Boo: Big 10 Bashing

Updated on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 10:23 am in Football.

Perhaps this is an offering that should wait until after Iowa plays Michigan State on Saturday, but I can’t help it.

After reading the article in the Detroit News yesterday that was taking shots at the Big Ten by using 7-0 Iowa as it’s device to do so, I really question if ‘football writers’ from around the nation watch a lot of college football.

Is the Big Ten the best conference in America? No, and I am not going to sit here and contrive ways to illustrate that it is. For a baseline, I think the SEC is #1 this year. But as for who is #2, it’s wide open.

There are not many intra-sectional games any more between the Big Ten and other power conferences, but there are a few.

Let’s take a look at some of them to start things off, beginning with the Purdue Boilermakers.

Purdue is currently 2-5, coming of an eight-point win at Ohio State that members of the national media used as their ‘See! We told you!’ moment. Purdue is knocking on the cellar door of the Big Ten.

Some folks are talking about the Pac 10 being as being perhaps the second best league. Purdue lost 38-36 in that game, it was 17-17 at half and the Boilermakers two-point attempt was caught out of bounds late in the game. Purdue racked up 451 yards of offense that day and held Oregon to 356 yards. No, that’s not a steel curtain, but the Ducks can put up the yards. They racked up 524 yards against then #6 Cal and over 500 yards last week against Washington State.

Purdue also lost a close one against Notre Dame, and the Irish took the lead for good with 24.8 seconds left to win 24-21. The Irish gained 383 yards to Purdue’s 363. Purdue lost the turnover battle.

Purdue isn’t going to a bowl game, and they will finish 8th, 9th, 10th or 11th in the Big Ten this year. Those are salty performances against one of the four worst teams in the Big Ten.

Michigan beat Notre Dame in the Big House. Iowa beat Big 12 Iowa State and Pac 10 Arizona, a team that the computers love.

Ohio State is having a down year, and it took a fourth quarter comeback by USC to knock off the Buckeyes; this will be the ‘worst’ Ohio State team in five years.

Is there an elite level, can’t miss team in the Big Ten? Probably not. Penn State played a very soft non-conference schedule and it has hurt them. Iowa hasn’t blown the doors off of anyone save Iowa State, and the pundits like to say ‘they win ugly’. Michigan State lost a heartbreaker to Notre Dame and gave Central Michigan an extra chance to knock them off.

Yet when other leagues stub their toes, there is no national outcry.

Hey, when you are the Big Ten, you have to expect the hate. The Big Ten has advantages that other leagues don’t have, plus the Big Ten uses those advantages.

No other league has the TV sets that the Big Ten has, so the Big Ten can create its own network and get it in more homes than the NFL Network. The Big Ten has the best bowl arrangement, the envy of the entire college football world. The Big Ten has the largest alumni bases and very loyal traveling fan bases, so the bowls and chambers of commerce clamor for them to come to their cities.

It’s good to be in the Big Ten. Were Iowa in a league like the Big 12, the financial hardships would be tough to overcome, as they are for Iowa State.

So you are going to take some bullets.

When Ohio State loses badly in consecutive National Title games, you take the bullets; I get that.

But the Pac Ten is not a world beater, the Big 12 is much weaker than I thought they would be and that is even taking into account the injuries at Oklahoma. The Big East is, well, the big east and the ACC isn’t as strong as I thought it was going to be, either.

Some of the bowl match ups that are beginning to take form are very intriguing. Here are some games from CBSSportsLine.com:

Iowa vs Oregon in the Rose? I like Iowa’s chances.
PSU vs Miami in the Orange? I think PSU could win this game.
Michigan vs Oklahoma in the Alamo? UM offense vs OU defense? It would be fun.
Ohio State vs LSU in the Cap One? Neither team has an offense
Wisconsin vs Ole Miss in the Outback? Badgers have surprised, Ole Miss has disappointed
Minnesota vs Mizzou in Insight? No defense, a lot of points

I guess it doesn’t really matter when you are the second best conference, and I am not starting a ‘We’re #2!’ campaign, either.

However, I’d like to see some writers from around the country put their DVR’s to use and watch games from every league, each week, the way that I do and then come back and tell me what they see.

