Wicked Case Of Turf Toe: The Big Ten Should Be A Mid-Major
December 5th, 2007 by Booth
I am of the firm belief that the Big Ten should be downgraded to a mid-major conference. And unlike the majority of my opinions, I’ve done the research this time to back my argument up. Be afraid.
Here’s a four part breakdown of the ineptitude that is the Big Ten:
1) Last Year’s Big Ten Bowl Results
Overall Record 2-5; BCS 0-2
Bowl Losses: Texas Tech 44 v. Minnesota 41, Maryland 24 v. Purdue 7, Texas 26 v. Iowa 24
Bowl Wins: Penn State 20 v. Tennessee 10, Wisconsin 17 v. Arkansas 14
BCS Game Losses: USC 32 v. Michigan 18, Florida 41 v. Ohio St. 14
2) Strength of Schedule / Quality Wins
This year’s Big Ten BCS teams:
Illinois. Out of conference, Illinois beat I-AA W. Illinois, Syracuse (2-10), and Ball St. (7-5). Not exactly a murderer’s row.
Illinois did play Missouri, but of course they lost. The Illini’s only quality win came with a victory over Ohio State. Ironic, huh?
Ohio State. Out of conference, Ohio State beat I-AA Youngstown St., Akron (4-8), Washington (4-9), and Kent State (3-9). The Buckeyes have zero quality wins on their resume. Their only mentionable victories came against Michigan, Penn State, and Wisconsin.
What’s the most memorable thing about the 2007 Ohio State regular season? Answer: Losing to a team coached by Ron Zook.
3) Big Ten v. The World
Embarrassing games in ‘07 involving Big Ten teams that finished at least 6-6.
Big Ten #3 Michigan: Lost to I-AA Appalachian St., Lost to Oregon 39-7.
Big Ten #4 Wisconsin: Versus I-AA Citadel; Wisconsin beat Citadel 45-31, but this game was tied at halftime 21-21.
Big Ten #6 Iowa: Lost to Iowa State 15-13, Lost to Western Michigan 28-19.
Big Ten #10 Northwestern: Lost to Duke 20-14.
4) Awesome Big Ten Wins in ‘07
None.
No team in the Big Ten has a single impressive out of conference win this season. This is absolute fact. Take the time to look through every team’s schedule. I did. Outside of a bunch of teams beating up on Notre Dame, I could only find one exception where a Big Ten team took on a single quality out of conference opponent.
Illinois opened the season against Missouri. They promptly lost.
The two best out of conference wins I could find for any Big Ten team were Wisconsin beating a 5-7 Washington State squad and Michigan State beating 5-7 Pittsburgh team coached by the one and only Dave Wannstedt.
Now before all the Big Ten comment trolls try to make the argument that Purdue beating back-to-back MAC Champ Central Michigan was a quality win, I think that arguing that the Big Ten’s best out of conference win was against a Non-BCS conference school simply reinforces my point that the Big Ten should not be a BCS conference. Let that marinate for a second.
So How Do We Fix the Problem?
Treat the Big Ten like the WAC. No tie-ins to the BCS. And no preferential treatment for playing in a BCS conference.
That means the highest preseason ranking of any Big Ten team would be around 15th in the country. A perfect start. Then, if any Big Ten team went undefeated they would have the opportunity to play for (or at least make a claim to play for) the National Championship. But if any Big Ten team loses a single game, they would have no chance at all at the title. It’s that simple.
But instead, here we sit as college football fans, not looking forward to the National Championship game or the Rose Bowl due to the presence of sub par Big Ten teams. We’re already internally debating whether to even watch those games or go catch the new Martin Lawrence flick.
Just think about how great life could be if the Big Ten was a mid-major. We’re talking LSU/Oklahoma for the National Championship, Ohio State/USC in the Rose Bowl, and a far more deserving Arizona State team in a BCS game. World peace would most likely follow.
“Wicked Case of Turf Toe” is Booth’s weekly column dedicated to passing judgment on the world of sports.
December 5th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
I hate UGA, but I would rather see them in the Rose Bowl than Ohio State. Make Ohio State play Hawaii and let them show how completely pitiful the Big 11 is.
December 5th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
The same case can be made against the Big East. Only quality out of conference win was S. Florida over Auburn. The rest of it was them beating up on each other capped off by a bad Pittsburgh team beating an over rated West Virginia.
December 5th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
I’m glad someone else finally sees what has been going on all season. The Big 11 is a pitiful excuse for a BCS conference, and Notre Dame wouldn’t even be thought about if they hadn’t bought time on NBC every Saturday.
December 5th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Perhaps the in conference games are so difficult they just can muster the wherewithall to combat other “schools” — I use that term loosely in regards to the SEC etc. Perhaps the Big East is concerned with academics first and then athletics unlike certain other “schools” conferences. Perhaps the inner rivalries have more meaning then any other conference.
December 6th, 2007 at 9:15 am
Perhaps no one cares about or mentions academics until their football team blows. Difficult inner confrence games? Do you mean Ohio State Purdue (who lost to Indiana the following week) or Ohio State Illinois (the only top 20 team they played; and lost) And inner rivalries? Get real.