Big Ten or Big East: Which Conference is Worst?

Three weeks into the college football season, something is becoming painfully clear: the Big Ten and Big East are two bad football conferences.

With teams like Akron pushing Wisconsin to the brink, UL-Lafayette nearly downing Illinois in Champaign, Rutgers getting pasted in back-to-back weeks, and Louisville looking like it lost its lunch before its home tilt with Kentucky, the two weak links of the BCS chain are looking terrible early on.

Sure, teams like Penn State and South Florida have had impressive wins to start the season, but overall, which of the groups should earn the unceremonious title of "Worst in BCS"?

The Case Against the Big Ten

Ohio State has made the National Championship game two years in a row. Illinois made it from being doormats to the Rose Bowl last season. Even Michigan defeated Florida last year in the Capital One Bowl. So, what of this season?

The last time we had seen Ohio State, they were scuffling to a 26-14 win over in-state rival Ohio. Today, they were blindsided by USC in a game billed as the "most anticipated of the season" by ESPN.

Spanked 35-3 in front of a national TV audience, the Buckeyes looked like the Ohio Bobcats had stolen their silver helmets and voyaged to the Coliseum. Granted, the Buckeyes were without their key offensive star, but ironically it was the passing game that was woefully absent in LA.

As for Illinois, they got annihilated by USC last year in the Rose Bowl, and today they nearly lost a game against the Cupcake Cajuns from Louisiana. Their passing game, prevalent against Missouri, was non-existent against the Cajuns and didn't make much noise against Eastern Illinois last week.

Michigan, where do I start with you? You fumbled the ball SEVEN TIMES against a Notre Dame team that made San Diego State look like the second coming of the U. You also squeaked by Miami (OH) and were made to look foolish by Utah in Ann Arbor.

Their first season under Rich Rodriguez is looking like a big letdown.

In terms of the "rest" of the schools, Minnesota had the worst defense in college football last season, Northwestern and Indiana are perennial "gonna scrape for bowl eligibility" programs, and Purdue is maddeningly inconsistent, as was evidenced by their refusal to play the last three quarters against an Oregon team bent on giving them a victory.

Iowa looked lackluster against Iowa State, and Penn State needs to call me back when they beat a team that is actually good, instead of Syracuse or Coastal Carolina. Wisconsin needs to blow teams like Akron out instead of making contests of easy games. If they beat Fresno State tonight, perhaps I will cut them some slack.

The Case Against the Big East

South Florida was supposed to be a BCS contender last year, but they fell apart the second half of the season and were quickly disposed of.

West Virginia doesn't look like they've recovered from the loss of Rich Rodriguez in the off-season.

Pitt lost week one and nearly lost again to Buffalo in week two.

With those "tremendous momentum pushes", the conference came into the new season. How are they doing?

Well, West Virginia stomped powerhouse Villanova week one, then proceeded to lay a massive egg against East Carolina in week two. Granted, ECU is a solid football team, but as they proved today against Tulane, they are hardly bulletproof.

UConn, an America's Darling nominee last year, barely squeaked by Temple last week, and they sure thrashed Virginia today, who provided token resistance to USC week one.

I don't even have to discuss the Syracuse Orange.

Louisville managed two points against Kentucky. At home. They sure took out their frustration on Eastern Tennessee the next week though.

Cincinnati pasted Eastern Kentucky, then they forgot to bring their offense to Norman to face the Sooners. Granted, this was a tough assignment, but their highly touted offense was abysmal anyway.

Rutgers has scored 19 points this season against Fresno State and North Carolina. The problem with these games is that they were both at home against teams with less than stellar rush defenses.

The Verdict

Both of these conferences have been putrid this season. However, the decision has been made, and the "winner" of the "Worst in BCS" is.......

the Big East.

Sure, the Big Ten has looked horrible against pretty much any other conference the last couple of seasons, but the Big East hasn't been good ever since Virginia Tech, Boston College, and Miami all bolted for the ACC. When a conference loses that much talent (and replaces it with Conference USA teams), there is no way they can compete with an established conference.

As we go into conference play, it will be interesting to see if either of these "top-tier" conferences will live up to their billing anytime soon.