In Defense of the Big Ten

The national media is having a field day slamming the B1G, with a lot of pundits claiming this is the worst they have ever seen the conference.  Let's take a closer look with a team by team breakdown and the losses the league has suffered and what we can really learn about the conference from those games.

Michigan

It all started with my beloved Wolverines getting taken to the woodshed by Alabama.  Michigan was overrated as the #8 team in the country and hyped up heading into the showdown in Dallas.  This game proved that Michigan is not on the elite level with Alabama, though there are few teams that can stack up to the Crimson Tide.  Who can compete with them?  Maybe LSU, Florida State, Oklahoma, Oregon...anyone else?  Alabama has since obliterated an Arkansas team that was a preseason top 5 pick by many, the same Arkansas team that lost the previous week to UL Monroe.  Who would you pick in a matchup between the Razorbacks and the Wolverines?

Wisconsin

Wisconsin has been a huge dissapointment to begin the season, but before Russell Wilson was Wisconsin ever a dominant non conference team?  I seem to remember them neeed a missed FG to beat Cal Poly a few years ago and some near misses versus Fresno State and UNLV as well.  They lost to an underrated Oregon State team and nearly lost to Utah State.  Everyone jumped on Wisconsin for the near loss against Utah State but this Utah St team will finish the year with no less than 9 wins and has already defeated a team from the media darling Pac 12 in Utah.

The Badgers certainly have issues offensively but I still believe they are the favorites in the Leaders division and probably the favorites to make the Rose Bowl.

Nebraska

The Corn Huskers lost on the road to a vastly improved UCLA team.  This same UCLA team was even in the Pac 12 championship game last year.  It's not easy winning on the road across the country against a fired up foe playing inspired for a new coach.  Nebraska is just about what they were last season, a flawed team but a top 20 team nonetheless.

OSU

They struggled at home with a mediocre CAL squad but they did in fact pull out the victory.  Urban Meyer has a 3-0 record for the Buckeyes and this is legitimately a top 10 team.

MSU

The loss to Notre Dame was ugly, but there needs to be some credit awarded for defeating Boise State.  MSU lost big to ND last season and ended the year defeating SEC darling Georgia in a bowl game.  Don't write off the Spartans.

Northwestern

The only team in the country to have three victories over teams from major conferences defeating a Big East team, an ACC team and an SEC team.  Their win over Vanderbilt got no love from the media even though everyone was lauding Vanderbilt as a team that would give the top teir SEC teams fits throughout the season.

Iowa

They lost to Iowa State.  Don't they lose to Iowa State 2 out of every 3 seasons anyway?  What's so different about this year?

Illinois

Their complete annihilation at the hands of of Arizona State was a bad loss but they were also playing without their starting QB and have a new coaching staff playing in their first road test of the season across the country.  They are also Illinois, did anyone expect them to be good?

Purdue

2-1 with a close call in a FG loss to a very solid Notre Dame team.  This team seems like a fringe top 25 team to me.

Minnesota

They are a lot better than last year at least!

Indiana

Ha Indiana

PSU

Admittedly a tire fire but there's not much they can do about that these days.


For all the national media claiming the Big Ten is the worst they've ever seen it, I think it is a pretty typical year for the league with the exception that Michigan played one of the country's best teams in a nationally teleivised game to start the year and got embrarrassed.  Beyond that the Big Ten clearly has no elite teams that can win a national title but they have a lot of solid teams that are going to battle and whoever comes out of the scrum will be a worthy Rose Bowl representative.