The Big Ten: 'Cyclical' Downturn?

[illinoisblue]

When asked about his conference's 1-6 mark in bowls this season, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney was seemingly unconcerned. He responded, "Things are cyclical". He obviously believes that his league will soon enough rejoin the ranks of elite conferences such as the SEC, Big 12, and Pac-10 after this hiccup down period. But I must say that I'm not as optimistic as Mr. Delaney. I have long been a staunch defender and supporter of the Big Ten, but even I have to wonder about the current state of affairs. I look around the league and I see complacency and mediocrity everywhere. First and foremost, there are no great coaches in the league. JoePa used to be a great coach, but if he can't even be on the sidelines for the Rose Bowl against USC, then how effective is he? Tressel, Dantonio, and Ferentz are good, not great coaches. It remains to be seen whether RR and his spread will work in the Big Ten. Zook at Illinois has proven he's a great recruiter if nothing else. Brett Bielima is the worst football coach in America, college, pro, high school, or pee-wee! Fitzgerald is a promising prospect but he's never going to go far at NU, especially when tiny Ryan Field being half empty is considered good attendance by the school, LOL. Another concerning thing about the Big Ten is the lack of good quarterback play of late. There hasn't been a great, gun-slinging quarterback in this league in quite some time, not since the days of Drew Brees, Drew Henson, and Tom Brady about ten years ago. And now that Lloyd Carr and his NFL quarterback factory are gone, I think the quarterback play in the league will get worse still. This is the worst I've seen the Big Ten ever in the 30 years I've been watching it! It's even worse now than it was in the early 1980's, and that's bad! At least there were great quarterbacks back then like Art Schlichter, Jimmy Everett, and Tony Eason who made the league somewhat relevant in the national stage, and there were coaches like Mike White and Hayden Fry who were trying to change the conference's '3 yards and a cloud of dust' ways. But now, unfortunately, I see no signs of hope that the Big Ten will change for the better anytime soon. I actually see a conference that is falling down to the level of the Big East and WAC. The Mountain West is even better than the Big Ten now. And this is unacceptable considering the Big Ten is the BIGGEST conference in the country that is NO 1 in merchandising and attendance!! Where has all the money from the multiple BCS bowls and the Big Ten Channel gone, Mr. Delaney? To ladies' lacrosse and water polo? Where does all the money from filling up places like the Big House, Beaver Stadium, the Horse Shoe, and Camp Randall go? Do any of the various university presidents give a damn about football? How many more rapes in the Rose Bowl can the Big Ten endure before people start calling for Delaney's head?

[tpilews]

When asked about his conference's 1-6 mark in bowls this season, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney was seemingly unconcerned. He responded, "Things are cyclical". He obviously believes that his league will soon enough rejoin the ranks of elite conferences such as the SEC, Big 12, and Pac-10 after this hiccup down period. But I must say that I'm not as optimistic as Mr. Delaney. I have long been a staunch defender and supporter of the Big Ten, but even I have to wonder about the current state of affairs. I look around the league and I see complacency and mediocrity everywhere. First and foremost, there are no great coaches in the league. JoePa used to be a great coach, but if he can't even be on the sidelines for the Rose Bowl against USC, then how effective is he? Tressel, Dantonio, and Ferentz are good, not great coaches. It remains to be seen whether RR and his spread will work in the Big Ten. Zook at Illinois has proven he's a great recruiter if nothing else. Brett Bielima is the worst football coach in America, college, pro, high school, or pee-wee! Fitzgerald is a promising prospect but he's never going to go far at NU, especially when tiny Ryan Field being half empty is considered good attendance by the school, LOL. Another concerning thing about the Big Ten is the lack of good quarterback play of late. There hasn't been a great, gun-slinging quarterback in this league in quite some time, not since the days of Drew Brees, Drew Henson, and Tom Brady about ten years ago. And now that Lloyd Carr and his NFL quarterback factory are gone, I think the quarterback play in the league will get worse still. This is the worst I've seen the Big Ten ever in the 30 years I've been watching it! It's even worse now than it was in the early 1980's, and that's bad! At least there were great quarterbacks back then like Art Schlichter, Jimmy Everett, and Tony Eason who made the league somewhat relevant in the national stage, and there were coaches like Mike White and Hayden Fry who were trying to change the conference's '3 yards and a cloud of dust' ways. But now, unfortunately, I see no signs of hope that the Big Ten will change for the better anytime soon. I actually see a conference that is falling down to the level of the Big East and WAC. The Mountain West is even better than the Big Ten now. And this is unacceptable considering the Big Ten is the BIGGEST conference in the country that is NO 1 in merchandising and attendance!! Where has all the money from the multiple BCS bowls and the Big Ten Channel gone, Mr. Delaney? To ladies' lacrosse and water polo? Where does all the money from filling up places like the Big House, Beaver Stadium, the Horse Shoe, and Camp Randall go? Do any of the various university presidents give a damn about football? How many more rapes in the Rose Bowl can the Big Ten endure before people start calling for Delaney's head?

