Not off the Press: Un-Happy New Year for Big Ten Conference 
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
I should have seen it coming, but nope, I tried to ignore what was about to happen.
Heading into the New Year's Day games, I was getting nostalgic, I must admit. The day before, I watched Notre Dame actually look like a football team for the first time since Lou Holtz was a national champion coach and not some guy spitting out made-up pep talks on ESPN, so I thought to myself, "Well, if that can happen, then the Big Ten has a great shot to play well on New Year's Day."
What was I thinking?
Jan. 1 was the day I threw down the pom-poms and stopped being a cheerleader for the conference that will have divisions with the names Leaders and Legends next season.
On Saturday, the conference played like they were going to be in divisions named Embarrassment and Joke.
I'm still a fan of and believer in the conference, but I need to step back and realize something is wrong with this conference.
At least Iowa and Illinois won their bowl games earlier in the postseason. Luckily for the Big Ten, they played Baylor and Missouri, winning by a combined 27 points. Oh, and the newest member (next session) of the conference, Nebraska, lost in their last game as a member of the Big XII Conference.
Go figure.
First with the bowl games on Saturday.
The conference was outscored 204-102 in five games. Those five games were Northwestern vs. Texas Tech, Michigan State vs. Alabama, Michigan vs. Mississippi State, Penn State vs. Florida, and Wisconsin vs. Texas Christian.
For the five games combined, the quarter-by-quarter scoring was this:
First quarter: Non-Big Ten 41, Big Ten 31
Second Quarter: Non-Big Ten 70, Big Ten 19
Third Quarter: Non-Big Ten 55, Big Ten 25
Fourth Quarter: Non-Big Ten 38, Big Ten 27
Notice any big shifts in scoring?
The second and third quarters added up the non-Big Ten teams at +81 or 125-44.
The one that stands out the most is 70-19 in the second quarter. Big Ten opponents had second-quarter scores of 0, 21, 14, 21 and 14.
That was the difference of the bowl games … the second quarter. Maybe in Big Ten play, teams don't make adjustments. That said, in the third quarter the scoring for their opponents were: 7, 14, 6, 14 and 14. The Big Ten had three teams score zero points in the third and had just 25 points between the two teams that did.
Even UM head coach Rich Rodriguez said the second quarter hurt his Wolverines during the post-game press conference: "… But from the second quarter on, we did not execute. It sounds simplistic, but it's very disappointing because the guys have a great attitude. But they made plays, and we didn't. They tackled better than us, they caught better than us, they ran better than us, and that's unfortunate. Our guys did play hard, we just did not play as well as we're capable of playing, and they played extremely well, and that was the ballgame."
Way to go! Sure look like leaders and legends there, didn't they? Reminded me more of followers and stumblers.
But, look at some of the teams representing the conference this year. Sure, they have great traditions, but this is 2011, not 1978, or even 1998.
Michigan shouldn't even be allowed in a bowl game. Though they had seven wins this year, does the Big Ten really want a team with a 3-5 conference mark representing the conference in the postseason against an opponent that was ranked No. 21 in Mississippi State? For the year, UM finished 0-5 against Top 25 opponents. (A college playoff would ruin these great matchups from even taking place.)
UM has great tradition, we all know that, but the last time I looked at their side line, Bo Schembechler or even Lloyd Carr wasn't the head coach.
Too bad most of the bowl matchups are made by who travels the best rather than who actually deserves to play in the games.
But for the life of me, is the Big Ten really bad enough to get outscored by 102 points in five bowl games?
Thanks to the co- or tri- champion Michigan State Spartans (shared with Ohio State and Wisconsin) and the Wolverines, they gave the conference a black eye.
At least the others either kept it close or attempted a comeback. But in the end, they still lost.
Wisconsin dropped the ball by passing it and not running it, but I guess that's why I'm not a coach. Penn State completed more passes to Florida than their own team in the Goodbye to Urban Meyer (for now) Bowl … I mean, Outback Bowl. Northwestern trailed big, but decided to play some football in the second half.
Ohio State still has a chance to save the conference to a certain degree if they can win the Sugar Bowl, but they are 0-9 in the postseason against the SEC all-time, and who are they playing … Arkansas of the SEC.
Great!
Well, the Buckeyes are the last opportunity for one of the three Big Ten champions to win a top-of-the-line bowl game this year. It'd be really bad if all three champions would lose their bowl game.
In all honesty, what I witnessed on Saturday wasn't Big Ten-brand football. Heck, the Big East was embarrassed for followers of the conference, and look what happened to their champion (UConn)against Oklahoma. It was so bad for the Huskies, Randy Edsall is going to coach the University of Maryland.
The best thing about being a follower of college football is watching the Big Ten on a Saturday in the fall, but we followers of the conference need to give them some tough love. Don't we?
What's the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow after Saturday?
