After years of seeing the Big 12 and the Southeastern Conference dominate the college football polls, the Big Ten has taken it upon themselves to reverse that trend this year. The conference placed seven teams in the top 25 of the coaches’ poll this week, including four in the top 15. The conference also has four teams in the first Bowl Championship Series rankings of the year, which were released Monday.
Most coaches saw the overall strength of the conference as a positive. Michigan State head coach John L. Smith isn’t surprised by the recognition the Big Ten has received this season, especially after his team earned a hard fought victory at Minnesota last weekend.
“The more good teams in the conference, the better,” Smith said.
Jim Tressel, coach of the No. 8 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes (6-1, 2-1), went undefeated last season and feels that playing good teams in the conference each week makes teams stronger.
“Once you make it through the conference schedule, [any team] is prepared to take on any team in the country,” Tressel said.
Tressel also acknowledged, “Playing more good teams makes it more difficult to go undefeated and win the national title.”
Many analysts feel that the Big Ten would be better off having a conference title game like the Big 12 and SEC, thereby giving the top team in the conference a final chance to beat a good team and get into the BCS title game. Most Big Ten coaches disagreed with this view.
Glen Mason, head coach of No. 24 Minnesota (6-2, 2-2), noted, “A title game makes it even tougher to run the table because it makes the [best team in the conference] play another tough game.”
“[The extra game would] create an extra burden on the players and possibly take away the bye week that is such an advantage to teams in the current system,” Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. “The only reason to have a title game is for the extra financial benefits. I’d rather have each team play one more conference game to eliminate scheduling [inconsistencies] than play a title game [at the end of the season].”
Illinois head coach Ron Turner stated, “The Big Ten schedule is strong enough. There is no need to add a title game.”
One reason for the improvement in Big Ten teams offensively this year has been the spread offense, a system first implemented in the conference by Purdue and Northwestern, although Wildcats head coach Randy Walker refused to take credit for starting the trend.
“I don’t think teams have necessarily copied us,” Walker said. “A lot of teams have had success using [the spread formation] occasionally to [open up] the field.”
Joe Tiller, head coach of the No. 10 ranked Purdue Boilermakers (6-1, 3-0), feels that the trend of more passing and scoring due to the spread offense might continue if the talent level at the skill positions continues to improve at the rate it has for the past few years.
Purdue used the spread offense successfully last week to overcome the Wisconsin defense, lead by Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week Alex Lewis, as Purdue’s Kyle Orton completed his first 15 passes en route to earning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors.
This week’s feature game in the Big Ten has conference co-leader Purdue taking on the No. 15 ranked Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor. Purdue hasn’t won at Michigan since Oct. 15, 1966.
Other Big Ten matchups include No. 17 Wisconsin visiting Evanston to take on Northwestern; Illinois hosting Minnesota; Ohio State at Indiana; and Penn State battling the No. 16 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City.