Tags: Big Ten, Big Ten Football, bowl projections, hawkeye football, Iowa football, Jon Miller

cody

great article. i wouldn’t argue that the big 10 is better than the sec, but i think the big 10 has a legitimate argument as the number 2 conference in the country. all the fans from other conferences just gang up on the big 10 and bash them anytime they lose a game vs. another conference. the big 10 hasn’t been great vs. other conferences in this decade, but i’m tired of hearing about ohio state losing in those national championship games. the parody all over the country has caught up with the big 10 some, so the big 10 is no longer a dominant conference, but it is still one of the best conferences in the country. look at who iowa has beaten from other conferences in the past decade: lsu, south carolina, florida, arizona st, arizona, iowa st, not to mention 2 close losses against florida and texas that we should have won. i remember some questionable late calls in both of those games, i’m not saying we would have won, but if not for those calls we probably would have won. our 1-6 record in bowl games last year hurts us, but if you take everything into account there is no way the big 10 isn’t as legitimate as any other conferences outside of the sec.
DYK88

Great stuff, Jon. I totally agree with you on this one. It’s the sexy thing to do now for the national media, bashing the BigTen. What I keep going back to is, why is Texas such a solid #2/#3 team in the nation?! They haven’t played really anyone with a pulse and they eeked out a win over a very down sooners squad. I think by the end of this season, the standings/rankings will look a lot different. I can definitely see Penn State back in the top 10 which will make the hawks win there that much bigger.
Husky28

This needs to be put out on the AP wire…
Paul

It’s funny how no one remembers Oklahoma loosing multiple Championship games. No one makes anything of USC’s ridiculously easy schedule most seasons either. (kind of Notre Dame-ish).
poncho72

winning bowl games is the only way to stop the bleeding IMO.
mihawk

Jon,
I agree with everything you’re saying; but I don’t think we can argue that the B10 tie ins are BETTER than the SEC’s anymore.

the top 3 are equal (unless you want to argue that the Rose Bowl is THAT much better than the Sugar) with 2 head to head match-ups of teams in the same slot. It’s after this that the SLIGHT difference arises

B10 #4- Alamo ($2.25m; vs B12 #4)
SEC #4- Cotton ($3m; vs B12 #2)
-advantage SEC, more money better opponent, B10 consolation is (+/-) better location

B10 #5- Champs ($2.1m vs ACC #4)
SEC #5- Chik-Fil-A ($2.4m vs ACC #2)
- again SEC has money and quality of opponent advantage; B10 gets a better winter destination for vacationing mid-westerners

B10 #6- Insight (1.25m vs B12 #6)
SEC #6- Liberty (1.7m vs cUSA champ)
SEC wins money, opponent toss up, B10 clear winner on destination

B10 #7 Little Caesars [motor city] ($750k, vs MAC 1 or 2)
SEC #7 Music City ($1.6m, vs ACC 5/6/7)
- do I need to comment here?

SEC #8 Independence ($1.1m vs B12 #7)
SEC #9 Papa John’s ($300k vs BEast #4)

So the SEC has 2 more tie ins, worth and additional $1.4million,
for teams 4-7 where we compare, they get $2.3million more than the B10 and they have tie-ins to play the #2 team from 3 ‘power conferences’ while B10 just has 1.

I like the B10 bowls just fine, but the SEC has a slight advantage.
Hawkchop

Should get that article to the players, I’ve never seen someone bash a team so much
Jondmillet

From what I understand the players were made aware. Doyle is in charge of that
Matt

The Big 10 has a lot of decent teams but they don’t have enough top teams and they have arguably the worst BCS conference team in Illinois making up the rear. Ohio State isn’t even a top 20 caliber team the way they use Pryor. The fact this Wisconsin team could go 10-2 pretty much says it all about the Big 10. I’m sorry but they aren’t a very good team. I like their front 7 on defense but that’s about it.

