning bowl record in 2010 is an expectation, not a hope.
Even though Iowa has slipped and it looks like only one Big Ten squad at the time is BCS-caliber, one will need to step up, whether the Hawkeyes rebound to run through the Big Ten or if a surprise contender like Wisconsin or Michigan State can stay undefeated and rise high enough in the rankings to reach that level.
In addition to Ohio State's dominance over the Big Ten since 2005, after Michigan last reached the BCS in 2006, three more teams found their way to the grand stage, with Illinois in 2007, Penn State in 2008, and Iowa a year ago.
If the Big Ten is to continue their trend of fitting two teams into the BCS picture, one team will need to step up and possibly defeat Ohio State to get to that level.
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2. Terrelle Pryor Or Denard Robinson Must Win The Heisman Trophy
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Though the Heisman Trophy is not necessarily a measuring stick for which conference is really better—it certainly helps if the trophy recipient belongs in your conference.
And right now, two of the top candidates for college football's most prestigious award hail from the Big Ten, OSU's Terrelle Pryor and Michigan's Denard Robinson.
And ironically, the defending winner, Alabama's Mark Ingram, not only plays in the SEC, but he is a native of Michigan as well.
Both QBs have been spectacular this season, with Robinson racking up the yards and single-handedly outgaining 55 of 119 other FBS squads, with 1,419 total yards.
Pryor on the other hand has led a surprisingly explosive Ohio State offense, ranked eighth in total offense per game and third in points per game behind only Oregon and Oklahoma State.
Both players will need to keep up their frenetic paces of putting up big numbers because Ingram has been hot on their tails despite missing the first two games of the season.
But there is no doubt that either one of these players has a very good chance to take hope college football's greatest individual achievement and add to their respective schools' long lists of winners.
1. Ohio State Must Play For and Win The National Championship
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Like Alabama in the SEC, Ohio State is the favorite to win their conference and to play for the National Championship in Glendale this January.
But for the Big Ten to be considered an equal to the SEC, they must win the national title this season, preferably against an SEC squad.
And this Ohio State squad is certainly as capable as anyone to get the job done in January, with an explosive offense to go with a very opportunistic defense.
The coaching staff has had faith in both sides of the ball, with the offense being surprisingly high-octane and the defense creating their usual amount of havoc.
But they still need to find a way to improve their special teams, especially their kick coverage which has come under fire in the month of September.
If they are able to rectify that and improve a pass rush that only has five sacks in four games, which has been a surprisingly low number considering their talent up front.
Even still, Ohio State has been very dominant thanks in part to Terrelle Pryor's performances and the opportunistic play of the back seven of the Silver Bullet defense.
But they need to end the SEC jinx once and for all to push the Big Ten to new heights after this season.
Bonus Goal: Nebraska To Win The Big 12 and Challenge For a Title Spot
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Quick question: Who has faith in Taylor Martinez now?
As a freshman, Martinez has led a suddenly explosive Cornhusker offense to the fifth-best rushing attack at just under 310 yards per game, and averaging exactly 40 points per game.
With this offensive output combined with the typical Blackshirt defense that Bo Pelini has brought back to Lincoln, the Huskers appear to be a near lock to come out of the Big 12 North and compete for the conference championship in their final year before moving to the Big Ten.
This was set aside from the other five steps because Nebraska is not part of the Big Ten just yet, but many of the things they do this season will build hype to their inaugural year of Big Ten football, especially if they play in the BCS National Championship Game against possibly Ohio State.
And it appears that although Nebraska has almost a guaranteed appearance in the Big 12 Championship Game, their road to an undefeated season has some hurdles, featured by games against the Texas team that was a second away from missing out on last year's title game, and going to Oklahoma to face a Sooner team that threw five interceptions a year ago.
But if they can win the Big 12, that would create a great amount of hype and raise the stock of the Big Ten to new heights.
This article is featured on Storm the Field. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @bielik_tim for previous articles and to ask me questions about anything college football.
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