[NU Sports] Is the Big Ten overrated?

[Hakirsch at aol.com]

In a message dated 1/9/2007 9:28:26 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
whosonfirst81 at yahoo.com writes:

> 
> No one's brought this inconvenient question up yet, so I'll throw it out 
> there.  Clearly, the Big Ten's credibility has taken a hit (at least this year) 
> thanks to the BCS nosedives of its top two teams.  Did the voters and 
> computers give Big Ten teams too much credit?  Or did the 45- and 50-day layoffs for 
> Michigan and Ohio State hurt the conference's credibility?  Or somewhere in 
> between?
>   
> 

In my mind both---  The layoffs , no matter what the coaches said, had to 
hurt.
but I also think the SEC is better than the BT, though no other conference 
comes close to the 2 of us .-I think at the top of the BT ,we are as good if not 
better than the SEC--Our top 4 could stay with anyone-in the country-although 
not all of time (witness USC and Fla--) However I think the SEC bottom teams 
would have generally cleaned the bottom of the BT this year and in aggregate 
is a better conference--

Harry