This will be my first blog in a really long time, for FanNations Greatest College Football Fans. I apologize to everyone for that, I just never go to writing one, until now.
The bowl season over, it's a bittersweet time for all of us college football fans. It's especially bittersweet for all of us Big Ten fans. After an overall poor bowl performance the conference once again did nothing to dispell the national perception of the conference as a whole.
Let's take a look at each team within the conference and their bowl match up...
Iowa vs South Carolina- Iowa won because to be completely honest here, South Carolina was awful..you need a QB who doesn't turn the ball the way So. Carolina did.
Michigan State vs. Georgia- I was worried that Georgia wouldn't be focused heading into this one, after their disappointing year. But the Spartans highly overachieved this year, so I think they did well in that respect.
Penn State vs. USC- Let's be honest..not many people would have beaten USC at the Rose Bowl the way they played.
Ohio State vs Texas- Texas was hungry to prove a point. Ohio State played them well, but a great closing minute play(so to the Buckeye fans I know here) by the Longhorns.
Minnesota vs Kansas- It really seemed like Minnesota was in a bit offensive flux based on everything that I heard about the game, I was unable to watch it..darn you NFL Network..anyways. Minnesota was essentially changing offensive their offensive identity heading into a bowl game..I always think you need to do the things that got you there.
Northwestern vs Missouri- Northwestern just seemed to fall apart at the end. I give it up to Missouri, they made the plays at the end.
Wisconsin vs Florida State- Ahh yes, my beloved Badgers. Well, we lost because because of our inept passing game. If you look at all of the Badger message boards out there no one wants to see Dustin Sherer as our quarterback next year..I'm in that very vocal majority. However, the run game did look very good.
Now, that leads me to what lead to the overall struggles of the conference. I thoughts about this long and hard. A lot of the Big Ten people on the site can debate on this if they want to, but I think the conference as a whole struggled this year, because quarterback play within the conference was mediocre. With the exception of Daryll Clark and occasionally Terrelle Pryor..who both had their moments of being pretty exceptional..even Ricky Stanzi sometimes was pretty good. But, all of the other quarterbacks in conference...were pretty bad at times. Well, that's all I've got for now.
Tatiana Golovin
Deanna Clover
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Ohio State is the best in the big 10...I was at the Fiesta bowl and their fans are good people. (most of them) Pryor is amazing only knock is he should stay in bounds to get more yards, he runs out of bounds too soon. So he will be just fine, I truely hope the Bucks beat down USC!
weatherford blue
Austin, TX
Total Comments (101)
I don't really know what the big 10 should do @ this point. I think that many voters look @ the big 10 like they do non-bcs teams in that a team would have to go undefeated to even be considered for a national championship bid...the mountain west may even be as good as the big 10
TebowsKryptonite
Total Comments (281)
Nice blog, but the reason is a bit more simplistic...
1. Is there a bigger location advantage then USC playing in the BCS Rose Bowl?
You could almost write a blog about this advantage, but I will just summarize with their record against the majors from 2002 thru 2008 - at home or in the Rose Bowl stadium (15 miles from campus) they are something like 41-3, any place else they are 27-6... average for a major conference champion.
2. In the bowls this year the teams from the other 5 combined to go 1-8 against the major conference.
The bowls love the Big 10 or, specifically, they love the money of the Big 10 fans. As a result, the Big 10 had no games against the other 5, the PAC 10 had 1, the other major conferences each played 2... the Big 10 record would have looked much better with 2 games they could be expected to win.
3. If you looked at the match-ups in an apples to apples comparison (equating 3rd and 4th in the Big 10 to a div 2nd) the higher placed team won in all but 3 games - the ACC lost twice and the Big East lost one.
The Big 10 was the higher placed team in only 1 game, which should be no surprise it was their 1 win. Some of the "Great" matchups that lead to 2 of the B10 losses - ACC Div 2 against B10 conf 6th (the biggest mismatch between the majors in the bowls), Big 12 Div 3rd over Big 10 Conf 7th.
4. Of their 6 losses, the Big 10 was playing an team that finished at the same level in another conference. 1 was somewhat close (MSU lost by 12), the other 2 were extremely close - NW lost in OT to Missouri in no small part to some bad breaks (such as a missed PAT), tOSU lost in a "Who scores last" game to Texas.
If you are going to crack on the Big 10, #4 is the black eye where they should have picked up a win or 2 to be considered average. The rest of the bowls went as expected.
