What happened to the boring old Big Ten? You know what I'm talking about — the league where the Bo Schembechlers, Woody Hayeses, Lloyd Carrs and John Coopers of the league always dominated.

Those of you more astute readers may have picked up on an interesting fact about the coaches I've mentioned above. Yes, I know they've all come from either the University of Michigan or Ohio State University, but that's the point. Their assumed dominance made the Big Ten boring.

For years the Big Ten was considered a two-headed monster of sorts, with the maize and blue of Michigan and the scarlet and grey of Ohio State dominating the conference and national scenes. Sure, other teams made notable performances for a year or two, but no other program seemed to receive the enduring respect of the Wolverines and Buckeyes.

And such was the case this year when the preseason rankings came out. There sat Michigan and Ohio State, ranked No. 4 and No. 6 in the nation respectively. But what was once considered a successive year of dominance for the two teams has fallen by the wayside.

Lloyd's Carr's Wolverines look like they've been declawed on their way to an astounding 3-3 record while the Buckeyes remain ranked No. 15 in the nation, but already have a pair of losses. The once-mighty teams can't even get a sniff of the top of the Big Ten, as both currently reside in the lower half of the conference race.

"This sure is a long cry from the big two and the little eight, I can tell you that," Minnesota head coach Glen Mason said at his press conference this week.

You can say that again, coach. With the big two aging in the conference cellar, teams like Penn State, Minnesota and Wisconsin are basking in the glow at the top of the conference race. When was the last time anyone could utter those three names in the same sentence when discussing the top of the Big Ten conference? Probably never.

"Who is going to take advantage of it? Everyone is knocking, who is going to break through?" asked Indiana head coach Terry Hoeppner during his weekly press conference. "There is only one undefeated team. The door is wide open."

So the question remains — is this wide-open race in the Big Ten the result of parity, or just plain poor play? That depends on who you ask.

Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez, for one, believes the Big Ten is better than ever. Other national pundits continue to rail at the Big Ten with accusations that it's a conference based on offensive philosophies now extinct in the rest of the larger conferences.

"As you sat back and looked, all the teams that were preseason rated and then you took a look at some of the other teams that weren't, and I felt they were pretty good," Wisconsin head coach Barry Alvarez said during the weekly Big Ten teleconference. "I just felt … that the league top to bottom may have been as strong going in this year as I can remember it."

I've got to admit, I agree with Barry on this one. The Big Ten may not have the signature upper-echelon Michigan or Ohio State team at the top of the conference, something they've had in the past, but looking at the overall conference, the talent level is definitely rising.

In years past, there have always been doormat programs in the Big Ten. Lately it's been the Illinois and Indianas of the world that have been trampled by conference heavyweights for easy victories, but even Indiana and Illinois aren't as bad as they used to be thanks to an influx of new coaches.

There's a glut of teams with similar levels of talent in the Big Ten this year. The Penn States, Wisconsins and Minnesotas of the world are not significantly better than each other. Even Michigan and Ohio State fall into this category this season.

Yes, it's still early, and it's true I don't think Ohio State and Michigan will remain in the conference cellar all year, but right now I wouldn't rule out any of seven or eight teams winning the conference title this year. And to me that's exciting.

"Everything goes, it seems, in cycles," Mason said. "Right now there are a lot of good football teams in the Big Ten. I guess maybe the only problem is on a national scope if you don't watch out everybody beats [each other] up and you still have a bunch of good football teams, but the records don't reflect it."

Such is the doom of a conference with parity, but it's this parity that makes the games exciting.

Adam Parks is a senior majoring in Journalism. He can be reached at [email protected].