It's all a matter of perception. It's funny how the Pac-10 is considered elite now, when during the season, everyone was saying how awful the conference was. One bowl season can change all that??? Pretty funny.

The Big10 does have some promising coaches in place, IMO. Dantonio is doing some great things in East Lansing. So, unless he leaves in the next 3-4 years, they will be somewhat relevant again. Northwestern made a good run last year. They don't need to be a dominant team, but they need to be able to beat the middle of the road SEC/Big12/Pac10 teams. Iowa, Minnesota, Wisci, and Illinois all need to do the same thing. PSU, tuos, and UM are the elite teams of the Big10, with another team falling into the picture every now and then.

The collapse of the Big10 did not happen overnight, but it's rise back to the top could happen in just a few short seasons. Each team needs to take care of business in the post-season. I think having UM so far down this year hurt the entire conference. Every team was moved up into a tougher bowl game, thus, a 1-6 showing. Once UM returns to the national stage, all will be well with the Big10.

[bighousemike84]

It's all a matter of perception. It's funny how the Pac-10 is considered elite now, when during the season, everyone was saying how awful the conference was. One bowl season can change all that??? Pretty funny.

The Big10 does have some promising coaches in place, IMO. Dantonio is doing some great things in East Lansing. So, unless he leaves in the next 3-4 years, they will be somewhat relevant again. Northwestern made a good run last year. They don't need to be a dominant team, but they need to be able to beat the middle of the road SEC/Big12/Pac10 teams. Iowa, Minnesota, Wisci, and Illinois all need to do the same thing. PSU, tuos, and UM are the elite teams of the Big10, with another team falling into the picture every now and then.

The collapse of the Big10 did not happen overnight, but it's rise back to the top could happen in just a few short seasons. Each team needs to take care of business in the post-season. I think having UM so far down this year hurt the entire conference. Every team was moved up into a tougher bowl game, thus, a 1-6 showing. Once UM returns to the national stage, all will be well with the Big10.

I agree.

Perception is so much of what we use to determine the "Ranking" of a conference. Unfortunately for the B10 the 3 major schools in the conference havent done enough to change the current perception and there is only so much you can ask of schools like Indiana and Northwestern.

[bigboyBlue]

I think the Big Ten being down really is the result of a "perfect storm". The conference has been caught with 6-7 new coaching hires in the last 2-3 years; mostly average recruiting; having a rose bowl tie-in with freakin USC, which always manages to lose a cupcake game and show up angry; having other high-profile bowl tie-ins that result in disadvantageous matchups in the backyards of the opponents; and Michigan being down.

Even with all that, imagine if Bowl selectors had done the right thing and scheduled the Suckeyes in the Cap One bowl, the matchups would have been:

USC - Penn State: USC wins
Georgia - Ohio State: OSU wins
Mich State - South Carolina: State wins
Iowa - Missouri: If NW can almost beat Mizzou, so can Iowa.
NW - Kansas: Probably 50-50.....

and so on, you get the idea. Hell, even if Oregon State had beated Oregon, it would have been a PSU-Oregon State Rose Bowl, with USC going to......the Holiday Bowl to play Okie State, that is how quickly bowl quality drops off in the Pac-10.

In short, the Big Ten is a bit down, but the extent of it is magnified, both by circumstance and poor bowl scheduling.

[NCBLUE]

The Big Ten has lost it's luster a little. I do think it is cyclical but I would not put the Big Ten on the same level as the SEC, or even the Big 12. PAC-10 is a one trick pony, USC has a stranglehold on anyone the Big Ten can put up against them but the rest of the conference is slightly above average. I think the Big Ten is still better than the ACC, Big East and deeper than the Pac-10.

Problem is our top are a notch below USC and the SEC's top team. Then our conference is not as deep as the SEC. The Big Ten has been slow to adapt and open up their offenses and have any true innovation. I think the skilled positions at oSU, Michigan & PSU are as good anywhere in the country but the rosters are not as deep with speed and we are getting beat on the lines. SEC defensive ends had a field day with oSU's line the last 2 years, and so did USC.

Plus recruiting is still tougher. It will be more difficult to get a southern kid to come north or a Cali boy to come as well. Though we are able to get some, it is not enough to keep the rosters filled 2 & 3 deep with a lot of speed.

Though the midwest (Ohio, Mich, Ill & Pa) still produce a lot of high school talent, it still is behind the top 3 states (Florida, California & Texas). And with the population decline in the east and midwest to the southeastern and southwestern parts of the country the problem may only get worse.