When USC running back Stafon Johnson forced his way into the end zone last Saturday, we all realized that Ohio State had lost yet another big game on a big stage. And I knew that once the Matt Barkley praise died down, the Big Ten trashing would once again rise up.
Every year, Big Ten football players and fans are smacked across the face by mainstream media outlets that insist the conference has reached rock bottom. The most popular topic of discussion next to Tim Tebow’s eternal greatness is the state of the Big Ten and, more specifically, how bad the conference has become.
But enough is enough — at least for one Big Ten fan.
It’s about time someone provided some insight from the other side of the argument. It’s about time someone stood up for the historic, revenue-pumping conference that is the Big Ten.
I’m about to be that guy.
For me, the conference debate comes down to three main points: perception, recruiting and bowl game records.
Now people’s perception of the Big Ten is greatly influenced by mainstream media, so let’s take a closer look at the unbalanced media coverage. In week one of the college football season, we saw a ranked Iowa team struggle to win a game against Northern Iowa and, in week two, we saw Michigan State lose to Central Michigan. These poor performances brought a ton of negative attention to the Big Ten.
But what about the other conferences? Is the Big Ten the only league that suffers from an upset?
In case you missed it, the high-powered Oklahoma State Cowboys from the mighty Big 12 Conference (arguably the nation’s best conference at the start of the season) lost to Houston. That’s right, the No. 5 team in the nation lost to Houston, at home. In all honesty, I heard more discussion about Northern Iowa’s near upset of Iowa and Central Michigan’s win over Michigan State.
Where is the criticism of the Big 12? I know Oklahoma was without Sam Bradford, but the Sooners already have a loss, and the Cowboys couldn’t even hold off Houston at home. Throw in Colorado’s blowout loss to Toledo and Kansas State’s loss to Louisiana Lafayette (who?) and that looks like a pretty weak Big 12 to me.
It just seems like an upset in the Big Ten is always front and center, even when a team in the top five suffers a defeat to a team no one has ever heard of.
When this issue of national perception comes up, something about Big Ten recruiting usually follows. With all of this negativity surrounding the Big Ten, one must assume that Big Ten recruiting has taken a major hit. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
Despite getting destroyed in recent National Championship games, the Ohio State Buckeyes have continued to recruit at an elite level. Take star ratings with a grain of salt, but according to Rivals.com, OSU had the third-best recruiting class in 2009. Terrelle Pryor — the nation’s top recruit in the class of 2008 — made the choice to continue his football career in the Big Ten.
Plus, other top programs like Penn State and Michigan have continued to bring in highly rated classes, despite this supposed dark cloud that surrounds the conference.
When push comes to shove in college football, or any sport for that matter, it comes down to winning, and it is quite obvious that the Big Ten has struggled to win bowl games.
So, how could I argue with the Big Ten’s 1-6 bowl record last year?
Well, for one, the system does not do the Big Ten any favors. In fact, the way the bowl system works, middle-of-the-pack Big Ten teams are put at a significant disadvantage.
First, let’s look at the conference’s top teams from last year.
The Nittany Lions earned a spot in the Rose Bowl and met USC in the Trojan’s own backyard. They were put up against a potent USC team, a team that — in my opinion — would have given Florida all they could handle had they met in the National Championship.
Ohio State was put up against Texas in the Fiesta Bowl and lost on a last-second touchdown. If you asked Texas head coach Mack Brown how big a gap he saw between his conference and the Big Ten conference that Ohio State represented, I doubt he’d tell you he saw any gap at all.
Ohio State played well enough to win that Fiesta Bowl and they should have beaten USC last weekend, but the Buckeyes just continue to lose these big games at the end.
But one or two teams do not make up an entire conference. What about the rest of the Big Ten?
Iowa was the only Big Ten team to win a bowl game (they beat South Carolina), but take a closer look at the individual matchups and you’ll see the disadvantages.
Our own Wisconsin Badgers, who held the seventh-best record in the Big Ten, played Florida State, an ACC team that finished second best in its conference.
The Northwestern Wildcats — a resurgent program that was fifth overall in the conference last season — played the Big 12 North Champion Missouri Tigers.
Every year we see teams near the top of the ACC or Big 12 standings play Big Ten teams that are no better than fifth overall in the conference. Are those bowl games fair? It sure doesn’t seem like those are equal matchups to me.
The Big Ten has certainly seen better days, but the state of the conference is not as bad as everyone makes it out be. It’s a flawed system, and the Big Ten suffers from it.
Yes, Ohio State has struggled to win big games and that has contributed to the conference’s lack of respect, but the national media and unbalanced bowl system have contrived this “Big Ten crisis” that simply does not exist.
I understand that the conference needs to start winning bowl games despite the disadvantages it faces, but I refuse to believe the Big Ten is falling apart.