State of the Big Ten

[strigori]

I'm thinking the massive coaching changes are having a deeper effect than they wanted to admit. Feeling as happy about Pitt losing to Youngstown as many Husker fans are?

You might be right. As far as the Pitt thing I guess I should be happy, they stole Zach Brown and then half our damn coaches. Thy just really want to be us and by extension NU since we copied everything from you all.

More than you might know. Steve Pederson is the AD there. The same guy who fired Solich, hired Callahan, and was fired mid season in '07. We like seeing anything he is attached to fail.

 

[WoodyHayes1951]

If you are looking for the Big Ten to be like the SEC then you will be looking for a while.

Big Ten has fewer teams committed to football excellence, much harder to get kids into Big Ten schools, No Big Ten schools really oversign,etc

The top teams can definitely be like the top of the SEC and they will soon enough.

Why? What is going to change to make them elite? Is it just the recent recruiting success for Michigan and Ohio State? Because I don't know if I see Nebraska making that leap. I wish it would happen but I'd be surprised to see it in the next 5 years. At least our schedule will be easier next year and we should be loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. That's our best chance probably in the near future.

The recruiting is a HUGE part of it. as is the coaching.

The other schools will definitely have to step up if they want to keep up. i think some will

 

[MichiganMan]

people are getting fired come monday morning.

 

[Haspula]

Frank Solich is an underrated coach

 

[sd'sker]

it bodes well for us as a team. i think we look pretty good compared to the rest. however, it will be hard to defend this league. but the pac 12 still looks pathetic outside of usc and oregon. maybe the big 12 is better this year. hard to say.

 

[Mavric]

Iowa and Wiscy look to have some massive issues on offense. Judging by week one only, neither have a hope in hell of keeping up with Ohio State and Nebraska. And the Leaders looks like a legit 3 team race between Wiscy, Purdue and Illinois.

Our issue was more Defense than anything. We were shutting them out until the end of the third quarter when they remembered the forward pass and murdered us with it. Our secondary was pitiful.

Offense was actually decent for what we were trying to do, it wasn't 2010-11 UW but I don't think it was meant to be, it was more about breaking in DOB. We have a brand new QB and a RB who's still recovering from a concussion, I didn't expect 50+.

As far as the second statement a week ago I'd have given you a lot of flak for it but now I completely agree. This will not be an easy year for UW.

I was going to post something to the effect of "6 points with two minutes left in the half against NoIowa is more of a problem than you may want to admit". But I do see you scored on 3 of your 4 first half possessions and the only one failing to score started on your own 5 yard line. Must have been a really slow (or fast, depending on how you look at it) game.

 

[Mavric]

Frank Solich is an underrated coach

Do you know if he's calling the plays for Ohio? I didn't think he was that bad as a head coach but didn't think he had the knack for play-calling. I've always thought if he was just HC and didn't try to also be OC, it might have worked out better. Just wondering how he has it set up at Ohio.

 

[The Dude]

it bodes well for us has a team. i think we look pretty good compared to the rest. however, it will be hard to defend this league. but the pac 12 still looks pathetic outside of usc and oregon. maybe the big 12 is better this year. hard to say.

Oklahoma looked like garbage against UTEP for more than three quarters. No way they're a legit top 10 team. Texas still won't be that good methinks. Wyoming gave them fits.

That league will come down to Oklahoma State and West Virginia. That'll be a fun game to watch, if you don't much care for defense. Other than Okie Lite and W. Virgina, the Big XII won't be that good.

 

[Comish]

Frank Solich is an underrated coach

Do you know if he's calling the plays for Ohio? I didn't think he was that bad as a head coach but didn't think he had the knack for play-calling. I've always thought if he was just HC and didn't try to also be OC, it might have worked out better. Just wondering how he has it set up at Ohio.

Believe Gdowski is the OB coach and Tim Albin (whom a number of folks wanted calling plays here) is calling plays....

 

[Creed]

B1G was 10-2. Yes, some of the teams struggled (Wisc, Iowa, MSU) in their wins but so did some other high profile schools like OU and Florida.

Unfortunately, the Bama beatdown of Mich will give the nation a bad impression of the B1G for the rest of the season (which is the same negativity as the last 4-5 years). There are no other big games this year the B1G can redeem itself. The B1G has fizzled in just about every high profile game. Unfortunately, come bowl season the B1G will have some lopsided match-up with OSU out and PSU having their issues.

 

[Mavric]

B1G was 10-2. Yes, some of the teams struggled (Wisc, Iowa, MSU) in their wins but so did some other high profile schools like OU and Florida.

Unfortunately, the Bama beatdown of Mich will give the nation a bad impression of the B1G for the rest of the season (which is the same negativity as the last 4-5 years). There are no other big games this year the B1G can redeem itself. The B1G has fizzled in just about every high profile game. Unfortunately, come bowl season the B1G will have some lopsided match-up with OSU out and PSU having their issues.

:yeah

Except for the part about PSU affecting the bowls. I don't think that will be an issue.

 

[Creed]

B1G was 10-2. Yes, some of the teams struggled (Wisc, Iowa, MSU) in their wins but so did some other high profile schools like OU and Florida.

Unfortunately, the Bama beatdown of Mich will give the nation a bad impression of the B1G for the rest of the season (which is the same negativity as the last 4-5 years). There are no other big games this year the B1G can redeem itself. The B1G has fizzled in just about every high profile game. Unfortunately, come bowl season the B1G will have some lopsided match-up with OSU out and PSU having their issues.

:yeah

Except for the part about PSU affecting the bowls. I don't think that will be an issue.

Should have elaborated. It most years PSU was a solid team (2nd to 4th in B1G) and faired well in bowl games - big wins over LSU, Tenn, A&M. That program will be out of the B1G picture for some time which hurts the B1G's overall strength. 9 months ago I thought the B1G was going to have a resurgance with OSU-Urban Meyer; Michigan trending upward, the Nebraska addition, and PSU would be trending up with JoePa being replaced (ie new energy in the program). Now it looks like the B1G is a few years away in having a 2 or 3 top 10ish teams and sadly will be fighting the ACC for the 4th best conference.

 

[huKSer]

people are getting fired come monday morning.

on Labor day?

 

[Excel]

The Missouri Valley played better football than we did yesterday. We'll never be the SEC so let's just stop and focus on curling.

 

[Mavric]

Should have elaborated. It most years PSU was a solid team (2nd to 4th in B1G) and faired well in bowl games - big wins over LSU, Tenn, A&M. That program will be out of the B1G picture for some time which hurts the B1G's overall strength. 9 months ago I thought the B1G was going to have a resurgance with OSU-Urban Meyer; Michigan trending upward, the Nebraska addition, and PSU would be trending up with JoePa being replaced (ie new energy in the program). Now it looks like the B1G is a few years away in having a 2 or 3 top 10ish teams and sadly will be fighting the ACC for the 4th best conference.

OK. I see what you're saying now. I thought you meant they could be in bowl position but wouldn't be able to go so everyone else would be playing up. I agree that having what is traditionally one of your top 4 teams out of the picture will hurt. Unfortunately, it won't get better any time soon.