The Big Ten is Really Strong this Year!

[pythagoras]

Why? That tells you nothing about the relative strength of the conferences. The SEC tried to set good rivalry games when they split the divisions with Bama-UT (when UT was ungodly good), LSU-Florida and Auburn-Georgia. The SEC title game with LSU-UGA will draw far more ratings than the shitty rematch of OSU thumping Wisconsin yet again. Hell, if the Big Ten only had 8 games, Wisconsin would likely be sitting there with its one loss to Illinois and the game would actually have some buzz.

Go back to school please. Critical thinking eluded you at some point.

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Viewed objectively, has there been a Big Ten game with conference title implications this year that was as good as the Iron Bowl was yesterday? How about the Auburn-LSU game? Or Bama-LSU? No. Ohio State-Michigan is the marquis game and it has sucked rather frequently because Michigan has fallen off a cliff.

There have been good Big Ten games, like MSU v. Illinois or Iowa v. Nebraska. But when you have your marquis final games both ending in 21+ point blowouts, the product isn't really that exciting and the NATIONAL TV ratings bear that out.

In terms of "facts" to back up the superiority of Southern football, I posit the number of national titles and number of teams winning them since the BCS era began as Exhibit A. Exhibit B is head to head in the bowls between the B1G and SEC the past several years. Exhibit C is the number of guys in the NFL by state of birth. Exhibit D is shit ass Troy beating Nebraska last year. What else do you need? Iowa and Wisconsin are the only B1G teams that consistently can hold serve against the SEC in bowl games and even Iowa has been prone to some massive turds in those games.

Michigan fell off the cliff a long time ago, right around the time their fan base freaked out after the Appalachian State game and called for Lloyd Carr's head. I think they have won once against Ohio State since, 2011 against a 6-7 Ohio State team.

 

[haydensly]

Viewed objectively, has there been a Big Ten game with conference title implications this year that was as good as the Iron Bowl was yesterday? How about the Auburn-LSU game? Or Bama-LSU? No. Ohio State-Michigan is the marquis game and it has sucked rather frequently because Michigan has fallen off a cliff.

There have been good Big Ten games, like MSU v. Illinois or Iowa v. Nebraska. But when you have your marquis final games both ending in 21+ point blowouts, the product isn't really that exciting and the NATIONAL TV ratings bear that out.

In terms of "facts" to back up the superiority of Southern football, I posit the number of national titles and number of teams winning them since the BCS era began as Exhibit A. Exhibit B is head to head in the bowls between the B1G and SEC the past several years. Exhibit C is the number of guys in the NFL by state of birth. Exhibit D is shit ass Troy beating Nebraska last year. What else do you need? Iowa and Wisconsin are the only B1G teams that consistently can hold serve against the SEC in bowl games and even Iowa has been prone to some massive turds in those games.

The Alabama-Auburn game was an excellent game yesterday, at least what I saw of it. That said, both of those teams have flaws. Alabama's defense is not close to what it has been in past years. Auburn has a great defense but they've also lost three games for a reason. Their offense is suspect at times too. Bottom line, LSU is the only team in the SEC that has escaped unscathed and they are probably the only team that will get into the Playoff Championship. And Ohio State will be the only team from the B1G. Having compelling games isnt' the standard; college football has a lot of compelling games and they happen in every conference. So that argument proves nothing.

As for Exhibit A, B, and C, all of those examples are from years past although the number of players in the NFL stands on its own merits and those numbers don't lie. But this year is not a lifetime achievement award. The SEC is a very good football conference. The original post said the B1G was having an excellent year and was the best conference. Debatable? Sure. But the gap from past years has closed, IMO (again, right now it is only an opinion). Let the year play out.

 

[okeefe4prez]

The Alabama-Auburn game was an excellent game yesterday, at least what I saw of it. That said, both of those teams have flaws. Alabama's defense is not close to what it has been in past years. Auburn has a great defense but they've also lost three games for a reason. Their offense is suspect at times too. Bottom line, LSU is the only team in the SEC that has escaped unscathed and they are probably the only team that will get into the Playoff Championship. And Ohio State will be the only team from the B1G. Having compelling games isnt' the standard; college football has a lot of compelling games and they happen in every conference. So that argument proves nothing.

