How good is the Big Ten?

[snake-eyes]

Good evening! I am a new posters and wanted to share my thoughts.

I was listening to the radio this morning and there were some really good points about the Big Ten I wanted to mention. The Big Ten is 13-14 in their last 27 bowl games. Now that might not sound like a big deal, but I did a little investigating myself and found that other than Mich St.'s victory over Notre Dame, the next biggest out of conference win by any Big Ten school this year is Penn State over South Florida. How can this conference be proclaimed as a powerhouse when they only beat up on each other and lose to almost every opponent who is decent??

To me, this begs the question about how good the Big Ten and/or PSU really is?? Do they match up well against any of the top 5-6 teams on a neutral field?? USC, Texas, Miami, Va Tech, Notre Dame or LSU?? I don't know if they would be favored in any of these games?

Is there any shred of evidence that the Big Ten is a powerhouse conference?? I guess this question will be answered when the bowl games are over.

[ham55]

You're right. It will have to come down to this bowl season to find out how the top dawgs of the Big 10 fare THIS YEAR. How can you lump 27 games together? And why only 27? Why not go all-time?

Is it really the Big10's problem they play great teams year in and year out in bowl games? The Big 10 was 3-3 last year in bowl games. They had 6 Bowl eligible teams. The losses came from Arizona State, Georgia and Texas. They beat Oklahoma State, Alabama, and LSU. Not a bad year if you ask me. Also, they could have 2 teams play in BCS games this year. Not to bad for a conference who, apparently, is overrated.

[frostlion]

Yes, there is "any shred of evidence" The Saragin rankings, which I believe are part of the BCS computer makeup.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbc05.htm

You can find the B10 at #1.

[ham55]

hmmm. ouch?

[El-Moldo]

snake-eyes has brought up a good point about the Big 10 being a "power" conference. Since OSU defeated Miami in the National championship, what have they really done outside of their conference? And why go back to their "ALL-TIME" record? We're talking the here and now. The teams of the Big Ten keep beating on themselves, and someone determines that the whole conference is great. And, except for a few instances, the non-conference schedules of all 11 Big Ten teams are definitely weak. I mean when Indiana goes 3-0 to start their season, what does that tell you? And since the Big ten has about 7 bowl tie-ins, we'll just have to see how things turn out by early January 2006.

[Heaven&Hoops]

That's it, let some guy named Sagarin determine if the Big 11 is the top conference. Again, the Big 11 is 13-14 in their last 27 bowl games. That does not seem that great for the so-called grandest conference in all the land.

Can someone dig up the records of the other conferences to see where everyone falls. I would be curious to see where the SEC is.

[ham55]

Lets check out this years standings according to the BCS right now.

Big 10 teams ranked
Penn State #4
Ohio State #7
Michigan #15
Wisconsin #20
Minnesota #21

Pac 10 teams ranked
USC #1
Oregon #10
UCLA #11

Big XII teams ranked
Texas #2
Texas Tech #19
Oklahoma #25

ACC teams ranked
Miami #3
Virginia Tech #6
Boston College #24

SEC teams ranked
LSU #5
Alabama #8
Auburn #13
Georgia # 16
Florida #22
South Carolina #23

Big Least teams ranked
WVU #12
Louisville #18

Mountain West teams ranked
TCU #14

WAC teams ranked
Fresno State #17

Independants ranked
Notre Dame #9

One conference is doing better rankings wise than the Big 10, and that's the SEC. The top 2 for the Big 10 are better than the SEC's top 2. The bottom 3 are also ranked better among the SEC's bottom 3. Georgia being the odd man out.

I think that if you'd look up the records from the past 3 years bowl games, every conference would be around .500. Great teams from the conference make it, some scrub teams make it as well. Stats don't lie, but they don't always tell the truth.

[The Ancient Enemy]

Moldo,

Please do not deny your love of Jeff Sagarin. He's your best buddy when he fits your cause, you hate him when he's against you. BOOOOOO to fairweather friends!

Indiana is not good, but have they not shown serious improvement, even w/o those first 3 games? That QB is very good. He broke the school TD record in like 6 games!

Only team that is BAD is Illinois.

[HOLLYWOOD]

Please Name the National Champions from 1990-present and their Conference Affliation. Big 10 is always complaining or crying about something didn't go their way wah wah wah!

[El-Moldo]

Hey. Sagarin takes into consideration home and away advantages. Since the Big Ten rarely travels away from home for their non-conference games, there is a huge advantage in the statistics. But you see, when the play comparable teams on neutral fields, they are just a .500 conference.