Read the opposing arguments from Optimist Prime and Loyal Homer.
It is a knee jerk reaction. It is so easy. If the question is about college football, the answer must be “SEC,” right? If ESPN is right (and why wouldn’t ESPN be correct?), then the SEC is always the toughest. Always. It has the last few national champions within the conference. It owns a path to the Downtown Athletic Club, with many SEC players taking home the coveted trophy.
But, let’s pretend that the SEC isn’t the greatest thing ever. Just for a moment. Alabama is rebuilding a defense. Florida is rebuilding an offense, a defense, and the absence of a superstar. Tennessee and Vanderbilt are changing coaches. Georgia has struggled and that was before replacing the starting quarterback and half of the defense. Auburn’s Gene Chizik has proven to be a good recruiter, but the jury is still out on his coaching. Arkansas’ Ryan Mallet is an early Heisman candidate, but that does not mean the team is good. And Les Miles… well Les Miles better get the Tigers moving in the right direction again or he’ll wish the Michigan job was still open. Right now, the SEC is just another conference with good teams – and a lot that needs to be improved.
Not to mention the problem with players getting arrested, head coach turnover, and pesky but warranted NCAA investigations.
The message is clear – the SEC is a good football conference, but it is not infallible. In fact, it’s not even the toughest conference this season. There is a conference that is currently stacked with potentially great teams at the top and plenty of depth.
We all know Ohio State is an excellent team turning most of its top players, including key defenders and a potentially amazing quarterback in Terrelle Pryor. The overlooked element in the entire Big Ten right now is the return of a large percentage of defenders who stopped a speedy spread offense from Oregon last season.
Iowa, like Ohio State, is also returning several excellent defenders while Wisconsin is returning the guts of an offense that has the ability to control the line of scrimmage. All three teams play system football, reload every season, and are coming off of a 2009 campaign where each team won ten or more games.
The Big Ten clearly has three premier teams heading in to 2010, and that is before drawing attention to Penn State, and a Michigan State team that boasts a great recruiting class and potentially the number one defender in the conference in linebacker Greg Jones.
The conference also has strong teams that fall somewhere in between elite and mediocre. Northwestern finished with eight wins a season ago after a heart breaking 38-35 loss to Auburn in one of the more exciting bowl games in recent memory.
Of course the Big Ten has bottom feeders, but what conference doesn’t? Indiana, Illinois, and Minnesota are not going to turn any heads. But, Michigan and Purdue are both very unpredictable teams at this point. Both teams could take big steps forward this season. Neither has high expectations, which means a big win or two just makes the overall conference picture even more impressive.
The conference as a whole is playing an excellent non-conference schedule this season as well. Win or lose, the conference is proving that each team is willing to take on a major challenge and strike at the opportunity for greatness. Ohio State takes on Miami, Penn State plays at Alabama, Michigan State takes on Notre Dame, and even Minnesota is taking on a challenge against Southern Cal. The years of predominantly soft scheduling appear to be over in the Big Ten.
The Big Ten also has momentum on its side. After great bowl season last season the conference is adding yet another good team next season in Nebraska.
Not every team in the Big Ten poses a major threat. It’s doubtful that Illinois is going to dominate the league this season. But the combination of talent, strong teams, and stout non-conference schedules will lead to an impressive showing for the Big Ten in 2010. The SEC, most of all, must beware. The Big Ten has a serious case for the toughest conference. No matter what ESPN says.
