ESPN says Big-Ten is the best.

Interesting but.... no.

The 4 teams at the top of the Big 10 are more than matched by the 6 teams mentioned at the top of the SEC. The bottom side of both leagues stink... but Northwestern, Illinois, and Indiana probably stink worse than Vandy, Kentucky, and Miss State.

Beyond that, Michigan and OSU might play competitively with LSU, UF, UT, Auburn, and Georgia but Purdue and Iowa- no way. It eventually comes down to players and all 5 of these teams have been among the top recruiters over the past 4 years.

 

I don't think Michigan will beat OSU... and I don't think OSU will beat Texas.

Having lived in ACC, SEC, PAC 10, Big 10/ND, SEC again, and now Big 12 country... I can say that Big 10 teams are seldom "underrated". They have the advantage of a loyal concentration of media that helps stretching from Philly to Minneapolis. It has the greatest population of any of the conferences if I am not mistaken. The SEC doesn't have this advantage.

The PAC 10 is a joke and will remain that way until UW gets it going again.

The ACC could turn out to be better than both this year although I have argued against the idea.

I am learning to have respect for the Big 12 though OU has been an embarrassment to them the past two years. My dark horse in this league is Nebraska. I think they are laying in the bushes with some really outstanding JuCo players and a good coach/system.

Overall, I think the Big 10 is nationally competitive at the top with a significant gap to the second tier then a few teams that are just downright terrible every year. Vandy is really the only SEC team that is never any good.

 

Regardless of which conference turns out to be best, I don't see anyone stopping Southern Cal from winning the mythical national championship again this season.

 

Claiming that that conference that ran out of fingers and can't count any higher has 4 teams with "national championship potential" just ain't competent. One or 2 of those are probably going to flop. We may be seeing a return to 2-team dominance of the conference, as in '68 through '81. If this does occur, the conference overall will more likely be weaker than stronger. If 2 out of 11 teams are getting the best talent in that region (plus a little outside of it), that will mean the other teams are getting less of that talent; so a couple of strong teams mean weaker mid and lower ranking teams. I think that is the situation in the Big 12 right now.

 

That's passion. Not reason.

Michigan as you alluded to earlier is held back by the same position as UT... the head coach.

 

Depends on who they play.

If 4HG is right and someone comes out of the Big 10 undefeated (say Iowa) then I think USC will benefit by not getting a team likely to beat them.

There are several teams that can beat them but have a poor chance of going undefeated: UT, OSU, LSU, Miami, Va Tech, Texas, UF, FSU, etc

Sorry 4HG but Michigan doesn't have the receivers.

 

If I were an opposing coach, Hart would be the only one in that group that scared me. He does some good things.

I should have been more clear. I am not assuming that USC goes... just that if that cotton candy schedule does play out for them, there are several teams that would stand a very good chance of beating them but probably won't get the chance because of the difficulty of their schedules.

Iowa stands the best chance IMO of any school in the ACC, SEC, Big 10, or even the Big 12... and I don't think they can stay on the same field with USC.

BTW, I am not trying to offend you but Breaston couldn't get on the field at UT, UF, or LSU and Avant would be average. The only receiver on the Vol depth chart as small as Breaston is a true freshman... and before you think that makes them slow, one or two of those guys runs a sub 4.3 40. They need not expect to play if they aren't sub 4.5.

The top 5 UT receivers are bigger and as fast as Avant and have proven to have good hands.

Receiver is simply one of those areas where Mich or OSU or Wisconsin will have one or two stand out talents where an SEC or ACC school will have 5 or 6.

 

I likewise am waiting for providence to send USC their share of bad bounces.

 

Ohio State 24 Michigan 13

 

I grew up in Big 10 country and still enjoy watching Big 10 football.....but I think ESPN is off on this one. I think there are 2 or 3 conferences better than the Big 10.

Oh...and you Michigan and OSU fans crack me up....neither of you all is going to be the class of the Big 10 this year. Look out for Iowa, Wisconsin and Purdue.

 

The best team will be Michigan or OSU. The team with the best shot at the National title is Iowa.

4HG, I have lived in the territories of every "big" conf except the Big East if you still consider them a player.

You have to live it to know the difference between the SEC and the other conferences.