Yeah, ESPN did say some of that stuff, but I think I only heard em' talk about how bad the Big 10 was twice. Plus the BIG10 schools seem to get good match-ups in their bowl games. The only game I thought they were the underdog in was against an overrated LSU team. I tried posting on ESPN.com all the time, early in the year, to ask them why they played these terrible BIG 10 games that no one cared about - like Northwestern v. Purdue. I just think a lot of people at ESPN have ties to BIG 10 schools. Yeah, you're right though. They do have a "hard-on" for the SEC, but at least their good. As far as the PAC-10 goes, you're right, they belong on this thread too.
I just really think the PAC-10 and BIG10 are overrated, and they play a BIG10 game every Saturday afternoon. The C-USA and MWC are almost better than both conferences.
The Big 10 usually has the worst match-ups in bowl games because they usually have their 3,4,5 matched up with another conference's 2,3,4. This year, OSU was an underdog to Oregon (both critically and in the rankings), Northwestern was an underdog to Auburn (although played very close), MSU was an underdog to Texas Tech, and Penn State was an underdog to LSU. Those aren't very favorable. Wisconsin @ Miami was even. ISU beat Minnesota. Also, the Big 10, similar to most Big 12 and Big East teams, always plays their big games in enemy territory.
Big 10 isn't overrated in the slightest bit. Everyone thinks they suck, and it was only until the bowl results came out that
some sportswriters gave them credit. They are on the way up though, 2010 should be a better season for the Big 10. Ohio State has lost two National Championships in a row, both to SEC teams. The buzz is that the best of the Big 10 is just antiquated and boring football and cannot compare to the SEC.