The Big Ten has had a rough go of it nationally in recent years. Even as the league’s brand name and marketing cache seem to increase exponentially—the expansion to 14 teams takes effect this year—the results on the football field haven’t followed. At least until last January 1 they didn’t. That’s when Michigan State upset Stanford in the Rose Bowl and finally salvaged some pride for this league in a big non-conference game.
The Big Ten has had a rough go of it in bowl games and non-conference play in general of late. The league’s problems started at the top, back in 2006. That was the year Ohio State and Michigan were 1-2 in the country going into their annual season-ending game, but each was destroyed in postseason play. Ohio State again lost the national championship game a year later in decisive fashion.
The Big Ten Legends Division is clearly the stronger within the conference, even if you grant that the Leaders likely has the best team in Ohio State. All six teams in the Legends have reasonable expectations of a bowl game and four can make a legitimate case for themselves to be the representative at the league title game in Indianapolis on December 7. TheSportsNotebook’s college football coverage breaks down the Big Four and the two challengers.
It didn’t take Urban Meyer long to put Ohio State football back on the map, going 12-0 in his first year, even while being hindered by NCAA probation incurred during the Jim Tressel era. Now the Buckeyes are free and clear and come into the 2013 season as the heavy favorite to win the Big Ten title.
TheSportsNotebook’s college football coverage will look at whether Ohio State is set to run away with at least a berth in the Big Ten Championship Game on December 7 in Indianapolis.
Big Ten football is suffering from a public relations problem right now. The on-field performance hasn’t been up to snuff for several years now, between close Rose Bowl losses and utter debacles in the majority of the minor bowl matchups against the SEC. Then there have been the off-field scandals at Ohio State and Penn State that effectively gutted the division race on one side of the conference. But if nothing else, the conference has a chance to fix its on-field perception this year, with most teams returning key players on the defensive front and most quarterback situations looking stable. TheSportsNotebook breaks down how the conference race is likely to shake out.