...now to provide some beef to the above example in my next post...
Prove It
Frellin Cold In, AK
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I an lazy, so I am goping to cut ans paste from another blog...
What if Oregon State had won the P10 keeping tOSU out of the BCS... what would the B10 bowl record have looked like?
1. Oregon State vs. PSU - Forget Oregon, Oregon State could have wrapped it up if they had beaten Stanford. Oregon State didn't show in game 1 at home against PSU and didn't look good in their bowl game.
1. UGa vs. tOSU instead of MSU - UGa had their hands full most of the game before winning by 12, there was a big drop off between tOSU and MSU.
2. Missouri against MSU instead of NW - game went to OT against the B10 #4, against the B10 #3 would expect to have the B10 with another win.
3. SC against NW instead of Iowa - the lone B10 win (and only game in which they played a team that clearly finished lower in another conference) came against a miserable looking SC team, no reason to think it would have changed.
4. FSU against Iowa instead of Wisconsin. Would have been closer, not certain outcome would have changed.
5. Kansas against Wisconsin instead of Minnesota - would have been closer, but too lose to call a winner between the B10 #6 and B12 North 3rd.
6. Minnesota plays its bowl in Detroit? No matter who, I like their chances.
...so if the B10 had picked up 5, maybe even 6 wins with this schedule, would that suddenly mean they are much better than winning 1 and coming close in some others playing a tougher team?
Prove It
Frellin Cold In, AK
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I believe he went out of bounds fast than normal under the direction of the coaches.
Based on some local papers, he was under instructions to be more conservative running the ball. I believe they were concerned the true FR might try to do too much in a big game ala his fumble agaist PSU. Personally, I think this was a mistake as well.
Typically he is looks to time a quick move with a stiff arm, then if he gets the defender off balance power away.
Prove It
Frellin Cold In, AK
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Why would Tressel limit that kid? especially after Muckleroy knocked Well out of the game. Oh well games over, I was at the Rose bowl win Texas just got past Michigan they had good fans also I left those fans out my bad although with the recent struggles they might not be so nice.
weatherford blue
Austin, TX
Total Comments (101)
Prove It goes for a quad post!
i have heard that, but i think it is more hype than truth.
The pollsters place 2 Big 10 teams in the BCS, They had tOSU as the highest rated 2 loss team in the BCS.
The Big 12 benefitted from the residual effects of the pollsters deciding early they wanted the the south champion against the SEC champ, and Texas got a boost in the B12 tie-breaking scheme.
I think they were determined to place 1 team from outside the majors in a BCS game as evidenced by the glass ceiling they installed all year (can't srgue with that given the results).
I think this had more to do with PSU's low ranking than disrespect for the Big 10.
I think the pollsters are giving the Big 10 plenty of respect.
I also think most teams can expect to have to go undefeated to play for the title - nothing unique to the Big 10.
Prove It
Frellin Cold In, AK
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That came from some post game interview news articles.
It was a concern the FR would try too much when toting the ball and scrambling and turn the ball over - a big part of the game plan was winning the field position war, giving Colt a long ways to score each posession.
The PSU fumble was cite a lot, though looking at the replay I thought that was more lousy luck than a fault of Pryor (if you look at the replay he was breaking free and had nobody between him and the end zone).
You are tight, it was a mistake - can't take out a big weapon in a major game because of youth.
Prove It
Frellin Cold In, AK
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Well Colt had a lot of long drives this year but hands down that was the toughest D he has had to play including Oklahoma, I don't care what any USC fan says you have a healthy Wells in that game and Ohio State would of tore them up. I hated eveyone wrote off Ohio State because of the 2 loses but the team Texas played the 5th was a dam* good team with a great Defense i was at the Rose bowl when Texas played USC or i could say the Fiesta bowl was the best game i ever watched, good luck next year!
weatherford blue
Austin, TX
Total Comments (101)
I think Prove It and weatherford blue make some great points. On the point that Prove It made..about Wisconsin vs Kansas instead of MN..I think that would have been much better for us. I would definitely agree with that. The conference really has a ton of work to do heading into next year.
badgerfan07 back in…
Whitewater , WI
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Oh wait, I forgot, this wasn't my blog...
J/K
I didn't think they did that bad this year - thru the entire season I think they lost to a lower team once (MSU vs. Cal.. on the road... by 7... early in the season) and lost the 3 even games but were close.