There’s a reason Iowa could go 12-0 and not be in the title game. It’s not disrespect towards Iowa but the Big 10 IMO. I would put the Big 10 ahead of the Big East and ACC. That’s it.
David

Is this the same writer from Detroit that referred to the “slow footed” Tony Moeki?
Ricky

Way to really back up your thoughts Matt…. “I’m sorry but they aren’t a very good team. I like their front 7 but that’s about it”

Why aren’t they a good team? Because they don’t chuck the ball around 50-70 times a game, play little to no defense and win games 55-53? The B10 is not as exiting to watch… that’s what it boils down too.
IMO- it’s the SEC, then the B12, Pac10, B10 all in a cluster for 2nd and then everyone else. Sorry B12, but you have been overrated this year… OK has lost 3 times, Okie state beat by Tulsa, Texas has not been as impressive as everyone thought (although they are still a very, very good team)
caball

I HAVE ONE TO SAY! JUST WIN BABY!!!! ALL THIS NEGATIVE BIG TEN STUFF WILL GO AWAY.
ScottM

Well, I guess we’ll have to let our play do the talking for us. Go Hawks!
rosebud24

I feel the NCAA needs to push for more intra-sectional games. If you really want a true top 25 the NCAA needs to take control of the non-conference games and figure out a way for every conference to play at least on team from each of the other conferences.
Matt

@Ricky

Wisconsin let Fresno State (3-3) drop 31 on them at home. Northern Illinois (3-3) came in there at night and played them tough. They beat Minnesota in a shoot out, which is odd because the Big 10 is such a great defensive league I’ve been told. Didn’t think that ever happened. They also beat Michigan State in another physical, defensive battle 38-30. They proceeded to get smacked around by an average Ohio State team. If Pryor can go 5-13 for 87 yards and 2 ints and still beat you by 3 scores, that’s a pretty good sign that you aren’t a good football team.

Seriously, if Wisconsin played @ Iowa City they wouldn’t stay within 3 TDs.
Jamison

Boy, that Detroit article sure sounded like it was written from someone in Alabama. Jeez, I wonder how a person like that gets to even mention college football, let alone write about it for a newspaper. He sounds like Rome or Marty, all talk and absolutely no knowledge about sports
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Rusty

But Jon the SEC and Big 12 speed is too much for us big, slow, smash-mouth, slobber knocking, grind’em out, low scoring, boring Big 10 teams.

In case anybody has missed it, isn’t paying attention, or doesn’t care what is going on in the Big 10, the spread or spread-option offenses are becoming the offense of choice in the Big 10. They have been here ever since Joe Tiller came from Wyoming to Purdue. Northwestern has been a shotgun first spread attack for some time now. Ohio State, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan are predominantly shotgun spread-option attaks. Penn State and Michigan State have picked it up, but Penn State still runs out of the I-formation somewhat. Michigan State runs from both the single back and I-formation with some regularity. Minnesota uses some form of spread, or spread-option aerial attack. The only teams not using it are Iowa and Wisconsin, unless it is 3rd down and long.

My point is that the Big 10 fans know it, but the broadcasters that cover the conference are still depicting the conference as a “2-yards and a cloud of dust” conference.

Big 10 Bias in Our Own Backyard

I wouldn’t be worried about the Detroit newspapers, Jon. We have anti-Big 10 bias in the media right here in Des Moines. In fact, Matt P probably sits in the same chair you leave at 8 AM in the KXNO studios. Whenever Matt P (1460 KXNO 4-6PM) came into that studio in the afternoon drive, it has been a Big XII slant with a flare for worshiping the SEC and how dominant they are.

Of course, to declare my bias, the perfect mix of sports talk radio comes from the morning show Jon Miller is on (when Deace is out sick). Alright, hold on. Ahh! I needed a big sip of the Kool-Aid.

When Matt got to the station and wanted to know what was up with the Hawk fans thinking they were so great and “What have the Hawkeyes ever done?” He then proceeded to badger the callers asking them the last time Iowa won a National Championship.

For a broadcaster in the Great State of Iowa to HOPE multiple times ON THE AIR that the Hawkeyes aren’t undefeated because he doesn’t want to see them in the BCS National Championship game is absolutely a shame. (KXNO broadcast on Monday, October 19, 2009, between 5:10 PM and 5:30 PM).
joelbc

Jon….

Iowa is suffering from poor bowl performances by the B10 the past two years…plus tOSU’s national championship failures. Jesus Christ could QB for the Hawks…or be their RB…or their coach, and it would make no difference to the “national pundits”…They have their minds made up that NO B10 team is deserving on a BCS birth, alone the Natioinal Championship ganm ethis season.
B. Hawke

The Big Ten has the best bowl tie-ins because the Big Ten has the most behind-the-scenes power. Higher standards, better schools, more successful alumni. The sun never sets on the Big Ten.

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