The Big Ten hierarchy is guilty of two acts of stupidity. One has seriously damaged the regular season. The other threatens to cheapen its championship game. I know it’s hard to believe that a conference leadership which thought inviting Rutgers was a good idea would ever show bad judgment, but it’s happened. Let’s start with […]
By the end of last college football season, you had the sense the Big Ten was regaining some of its mojo. The proud conference had become more powerful in negotiations with TV networks and cable providers than it had been on the football field for about nine years. Then, the positive dominoes started to fall. […]
The Big Ten wasn’t embarrassed in non-conference play the way they have been in recent early season test games or in bowl season. But nor did the league stand up and make a statement. Here’s nine general thoughts on the conference from last Saturday and looking ahead to this week, followed by our current Big Ten bowl projections…
The Big Ten has had a rough go of it nationally in recent years. Even as the league’s brand name and marketing cache seem to increase exponentially—the expansion to 14 teams takes effect this year—the results on the football field haven’t followed. At least until last January 1 they didn’t. That’s when Michigan State upset Stanford in the Rose Bowl and finally salvaged some pride for this league in a big non-conference game.
…there’s angling for possible at-large spots to the BCS, to good New Year’s Day bowl games and to bowl eligibility itself. TheSportsNotebook’s college football coverage will touch on some key overview points and then make some Big Ten bowl projections.
TheSportsNotebook’s college football coverage will be back later this week with a look at the four marquee games. For now, let’s whet our appetites with a look at the most notable games on the undercard, going conference-by-conference. There’s more going on in the Big Ten then Badgers-Buckeyes and it starts with a rivalry battle that could have postseason stakes at the prize.
TheSportsNotebook.com’s college football coverage has updated its BCS bowl projections following Week 4, with a special look at the chances of Fresno State rising out of the Mountain West. As part of a conference-by-conference wrap-up of the week, here’s a look at the Big Ten…
The Big Ten has had a rough go of it in bowl games and non-conference play in general of late. The league’s problems started at the top, back in 2006. That was the year Ohio State and Michigan were 1-2 in the country going into their annual season-ending game, but each was destroyed in postseason play. Ohio State again lost the national championship game a year later in decisive fashion.
The Big Ten Legends Division is clearly the stronger within the conference, even if you grant that the Leaders likely has the best team in Ohio State. All six teams in the Legends have reasonable expectations of a bowl game and four can make a legitimate case for themselves to be the representative at the league title game in Indianapolis on December 7. TheSportsNotebook’s college football coverage breaks down the Big Four and the two challengers.
The Big Ten Legends Division will see its race kick off in earnest on Saturday. Contenders like Nebraska and Northwestern have played significant conference games, but none within the division. Michigan’s only important tests have come outside the league entirely. Iowa won an opening salvo over Michigan State in overtime last week. But on Saturday there are two head-to-head battles and tough cross-divisional game that will help give early shape to the Legends race.
The Big Ten football race was going to be a little watered down this season to begin with, as the probations of Ohio State and Penn State effectively gutted the Leaders Division in this conference. Little did we know that would be the tip of the iceberg—the results of the first two weeks make it clear the league race in general, and the Leaders Division in particular are diluted enough to make an early call on the Big Ten as the worst of the five power leagues (along with the SEC, Big 12, Pac-12 & ACC) and maybe worse than the Big East. Let’s down a rundown on the damage…
College football Week 2 gets started tonight, although the Thursday & Friday games of Pitt-Cincinnati and Utah-Utah State aren’t reason to get that excited. There are some good games on the Saturday undercard though, so let’s run through a list of games that might not fall in the category of games that make you clear three hours on the schedule to watch, but are certainly worthy of clearing 10-15 minutes to check in on the results of…