Big Ten in Bowl Games this season: Wisconsin - Clobbered by Florida St. 42-13 Northwestern - Puts up good fight against Missouri but loses 30-23 in OT Minnesota - Gets doubled up by Kansas 42-21 Iowa - Beats South Carolina by 3 TD's 31-10 Michigan St. - Loses to Georgia 24-12 Penn St. - Didn't show up until the 4th quarter and loses 38-24 Ohio St. - ??? but likes a loss against the Horns. So the Big 10 is currently 1-5 and likely 1-6. For comparison here are the current records of the other conferences: Big XII: 3-1 (3 games remaining) SEC: 3-1 (4 games remaining) PAC10: 5-0 ACC: 3-6 (1 game remaining) Big East: 3-1 (2 games remaining) CUSA: 3-1 (2 games remaining) MWC: 2-2 (1 game remaining) WAC: 1-4 MAC: 0-3 (2 games remaining) Sunbelt: 1-1
It's not just about this year. It's about essentially every big game the B10 has played the last three seasons against an elite OOC opponent. See Ohio State vs. USC, Ohio State vs. LSU, Illinois vs. USC, Ohio State vs. Florida, etc., etc. No, USC wasn't national championship game worthy, based on the schedule. That's why they weren't in the game, and deservedly so. But this thread isn't just about the MNC game. It's more of a general topic on whether teams from certain conferences can be expected to be competitive against an elite opponent. Based on USC's body of work in recent years, as well as the Pac 10 in general, we can conclude they can. With the B10, not so much. Ask Missouri about the type of defense that Texas and Oklahoma play. Ask Cincinnati, who will likely win a BCS bowl game tonight, about the type of defense Oklahoma plays. Don't penalize the Big 12 because there are so many great offenses and aggressive gameplans. Moreover, Texas has a top 20 defense nationally, even with five of the nation's top nine scoring offenses (Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Rice) on its schedule. If you allow only 18 points a game and are top 20 nationally on defense with that kind of schedule... umm, let's just say it wouldn't be bright to say they play "no defense." Who cares about controversy? It's about trying to find the best teams, and it seems likely in most instances that a one-loss team from one of the big three conferences > an undefeated team from the Big 10. Or at the least, it should be open to discussion. Also, it's not about Tressel or any one particular coach. If it were just Ohio State, that's one thing -- maybe you could chalk it up to horrible preparation or something. But it's Penn State. It's Illinois. It's still OSU. It's pretty much every time any Big 10 team takes the field in the past few years against an elite opponent. It's more than a trend at this point.
Thank you. I am beyond sick of SEC Homer and everyone else claiming the Big 12 has no defense. I'd love to see Ohio State or Penn State play their whole schedule against this years Big 12. These offenses and QB's were absolutely sick this year. They would have been lucky to escape without 2-3 losses. The Big 10 offenses are boring, predictable and outdated. The could not hang with the Spread or Pro offense other conferences have switched too...i.e. see the score of tonight's game.
I think the second half gave more credence to the mental/coaching argument. Once Penn State played aggressively and with nothing to lose, they were able to showcase their speed and make plays. Unfortunately, in the first half, there were far too many slow-developing draws on third and short with no creativity, and they dug far too large of a hole. imo, the slow, methodical gameplans are every bit as much of a problem for the B10 as the talent. That's just not how you beat elite opponents in this era.
It was 31-7 going into the 4th quarter. Penn put up 17 of their points and more than half of their yardage in the 4th when the game was already over. I'm not a USC fan by any means but the game was not even close to what the score indicates. I absolutely agree with your second sentence though.
Up until today USC had beaten as many ranked opponents as Texas, for example. Texas is NC game worthy. USC has been steamrolling through opponents while boasting the #1 defense in the nation. Based upon the criteria I mentioned in my last post (and their thorough dismantling of PSU today) they are clearly one of the top two, IMO. Using your "disqualification theory" USC should automatically be ineligible. Who cares if every year we go through the same song and dance: Team C kills whoever, Team A beats Team B then we speculate who the *REAL* title game should have included. I'm tired of it. Furthermore, how can you fairly determine who meets these arbitrary expectations to be competitive? Using your opinion or a "a hunch" is no different than me just telling you who I think the two best teams are. It's all subjective. There's little substance. Okay, I guess I struck a nerve given that Texas is probably the only exception to my "no defense" statement regarding the B12. I apologize for including Texas along with the rest of that conference and their defensive ineptitudes. Giving a cracked out hooker more crack doesn't solve anything. My goal is to find the best teams, too. The point is you can't just eliminate a major conference from consideration simply because you don't feel they are good enough...ahem, or should I say because Ohio State has underperformed in the spotlight. I can make the same argument disqualifying the B12 because of how pitiful Stoops is in big games. Sure, you can use today's Penn St. game or how last year the Football Gods mercilessly paired Illinois with USC -- fine. You simply wouldn't have an argument without Ohio State. You wouldn't have started this thread if you excluded Ohio State. One school's underachievement should not lead to a conference's exclusion.
The Big Ten is over 100 years old - there's bound to be a few down seasons over that time. Even the BTN predicted that the conference would get one maybe two wins this bowl season (Iowa and maybe Ohio State). I hope Ohio State sticks it to the Longhorns.
Which is why, should Texas Tech win tomorrow, should be crowned the NC! Quite frankly, UT was horrible this year, and should be playing in the poinsettia bowl. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gZUEGA5X8YI&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gZUEGA5X8YI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
