BCS Rankings: Why Big Ten Is Most Overrated Conference

The latest BCS rankings feature five Big Ten schools in the nation’s top 20. As well represented as the conference is, though, it’ll be lucky to get more than its one mandated bid to the BCS bowls (and luckier still to win when its representative gets there).

The recent scramble atop the conference has seen apparent front-runners Wisconsin (now No. 20 in the BCS) and Michigan State (No. 17) knocked off in consecutive weeks. Current leader Nebraska (No. 10 this week) is unlikely to be next—the Huskers have a home date with sub-.500 Northwestern—but the overall picture suggests that the Big Ten has a number of good teams without a great one.

The biggest concern for the Big Ten when bowl season comes around will be its disappointing non-conference scheduling. Of the conference’s five ranked squads, only one—largely unheralded No. 16 Penn State—has even played a ranked team from outside the Big Ten.

That meeting didn’t go so well, as the Nittany Lions were locked down at home, 27-11, by unbeaten Alabama.

The other teams padded their win totals with romps like Wisconsin’s 51-17 demolition of UNLV, but did little to prove that they can contend with the nation’s elite. Other conferences are in similar positions (the Pac-12 has only an Oregon loss to LSU to hang its hat on), but none are more heavily represented in the BCS rankings.

Even the mighty SEC only earned five spots, and it is perhaps the only league with a non-conference record worth bragging about.

The parity in the Big Ten has made for some exciting football, and will likely continue to do so for the rest of the regular season. Come the postseason, however, the conference is likely to be in for a rude awakening.