First off, I am a Big 10 homer. I will be quick to point out that in Bowl Games (despite being in the SEC's backyard), the Big 10 is a coin flip against the SEC in Bowl Games. If you factor out the "choke of all Bowl Game chokers, Ohio State, the upper Big 10 teams have beaten the SEC) I will be also quick to point out that in the Citrus/Capital One Bowl that matches up the top SEC and Big 10 teams not in a BCS Bowl, the "southern boys" have been the "northern boys" bitch the last 10 or so years. Being even a BIGGER Michigan homer, I always will point out with the win over Florida, Michigan improved to 12-4 against historical members of the SEC and 20-5-1 against current members. At the same time, none of this changes the fact as a conference, the Big 10 this season reminds me of the ACC when Florida State was really the only good team and the rest were a bunch of scrubs. So why is a Big 10 fan blasting his conference in 2008? Well, let us take a look at the top of top:
Penn State: The Big 10 version of the 1990's ACC's Florida State. They destroyed Oregon State and have looked amazing in every game so far. They are my sleeper BCS Champion due to the Big 10 being so weak this year and the fact Penn State when given time to prepare is great in Bowl Games:
(2007 they beat #18 Texas A&M in Texas 24-0)
| 2006 |
Outback |
Tennessee |
W |
20-10 |
| 2005 |
Orange |
Florida
State |
W |
26-23 |
| 2002 |
Capital
One |
Auburn |
L |
9-13 |
| 1999 |
Alamo |
Texas
A&M |
W |
24-0 |
| 1998 |
Outback |
Kentucky |
W |
26-14 |
| 1997 |
Citrus |
Florida |
L |
6-21 |
| 1996 |
Fiesta |
Texas |
W |
38-15 |
| 1995 |
Outback |
Auburn |
W |
43-14 |
| 1994 |
Rose |
Oregon |
W |
38-20 |
| 1993 |
Citrus |
Tennessee |
W |
31-13 |
| 1992 |
Blockbuster |
Stanford |
L |
3-24 |
| 1991 |
Fiesta |
Tennessee |
W |
42-17 |
The best of the rest:
Illinois: Rolled by Penn State and already let Missouri put up 50+ on them.
Ohio State: The only good team they have beat in recent years has been Michigan. The big Ohio State vs USC battle turned into a massacre to the delight of anti-Ohio State fans worldwide.
Michigan State: Even though they did not lose like Ohio State did when playing the Pac 10, they went out West already and were downed by Cal.
Wisconsin: Should have lost to Fresno State and were defeated by a team full of freshman at Michigan.
Minnesota: Nice 12 point win over Montana State.......
Northwestern: We should be serious here. Barely beat Duke, Ohio and Iowa. They could easily be under .500, so try and avoid annointing them as a stud team. All the Wildcats are doing is setting themselves up for playing a powerhouse in a Bowl Game and getting embarrased.
I do believe that Penn State could either beat or play a close game against any team in the country. But, when you factor in the Big 10 overall and put them in a tournament format based off level of skill against a comparable team in another conference, is there a major conference out there right now who could not win this mythical tournament?
So, if I think the Big 10 is the bottom of the barrel, who is the cream of the crop? The fact is, no matter what the Big 12 fans say, they are still sitting at #2 to the mighty SEC. The SEC has won three of the past five National Championships (this does
not include Auburn being shafted when 13-0 in 2004). If the BCS is the
best of the best, than the SEC winning 7 of their past 9 appearances
(outscoring other conferences the past four years in the BCS 161-62) is
just the proof in the pudding of SEC dominance.
After the SEC and Big 12, the Pac 10's, ACC's and Big East's all sit in the middle with the Big 10 looking up. Interested in thoughts from all the football experts at the forums.