By
Sean Jackson
The Big Ten has become the laughing stock of college football. It’s being compared to the MAC, being called slow and irrelevant. Truth be told a lot of the criticism has been grossly exaggerated. It is true the Big Ten has under performed, but isn’t nearly as bad as everyone says it is. The 2007 season brought both disappointments and surprises. Illinois emerged on the scene, Ohio State was back in the title game, and Indiana was in their first bowl game in over a decade. In order to capitalize on its success the Big Ten needs to continue to improve in 2008, here are some ways it can.
1. Stop listening to the media/fans.
The media/fans have hurt the Big Ten by causally forgetting some simple known facts, such as the Michigan victory over Florida and how Wisconsin took Tennessee to the wire. How about a year before that when both Penn State and Wisconsin beat SEC teams? It's funny how if the Big Ten is perceived as that much worse than the SEC, why do they beat them in bowl games and for the most part remain competitive? The focus has remained solely on what Ohio State has done which doesn't speak for the entire conference. In fact looking at last year‘s bowl games Michigan State played Boston College tough, the same Boston College who was second in the ACC, and Penn State beat a pretty good Texas A&M team in Texas. The two BCS games weren’t spectacular but both Ohio State and Illinois had to play road games going to New Orleans and Pasadena. Though the 3-5 bowl record the Big Ten fielded last year wasn’t great, they played some very tough games in tough environments and for the most showed that they can remain competitive. The truth of the matter is the Big Ten is a lot better than what the media perceives it to be. The key will be to win some big non-conference games early to alleviate some of the pressure.
2. Win the big non-conference games.
The Big Ten will be on display early this season. Michigan plays at Notre Dame; Illinois and Missouri clash in St Louis, Wisconsin travels to Fresno State, Michigan State goes to Cal, and the game of the year (hopefully) will be USC going against Ohio State. If the Big Ten can win two or three, it will be impressive, considering the recent history of non-conference woes the Big Ten has churned out. Last year Michigan got hammered by Oregon and lost to App State, Northwestern lost to Duke, Wisconsin struggled with the Citadel, Ohio State played footsies with Akron, Illinois lost to Missouri, Iowa lost to Western Michigan, Minnesota got beat by well everybody, and did I mention Northwestern getting beat by Duke? It’s essential that the Big Ten establishes a tone early in the season especially for the younger teams such as Michigan, Penn State, and Michigan State. If the younger teams can develop confidence from the beginning of the year, it’ll make the Big Ten much more competitive. If not then history will repeat itself.
3. Become more competive on a weekly basis.
The reason the SEC is so good is the level of competition faced on a weekly basis. Look at LSU last year, their two losses came against Kentucky and Arkansas, both in overtime thrillers. Kentucky and Arkansas aren’t necessarily world beaters, but it goes to show you how challenging and exciting it is to play in that conference on a weekly basis. Week after week LSU was tested by competitive athletic teams. LSU was much more battle tested coming into the national title game. They went down 10 fast and didn’t panic, because they’ve been through it before. Ohio State on the other hand wasn’t battle tested; their closest games were the Wisconsin game and the Illinois game which they lost. The key weakness of Big Ten teams is their inconsistency. Depending on the week you never know which Michigan State team you’re going to get. How can an Illinois team get beat by Iowa who lost to Western Michigan and then march into Columbus and beat Ohio State? In order to strengthen the conference, they need more consistent play from all of their teams and to provide a strong core group of teams, not just one or two.
4. Strengthen the core of the conference through recruiting.
For the past two years it’s been Ohio State, then Wisconsin and Michigan dueling for second. Illinois emerged last year as a pleasant surprise adding a fourth team to the mix, but from then on it gets ugly pretty quick. Want to prove the media wrong? Want to field teams in the BCS that will compete? Then the core of the conference needs to get better. Teams need to start challenging and keeping up with Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Illinois, in order to make this conference better. One of the best things to happen last year was having Illinois beat Ohio State in the horseshoe. It showed that though Illinois was a young team, they were also athletic and could hang with the best team in the country. It showed that solid recruiting pays off and now Illinois is in the spotlight. The more athletic teams like Illinois the Big Ten can produce the more ready they will be to face the SEC schools. This year expect Wisconsin and Penn State classes to come alive whereas Minnesota and Michigan have great paths laid for the 2009 season. It seems obivious but the better recruiting the Big Ten can garner, especially on the lines, the more competitive they will be.
There’s no question the Big Ten is headed in the right direction, Indiana and Illinois made drastic improvements last season. Minnesota had an excellent recruiting year, and even Michigan’s 2009 recruiting class is looking great. If the Big Ten can win some big games early in the season and stay consistent throughout conference play it will give teams an opportunity to play in some big bowls and compete well. If competition is tougher week in and week out it will make everyone better and will better prepare the whole conference for bowl season. This will be a very interesting season in the Big Ten because there are a lot of unknowns. The real question is when the pressure is on can the Big Ten deliver?
Ways the Big Ten Can Improve in 2008 July 18, 2008
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