STARR GAZING

Mark Starr

The Not-So-Big Ten

The Ohio State-Michigan football rivalry remains swell. But there's no hiding that the conference no longer has game.

Nov 15, 2007 | Updated: 3:00 p.m. ET Nov 15, 2007

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I'd like to raise a glass of Champaign to the University of Illinois. When the Illini upset Ohio State in Columbus last weekend, they spared college football fans the pain of watching the Buckeyes' inexorable march to a second straight blowout loss in the BCS national championship game.

I had hoped that underdog Florida's 41-14 annihilation of Ohio State—it wasn't as close as the scored indicated—in last year's title game would force some readjustment in how the BCS system evaluates the Big Ten champs. Mostly stocked with mediocre teams, the conference is not remotely what it is hyped to be. Yet for some reason the BCS keeps treating an undefeated Big Ten season with reverence, as if it's a far greater achievement than, say, an undefeated Big 12 team like the University of Kansas. Winning out in the Big Ten is not even the equivalent of one loss in tougher and more competitive conferences, like the SEC or the Pac-10.

The Big Ten has become a football fraud, a diminished conference that has been riding a reputation established a half-century ago. The football talent in this country, just like the population, has been steadily gravitating south and west for a long time now. While considerable talent remains in the upper Midwest, it tends toward the lumbering rather than the blazing. And as Florida demonstrated so brilliantly last January, speed kills.

Still, it's hard to understand why the experts are so generous in assessing the Big Ten. Perhaps it's because its teams so rarely challenge the national powers from rival conferences. Which helps explain why the Big Ten's out-of-conference record stands at 35-8 this season. But that mark stands as something of a joke—and when you parse the schedule, the joke turns out to be on the BCS as well as the Big Ten and its fans. Check it out:

* This season the 11 Big Ten teams combined have played just two out-of-conference games against nationally ranked teams—and lost both (Oregon 39, Michigan 7; Missouri 40, Illinois 34).

* Big Ten teams have played a total of just 14 games against teams from other major football conferences in 2007. While they have managed a wining mark of 10-4 in those contests, the cumulative record of the teams they defeated is an incredible 24-74, or a winning percentage of .245. In fact, the only winning "major" defeated by a Big Ten team this year is Nevada, a true minor major that has a less-than-lofty 5-4 record.

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Posted By: KevinMich @ 11/20/2007 9:51:38 AM

Go figure, when the SEC or Pac10 can start recruiting a balanced athletic and academic individual, you wouldn't see so many fast running thugs playing in them Conferences. Oh and as for Bowl games, why do the Big10 teams always have to play in opponents home field advantage? Always.

Quess it is what it is, but I do know this, Michigan owns every conference when it comes to the records.
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Posted By: KevinMich @ 11/20/2007 9:46:01 AM

Yes and you forget to mention how every time Michigan has played USC or whoever in the so called Pac 10 almighty, it's always been on the west coast in their own backyard. So it really isn't a nuetral field. Bring your boys to the Big House or to the Horse Shoe and play some football where you'll get numb from the cold and see how it will effect their game. I will also proudly mention since you can only say what you want to say, as for Michigan they own your Pac 10 in all time games. The 64 times Michigan has played the Pac 10, they have pounded your Conference a whopping 42-21-1. Need help finding facts, maybe you should refrain from typing, you might look smarter before doing so.
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Posted By: KevinMich @ 11/20/2007 9:44:28 AM

Yes and you forget to mention how every time Michigan has played USC or whoever in the so called Pac 10 almighty, it's always been on the west coast in their own backyard. So it really isn't a nuetral field. Bring your boys to the Big House or to the Horse Shoe and play some football where you'll get numb from the cold and see how it will effect their game. I will also proudly mention since you can only say what you want to say, as for Michigan they own your Pac 10 in all time games. The 64 times Michigan has played the Pac 10, they have ponded your Conference a whopping 42-21-1. Need help finding facts, maybe you should refrain from typing, you might look smarter before you type.