2010's Best Conference Award: How the Big Ten Is Boldly Stating Its Case

Every year there are countless arguments about which conference is the best.  This is a fair thing to argue, but more intriguing is which conference is delivering the most excitement. In that regard the Big Ten is by far leading the way, and here are three reasons why.

First, the conference is not Ohio State and the little ten anymore.  Though it was a stretch to say the Buckeyes were not significantly challenged over the last five seasons, the truth is the Big Ten had few above average teams.   

This year, the top four are great teams, and Michigan, Penn State and Northwestern are talented enough to make a lot of teams nervous. 

By comparison, the SEC West has been competitive, but that was expected; the Big 12 has lost some flare, especially with Texas struggling and Nebraska’s untimely loss to Texas A&M yesterday. 

The PAC 10 looks like the old Big Ten with Oregon running through the conference with little resistance.  The ACC and Big East are just terrible, and really painful to watch. 

Second, except for the Michigan State loss at Iowa, the games between the top four teams have all been tight battles well into the fourth quarter.  The hype before the games has played out on the field, which is refreshing since too many expectant classics end up being duds. 

By comparison, the PAC 10 has had one fourth quarter show down: Cal almost nipped Oregon last week.  Outside of that, the key games have been blow outs.

Thanks to LSU, the SEC has had a few close fourth quarter games, but many of the important games have fallen flat.  Much of that is a consequence of the free falls of Florida and Georgia. 

Finally, the Big Ten conference race will be decided in the last week of the season. The Badgers, Buckeyes and Spartans all go into the last game with a chance to win or share the title.  Drama does not get much better than that. 

Sadly, all three will likely win and the winner will be determined by the distant BCS ranking systems. Three teams finishing the conference race at 7-1 is still impressive. 

Granted, the ACC, Big 12 and SEC will decide their champions in two weeks.  However, it is appearing that all three games will be rematches of regular season games.  Not boring, but definitely less appealing.

The PAC 10 race is technically still an open one, but Arizona and Oregon State lack the weapons to stay with the Ducks.  Plus, Oregon can still lose a game and win the title.  This race is really all but over.

For five seasons, the Big Ten was the punching bag of many in the college football media.  With depth lacking, Ohio State dominating and poor bowl game performances, the conference was correctly ridiculed as being stuck in the 80’s.  Not anymore. 

The 2009 bowl season changed some of the perception, but this season has redefined the conference.  It may still be a step behind the SEC, but the step is a very small one.