BCS Rankings 2011: Why Penn State Still Deserve Massive Respect

You have to separate what happened off the field over the past week at Penn State from the good season that their team is having on the field this season.  

They are 8-2, with two games remaining on their schedule this year. They have a tremendous chance at making the inaugural Big Ten championship game, with an even greater chance at making this year’s Rose Bowl.  

Even with a close loss last week at home to Nebraska, they control their destiny to all of their postseason possibilities.    

But, they still get disrespected in the polls, which is unfair to the team.  

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Penn State fell so far—from No. 12 to No. 21 in the BCS Standings. The voters in the polls that make up the BCS Standings never gave Penn State respect when they were winning games. Coming into the game against Nebraska, they were on a seven-game winning streak, but still behind six one-loss teams.  

With that Nebraska loss, it did not hurt their chances at a Big Ten title. However, now with two losses, it dropped the Nittany Lions to the lowest two-loss team in the BCS Standings.  

One loss should not have dropped Penn State to the bottom of this group of teams. Should it have dropped them behind teams like Nebraska and TCU? No. But, it’s a travesty that the loss dropped them behind fellow Big Ten teams like Wisconsin and Michigan.  

There are two reasons why the voters dropped this Nittany Lions team this far down in the polls. One, Penn State cannot move the ball at all on offense. In half of Penn State’s wins they have scored less than 20 points.  

However, teams like Wisconsin and Michigan, have offenses that can light up a score board like a Christmas tree.  

It seems as if the poll voters do not respect a team with a great defense, like Penn State. 

The second reason is because Penn State was the only team to lose this week of the two-loss teams. It was bad luck for the Nittany Lions that no one else lost this week. 

Regardless of where the Nittany Lions fell in this latest poll, they were going to be disrespected. This Nittany Lions team was never going to be in contention for the national title this year.  

But, whatever you do, do not sleep on this team’s chances for the first Big Ten championship. They are the best team in the Big Ten and will be the Big Ten’s representative in the 2012 Rose Bowl.