[NU Sports] Is the Big Ten overrated?

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

> > No one's brought this inconvenient question up
> yet, so I'll throw it out 
> > there.  Clearly, the Big Ten's credibility has

Well, as I said, I think it's like the situation in
basketball where they always said not having a league
tournament hurt our teams in March Madness (which was
hogwash - as Minny made the Final Four the year before
the tourney began ... but they had other issues:) ).

I think a Big Ten title game is even more unlikely
than an NCAA playoff ... but I think you will see a
push to do as the Pac 10 and Big Least have done and
move a game or two back a couple weeks to keep the
league in the spotlight and cut the layoff. Maybe
UM-OSU and MSU-PSU would be pushed back two weeks and
the other rivalry games back a week? I know that with
the 12-game rule, most Big Ten teams played 12
straight weeks this year with no byes, so there's room
to stretch the games out a bit.

> In my mind both---  The layoffs , no matter what the
> coaches said, had to 

I don't think the league was overrated -- I think the
layoffs hurt a bit, but that it's all part of the
parity of college football. Florida looked awesome
with that time to prepare and all, but as anyone who
saw a half dozen games of theirs this season would
know, they were far from a powerhouse. Remember, they
were #3 on the list of one-loss teams until SC slipped
up and everyone suddenly didn't want a rematch -- the
Gators almost lost at home to South Carolina and got
beat at Auburn without the Tigers even scoring on
offense in the second half, I believe (hey, Auburn
beat both the Gators AND LSU this year - AU for #1?).

It just has the feeling of an NCAA tourney ending
without the excitement of an NCAA tourney. Were the
Gators the best basketball team last year? Nope - they
weren't even a top 10 team (#3 seed) ... they just got
hot at the right time. But put UConn vs. Florida ten
times last year and the Gators lose the majority.

Same with football - OSU played their worst game of
the year and Florida played their best. Would the
Gators beat OSU in a best-of-ten ... or USC ... or
Michigan ... or Auburn ... or LSU? I'm not sure.

So we already have the "hot at the right time - not
really overall best of the season" ending ... now we
just need the wild excitement of the actual tournament
- only Boise State provided much excitement for the
BCS this year.

> 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

Agreed and I've believed that for years - even with
the new super-leagues of the Big XII and ACC rising
and falling. The Big Ten is deeper than the SEC
year-in and year-out, but the upper half of the SEC is
superior.

Plus, remember that bowl games have never really been
set up favorably for the Big Ten, both in terms of
matchups (Pac 10 #3 vs. Big Ten #6, etc.) and in terms
of location (usually playing in an opponent's home
state).

We just had the unfortunate situation of laying two
big eggs in prime time -- Michigan we were kind of
expecting but OSU's was a shock. But you can't really
use that to say the Big Ten was overrated -- in fact,
our middle bowl teams performed beyond expectations.
Wisconsin and Penn State both beat SEC speed with Big
Ten power in SEC territory and Iowa was a bad call
away from a big upset of the Horns deep in the heart
of Texas. Even Minnesota wasn't favored to win - but
that collapse was hard to watch.

> 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 

That I don't really agree with - the Big Ten has much
more balance than the SEC. We've had everyone but
Minny and Indiana win the conference in the last two
decades, and Minny has been competitive for a few
years. In the SEC, they have a pretty clear pecking
order each year of the top half of each division (Fla,
UGa, Tenn in the east and Aub, LSU and Bama in the
west). The Hogs and Gamecocks are trying to crack that
order (Arkansas has had more success but still no BCS
berth), but teams like Vandy and Miss State have been
a ways away for a long time.

So ... bad year? Yes. Overrated? No. Still clearly in
the top two leagues nationally and next year should be
better. Michigan, Wisky and OSU will be top 10 teams
again even with OSU's losses, while PSU will threaten
to make a push with that solid D and the young O
maturing. MSU's coach could be trouble and awaken that
sleeping giant and Iowa will be solid while we should
be bowl-bound as well. And Illinois is recruiting like
mad (now can Zook coach?) and Indiana is getting
tougher every year. Minny's at a crossroads - it all
depends on who they get to replace Mason, who was a
solid coach but couldn't crack that upper tier. The
new coach will have a decent foundation left there,
though.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!


 
____________________________________________________________________________________
Any questions? Get answers on any topic at www.Answers.yahoo.com.  Try it now.