At least next season there will be only one Big Ten champion able to lose a bowl game next season, instead of a possible three.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
Heading into the New Year's Day games, I was getting nostalgic, I must admit. The day before, I watched Notre Dame actually look like a football team for the first time since Lou Holtz was a national champion coach and not some guy spitting out made-up pep talks on ESPN, so I thought to myself, "Well, if that can happen, then the Big Ten has a great shot to play well on New Year's Day."
What was I thinking?
Jan. 1 was the day I threw down the pom-poms and stopped being a cheerleader for the conference that will have divisions with the names Leaders and Legends next season.
On Saturday, the conference played like they were going to be in divisions named Embarrassment and Joke.
I'm still a fan of and believer in the conference, but I need to step back and realize something is wrong with this conference.
At least Iowa and Illinois won their bowl games earlier in the postseason. Luckily for the Big Ten, they played Baylor and Missouri, winning by a combined 27 points. Oh, and the newest member (next session) of the conference, Nebraska, lost in their last game as a member of the Big XII Conference.
Go figure.
First with the bowl games on Saturday.
The conference was outscored 204-102 in five games. Those five games were Northwestern vs. Texas Tech, Michigan State vs. Alabama, Michigan vs. Mississippi State, Penn State vs. Florida, and Wisconsin vs. Texas Christian.
For the five games combined, the quarter-by-quarter scoring was this:
First quarter: Non-Big Ten 41, Big Ten 31
Second Quarter: Non-Big Ten 70, Big Ten 19
Third Quarter: Non-Big Ten 55, Big Ten 25
Fourth Quarter: Non-Big Ten 38, Big Ten 27
Notice any big shifts in scoring?
The second and third quarters added up the non-Big Ten teams at +81 or 125-44.
The one that stands out the most is 70-19 in the second quarter. Big Ten opponents had second-quarter scores of 0, 21, 14, 21 and 14.
That was the difference of the bowl games … the second quarter. Maybe in Big Ten play, teams don't make adjustments. That said, in the third quarter the scoring for their opponents were: 7, 14, 6, 14 and 14. The Big Ten had three teams score zero points in the third and had just 25 points between the two teams that did.
Even UM head coach Rich Rodriguez said the second quarter hurt his Wolverines during the post-game press conference: "… But from the second quarter on, we did not execute. It sounds simplistic, but it's very disappointing because the guys have a great attitude. But they made plays, and we didn't. They tackled better than us, they caught better than us, they ran better than us, and that's unfortunate. Our guys did play hard, we just did not play as well as we're capable of playing, and they played extremely well, and that was the ballgame."
Way to go! Sure look like leaders and legends there, didn't they? Reminded me more of followers and stumblers.
But, look at some of the teams representing the conference this year. Sure, they have great traditions, but this is 2011, not 1978, or even 1998.
Michigan shouldn't even be allowed in a bowl game. Though they had seven wins this year, does the Big Ten really want a team with a 3-5 conference mark representing the conference in the postseason against an opponent that was ranked No. 21 in Mississippi State? For the year, UM finished 0-5 against Top 25 opponents. (A college playoff would ruin these great matchups from even taking place.)
UM has great tradition, we all know that, but the last time I looked at their side line, Bo Schembechler or even Lloyd Carr wasn't the head coach.
Too bad most of the bowl matchups are made by who travels the best rather than who actually deserves to play in the games.
But for the life of me, is the Big Ten really bad enough to get outscored by 102 points in five bowl games?
Thanks to the co- or tri- champion Michigan State Spartans (shared with Ohio State and Wisconsin) and the Wolverines, they gave the conference a black eye.
At least the others either kept it close or attempted a comeback. But in the end, they still lost.
Wisconsin dropped the ball by passing it and not running it, but I guess that's why I'm not a coach. Penn State completed more passes to Florida than their own team in the Goodbye to Urban Meyer (for now) Bowl … I mean, Outback Bowl. Northwestern trailed big, but decided to play some football in the second half.
Ohio State still has a chance to save the conference to a certain degree if they can win the Sugar Bowl, but they are 0-9 in the postseason against the SEC all-time, and who are they playing … Arkansas of the SEC.
Great!
Well, the Buckeyes are the last opportunity for one of the three Big Ten champions to win a top-of-the-line bowl game this year. It'd be really bad if all three champions would lose their bowl game.
In all honesty, what I witnessed on Saturday wasn't Big Ten-brand football. Heck, the Big East was embarrassed for followers of the conference, and look what happened to their champion (UConn)against Oklahoma. It was so bad for the Huskies, Randy Edsall is going to coach the University of Maryland.
The best thing about being a follower of college football is watching the Big Ten on a Saturday in the fall, but we followers of the conference need to give them some tough love. Don't we?
What's the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow after Saturday?
At least next season there will be only one Big Ten champion able to lose a bowl game next season, instead of a possible three.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]