College Football Week 10: 5 Reasons Why the Big Ten Is Vastly Overrated

Looking at the conferences around the nation, the SEC and Big 12 Conference are clearly once again sitting as the kings of the mountain of the college football world.

Yet when discussing conferences, the Big Ten's name always seems to get brought up, though this is clearly not the year to try and include to Big Ten among the big boys of college football.

Reason being, they simply aren't that good.

In fact, as a conference, the Big Ten is vastly overrated this season. Here are some reasons why.

Ohio State

Like them or not, the Big Ten Conference could usually hang their hat on the fact that the Buckeyes would be one of the top ranked teams in the nation.

Even though the Buckeyes were out classed by the SEC in previous BCS Championship Game's, having a team capable of getting there is good for the conference.

No one really predicted the fall of the Buckeyes in 2011, but it came at a bad time for the Big Ten.

Adding Nebraska to the mix, if the Big Ten could boast the Cornhuskers, Ohio State, and Wisconsin all in the Top 10, then it's suddenly a strong conference.

Throw in solid second tier teams as Penn State, Michigan, and Michigan State and the Big Ten would be looking good.

Unfortunately that isn't the case and the Big Ten just looks average across the board.

They've Beaten No One

In seasons past, the Big Ten may have been able to hang their hat on the fact that Ohio State would win a big non-conference game, while the rest of the league for the most part schedules soft out of league games.

I know other teams in other conferences also schedule soft at times, but the Big Ten doesn't gain many points around the country by dominating the MAC every year before conference play begins.

As a conference, the Big Ten hasn't really beaten anyone as a whole.

Taking a look, here's each team's best out of conference win this season.

Michigan State: defeated Youngstown State (5-3)

Nebraska: defeated Washington (6-2)

Iowa: defeated Pitt (4-4)

Michigan: defeated Notre Dame (5-3)

Northwestern: defeated Boston College (2-7)

Minnesota: defeated Miami (OH) (4-5)

Penn State: defeated Temple (5-4)

Ohio State: defeated Toledo (5-4)

Wisconsin: defeated Northern Illinois (6-3)

Purdue: defeated Southeast Missouri State (3-6)

Illinois: defeated Arizona State (6-2)

Indiana: defeated South Carolina State (5-4)

As you can see, the list of out of conference opponents isn't going to do them any favors. I understand that schedules are made far in advance, but it is what it is.

If you are looking for a major reason of why the Big Ten is down, look no further than who they've beaten and who they haven't.

Some teams like Penn State scheduled one big game (Alabama). If that's the approach then you have to win that game. Otherwise, there is nothing on your resume to warrant serious title contention, as evident by a Penn State team being 8-1, yet only ranking No. 16 in the BCS Standings.

In this day of college football, you have to play and beat good teams. Under the current BCS system, you aren't going to fool the computers many times.

The Conference Schedule Is Average at Best

The reasoning for the Big Ten never playing a quality out of conference schedule was that the conference schedule is very tough.

That's fine. If it were true.

Unfortunately this season, the conference schedule really isn't that tough.

Just look at the BCS Standings the past few weeks. Wisconsin got no love despite being unbeaten at the time. Penn State is getting none at the moment.

Yet you can't really justify that either team deserves a whole lot right now.

I'm not picking on Penn State, but a conference schedule to date that has seen wins over: Indiana, Iowa, Purdue, Illinois, and Northwestern just isn't very impressive. Certainly not impressive to justify the argument of how tough the Big Ten schedule is.

At least in the case of the Nittany Lions, the have the opportunity to play Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Ohio State still. That may make their overall body of work look better, but not all teams have that remaining on their schedule.

The fact that not all teams play each other during conference play is almost a joke. Penn State doesn't play Michigan or Michigan State this season. It's hard to justify a team as a contender when they haven't beaten two of the better teams in the conference.

Maybe eliminating a game against a MAC team and playing an extra conference game could help, but overall, no Big Ten team can boast a quality resume in or out of conference.

Rankings

Coming into the week, Nebraska (No. 10) was the only Big Ten team that cracked the Top 10 of the BCS Rankings, and that is certainly to change come Sunday night.

The Big Ten dominated spots 15-20 though as four teams appeared in the rankings. No. 15 Michigan, No. 16 Penn State, No.17 Michigan State, and No. 20 Wisconsin all appear to the bottom half of the Top 25.

That just shows they have a handful of above average teams at the moment.

That will get worse Sunday night with losses from Michigan and Nebraska.

The Level of Play Has Declined

Many thought adding Nebraska would help and it has to a point. Anytime you add a quality program such as the Cornhuskers it helps.

Yet although you will see former Big Ten players on television defending the conference, the reality of the situation is that from top to bottom, the conference just isn't very good.

The top talent around the nation isn't playing Big Ten football anymore. Most of it is in the SEC and Big 12. Aside from a few teams loaded with talent, as a whole, the talent level on most Big Ten teams is average to above average.

Look at New Year's Day one year ago in which the conference went 0-5 against the best competition they faced all season long.

Michigan State, which shared the Big Ten title, was embarrassed 49-7 by Alabama in the Capital One Bowl. Michigan was blown out 52-14 by Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl. Penn State, Wisconsin and Northwestern also suffered losses to complete the conference’s 0-5 day.

It's time to realize that the Big Ten simply doesn't measure up to the top conference's in the nation any longer.