B1G... Not looking forward to Bowl Season

Things aren't looking good for my favorite conference.

Michigan State- a lot back from a solid team last year but last night proved that life after Cousins might be more difficult than Sparty had anticipated. Flat out, if this is the conference flag bearer, the conference is pretty thin this year.

Ohio State - if a squeaker at home against a middling Pac12 team is a sign, it is one of more weakness for the conference. Bowl Ban means some SEC team will get an opponent one more step down the ladder in the Outback or Cap 1.

Wisconsin - well documented issues. Signs of problems all over the place and no solutions through 3 weeks. Are coaching deficiencies at the top finally being exposed?

Penn State - one of the four supposed B1G headlining programs appears to be gutted not just for the year... But possibly for a very long time. Bowl ban and overall downturn means regular B1G New Years bowl entry will have to be replaced by teams like Northwestern, Purdue, Illinois, or our Gophers for years to come.

Michigan - hammering at the hands of Alabama sent a loud message to a national audience. Schedule and stars aligned perfectly last season for possible mirage related to actual state of the program. Looks like coach's sophomore season will be more realistic.

Purdue - could find themselves in conference championship game by default, or sub 500 season and a fired coach. Amazingly little room in between. Certainly not ready to lock horns with top teams in the SEC or Big12 or Pac12.

Nebraska - loss at UCLA seems to confirm this is a program stuck at a "decent" level. Far short of tradition and fan expectations

Iowa - avoided third best team in Iowa label... Barely. Is this one of their regular downturns which seem to counter balance their bcs bowl seasons, or something worse?

Indiana - no sign of shedding "perennial conference doormat" label. Coaching choice looks shaky. Thin skinned Jesse Ventura style media warrior not looking like he is building a program.

Northwestern - at least this program is holding serve. Capable of beating (or maybe losing to) anyone. Doing nice job of meeting their considerable challenges but also not looking like a rising power. Thankful for good coaching.

Illinois - not going to challenge anyone on a national stage anytime soon. Jury still out on coaching change but embarrassing loss to Arizona shows there are problems beyond the zooker to deal with.

Minnesota - program seems to be on the slow rise that Jerry Kill had outlined. It is never good to be as low as this team has been for as long as it has, but the timing couldn't be better if it is indeed on the road to recovery. Not ready to beat a heavyweight helmet school in a bowl (not yet sure the Gophers are ready for ANY bowl), but it at least appears to be a rare B1G team that is improving.

Any way I look at it, I'm fearful the conference reputation will continue to slide, come bowl season.

To me it looks like a decent potential for the old days of "Big 2, Little 8/10" headed by OSU and Michigan in the upcoming years after this one.

Early in the season. Everyone loses a game or two. Now is the best time.

Conference perception doesn't bother me with the Gophers current status. If Kill gets us to a point where we are winning 9 games a year, I'll care more about perception.

Looks like there will only be one team playing in the BCS bowls this year.

GophersInIowa said:

Looks like there will only be one team playing in the BCS bowls this year.

Click to expand...

That is the only thing that sucks. It's nice to 'move up a bowl' when the B1G gets two BCS teams.

It's difficult speculate about bowls since B1G season hasn't even started yet, but if the conference is down, it would be nice to sneak into a decent bowl this year. Isn't there at least one mediocre affiliated bowl that is New Years Day (Gator)? How sweet would that be?! (I know I am putting cart before the horse, but F it)

As much as I hate seeing the SEC on top of college football (well, more like a few SEC teams that dominate and some good but not great teams hanging around the high teens through 25 in the rankings), the weak Big Ten this year is kind of exciting to me as a Gopher fan. Obviously I'm loving watching Wisconsin fall from back to back Rose Bowl appearances to eking out wins over lower-tier teams at home, and seeing Iowa being played tough by all of their opponents so far, but if the conference as a whole is down, it's a great opportunity to work our way back up in the conference. At this point, if the cards fall right, I could see us going 5-3 in conference this year. @Iowa, @Illinois, and @Wisconsin are all looking like winnable road games, with the way Wisconsin and Iowa struggled with Utah State and Iowa State respectively at home. Northwestern and Purdue are probably a little bit above our level right now, but we get them at home, so there are good chances for wins there.

For where we are as a program right now, the Big Ten being down is a good thing I think.

Great analysis Schnauzer. Could not have said it better myself.