As for Exhibit A, B, and C, all of those examples are from years past although the number of players in the NFL stands on its own merits and those numbers don't lie. But this year is not a lifetime achievement award. The SEC is a very good football conference. The original post said the B1G was having an excellent year and was the best conference. Debatable? Sure. But the gap from past years has closed, IMO (again, right now it is only an opinion). Let the year play out.

Yes, Auburn lost three games because they played Oregon, Georgia, Florida, LSU and Alabama. They are 9-3. Same as Iowa. Could Iowa beat Alabama? Not a snowball's chance in hell.

What, exactly, is the evidence "the gap from past years has closed?" It certainly can't be the eyeball test. The conferences are a closed loop for the most part and neither the SEC nor the B1G had any material upsets this year outside of UGA-USC and Wisc-Ill.

The Big Ten has a massive talent deficiency compared to the SEC. Massive. I will say, however, that IMHO, guys like Jim Leonhard and Phil Parker are better d-coordinators than the guys in the SEC. By a wide margin.

 

[okeefe4prez]

Go back to school please. Critical thinking eluded you at some point.

Do you have any sort of substantive response? Can you answer my question posed of "Why?" Explain exactly how, if LSU had waxed Kentucky or Missouri, it would have added anything about the relative strength of the conferences? I want more OOC P5 games. Way more. You want more in conference games. Conference games yield results where teams like 2015 Iowa miss every good team in the conference, get a lucky fumble on the road at 'Sconny and then wonder why they are down 35-0 at halftime when they play an OOC team with a pulse. I loved the old Iowa schedules where we would play 8 conference games, ISU and one similarly situated P5 program like Arizona, ASU or Pitt. We got to see guys like Nick Foles, Aaron Donald and James Connor.

 

[pythagoras]

Do you have any sort of substantive response? Can you answer my question posed of "Why?" Explain exactly how, if LSU had waxed Kentucky or Missouri, it would have added anything about the relative strength of the conferences? I want more OOC P5 games. Way more. You want more in conference games. Conference games yield results where teams like 2015 Iowa miss every good team in the conference, get a lucky fumble on the road at 'Sconny and then wonder why they are down 35-0 at halftime when they play an OOC team with a pulse. I loved the old Iowa schedules where we would play 8 conference games, ISU and one similarly situated P5 program like Arizona, ASU or Pitt. We got to see guys like Nick Foles, Aaron Donald and James Connor.

You want stupid things. You're dumb. Shut the F up?! Is that easier?

You're prob one of the idiots who do not believe Stanley didn't win the game for Iowa on Friday either

Pro tip P5 teams aren't going to start scheduling each other because unless your conference isn't complete garbage it doesn't matter your OOC opponents. Even IF they did most wouldn't be until 2030+ and by then the playoff will be expanded even more and the ooc power will literally mean nothing.

 

[ssckelley]

Do you have any sort of substantive response? Can you answer my question posed of "Why?" Explain exactly how, if LSU had waxed Kentucky or Missouri, it would have added anything about the relative strength of the conferences? I want more OOC P5 games. Way more. You want more in conference games. Conference games yield results where teams like 2015 Iowa miss every good team in the conference, get a lucky fumble on the road at 'Sconny and then wonder why they are down 35-0 at halftime when they play an OOC team with a pulse. I loved the old Iowa schedules where we would play 8 conference games, ISU and one similarly situated P5 program like Arizona, ASU or Pitt. We got to see guys like Nick Foles, Aaron Donald and James Connor.

In 2015 they were still playing 8 conference games and they did play Pitt and ISU that year. So that doesn't prove your point at all. I'd rather Iowa played an extra conference game over a middle-of-the-road power 5 opponent (let's face it, Iowa won't schedule one of the top teams) or any MAC opponent for that matter. Playing Pitt that year sure in the hell didn't help them against McCaffery in the Rose Bowl.