I wouldn't pretend to try to pick the conference next year - no side bet for me
I like tOSU again.
They will miss Beanie but think the offensive line becomes the team's strength and makes Herron and Saine look brilliant.
They will miss Jenkins more, but Chekwa was a surprise and the vest got some great CB recruits or 2009 (likely too early to help much next year).
With the depth on the bench, I am not sweating LB.
Otherwise I think the team improves across the board.
They may get a chance at the title if they beat USC at home in 2009, but I think 2010 and 2011 looks better for a title shot.
Rest of the conference? I don't think RR wil have all of the answers in place for 2009, look for Mich, Purdue, and Indiana to finish in the bottom 3.
I like the illini to return to 3rd or 4th.
No idea on the other 6 - a lot of change in the starters.
Overall I thought the conference looked much better this year than last, improved recruiting and new coaches getting settled in looks to continue the trend.
Prove It
Frellin Cold In, AK
Total Comments (4920)
I wish I shared your optomism, but I think the team needed an attidude adjustment more than they needed Beanie.
Some arse kicking by the Vest...
a change at QB, C, OT, and CB...
some more playing time at WR by some promising FR...
All seemed to have done the trick. I also helped that the Vest attacked more on D once he got the CBs back (3 were on suspension against USC) and Chekwa showed he was ready to go man-to-man with the best.
Stats to give confidence against USC next year:
From 2002-2008 USC won the P10 7 times, tied the 8th but lost the tie-breaker.
Against teams from the major 6 conferences:
At home or in the Rose Bowl stadium (15 miles from campus) USC is 41-3.
Away from home USC is 27-6.
These are all very average numbers for champions of the major 6 - nothing impressive here.
USC is building a rep on the BCS Rose Bowl, where they not only enjoy the biggest location advantage of any team in a major bowl, thy played an opponent that finished 3rd in the B10 twice (not exactly even matchups).
We will see how they do when they travel more than 15 miles from campus... 27-6 is nothing to write home about for a conference champ.
(these numbers surprised me - I was expecting their record to be much more impresssive on the road)
Prove It
Frellin Cold In, AK
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Is Brian Robiskie a senior? Don't know alot about your team but this guy hurt Texas and in that one game I saw he looked like a pretty good WR.
weatherford blue
Austin, TX
Total Comments (101)
Robiskie is a senior, ranked among the top 10 prospects in most draft rankings, was ranked higher last year, would be much higher if he played for a team that was heavy on the pass. I think he will be a steal for a team in the middle of the draft.
He has been a real surprise - was not considered a top prospect out of high school (2 star). He has been tOSUs big play receiver for a couple of years.
His likely replacement will be Posey, ranked 4th at WR position in 2008 class - more of a physical type of receiver than pure speed demon.
Prove It
Frellin Cold In, AK
Total Comments (4920)
If Wis did have a passing game it woulda been closer. Since Wis was so one dimensional, FSU was able really locate the HB's even though Hill and the other guys had some great runs, you still need at least a little bit of a passing game to win. Also, the whole "Big" vs "Speed" thing was resolved, it's clear speed wins. Those two defensive TD's had alot to do with speed, speed of getting to the QB and speed with taking the ball to the endzone.
Ponder this
Crestview , FL
Total Comments (61)
Silly me... I thought it was the Big 10 #6 team (who needed an upset win to get that high in the conference rankings) playing way out of their league against the ACC division 2nd place team (who was upset by a lesser team and didn't win the division)...
Prove It
Frellin Cold In, AK
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You forget one thing in that comment Prove It. tOSU has never beat an SEC team in a bowl game in BCS era. Not saying they wouldn't have beaten UGA, but it is something to ponder.
wildbill21475
East, TN
Total Comments (3946)
Odd, when Wisconsin beat UCLA twice at its home stadium (otherwise known as the Rose Bowl), other Big Ten fans weren???t heaping praise on the Badgers for accomplishing the ???impossible???. Only Big Ten team to win consecutive Rose Bowls: Wisconsin. Face it, other BT teams are psyched-out the moment their plane touches down in LA. Trust me, the Big Ten will earn the respect of the Pac 10, SEC and Big 12 when it turns down the invitation to participate in the Tournament of Roses and chooses a studly game in the snow and mud with Notre Dame or Ball State.
Ottova
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So?
Prove It
Frellin Cold In, AK
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That's because no one outside of Badger fans care about Wisconsin
badgerfan07 back in…
Whitewater , WI
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