Big 10, Big Joke?
September 20, 2007 by Staff
Filed under All Sports, Misc.
The Big 10 has been extremely disappointing this season. Enough so for me to say that they have lost their elite status as one of the best conferences in college football.
Here is some of what has happened during the NCAA 2007 College Football season to justify knocking the Big Ten down in college football rankings. They’ll be lucky to be a shade above the Big East when it is all said and done.
Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32 – I mean, are you serious? Michigan was ranked number five in the nation at the time of this defeat, and it is just absurd to think that a program with the kind of athletes that they allegedly recruit could lose to a division two school. Nonetheless, they lost, proving themselves an overrated football team for the 2007 season.
Missouri 40, Illinois 34 – Big 10 versus the Big 12. The Big Ten is the better conference, right? Well, the Big 12 certainly is no powerhouse conference, but they took care of Illinois on this ill-fated day. Illinois is supposed to be headed by Coach Ron Zook who is bringing talent into Illinois and improving the Big Ten statue. Well, it did not happen.
Oregon 39, Michigan 7 – Well, as we all know, Michigan suffered a huge loss in this game. I’m not talking about Chad Henne. I’m talking about their dignity. The Oregon Ducks completely destroyed the Michigan Wolverines’ defense. Carved them up! And the only reason a game like this did not end all hope for the Wolverines is because they would end up destroying Notre Dame the following week.
Florida Atlantic 42, Minnesota 39 – Now I understand Minnesota is no powerhouse. But neither was Illinois. The problem with a game like this is when a team from superior conference, full of prestige and history, takes on a mid-major football team, you just cannot expect anyone to accept a loss from the BCS conference school. Especially when Minnesota beat them in 2005 46-7. And for Minnesota to lose to Florida Atlantic is even worse, because to call them a mid-major football program is an insult to mid-major programs across the nation.
Iowa State 15, Iowa 13 – In another match of the Big 12 vs. the Big Ten, the Big Ten comes up short. Iowa State is a bottom feeder in the Big 12 North, and yet they had no problem holding Iowa to only 13 points.
That is the same Iowa school that beat Syracuse from 35-0 in Week 1. This is why I won’t argue that the Big Ten is still better than the Big East. But they rank below the Pac-10, the SEC, the Big 12 and the ACC. And they aren’t too much higher than Big East.
