Tonight the Nebraska Cornhuskers play the Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten Championship game. It’s a bit of a nightmare scenario for the conference.
Nebraska is not a bad team. They’re 10-2 and have only lost one game in the conference — although it was a crushing loss, a 63-38 spanking at the hands of the Ohio State Buckeyes. Wisconsin, on the other hand, is a different story. The Badgers are 7-5 overall, and only 4-4 in the conference. Wisconsin lost three of its last four games, all in overtime.
Wisconsin is not a bad team, either — but what does it tell you when a .500 team in the conference makes it to the championship game and has the chance to play in the Rose Bowl? The reason, of course, is that undefeated Ohio State, easily the best team in the Big Ten, isn’t eligible to play due to NCAA sanctions.
Not surprisingly, there’s not a lot of interest in the game. Many tickets are for sale at a steep discount from face value, and organizers are expecting a number of empty seats. I’m confident that the Rose Bowl organizers, too, are holding their breath and hoping that Nebraska wins, so the Granddaddy of all bowl games doesn’t feature a team that barely has a winning record.
I’m sure the Badgers will play their hardest and will be proud to represent the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl if they win. I’d feel that way if I were a Badger, too, but for the rest of us Big Ten fans this game is an embarrassment. It’s a pathetic conclusion to a year that — thanks to the sanctions imposed on Ohio State and Penn State, weak teams, a less-than-stellar out of conference record, and uninspired play by teams like Michigan State that were expected to be powerhouses — has been an embarrassment for the storied Big Ten conference.
In recent years Big Ten fans have paid careful attention to the conference’s bowl record. They feel like the Big Ten is disrespected on the national level, particularly in comparison to the SEC. (I regret to say that Ohio State is responsible for a lot of this perception. The Buckeyes are one of the Big Ten’s flagship programs, and they have never beaten an SEC team in a bowl game. That record unfortunately includes two national championship game losses.) Bowl games are supposed to be fun, but for the Big Ten they are serious business, and not just because they produce significant revenue for the member schools. Big Ten fans want everyone to recognize what they believe to be true — that the Big Ten is the best conference in the country, with the biggest stadiums, the richest traditions, the greatest rivalries, and the most dedicated fans. If you want to exercise such bragging rights, however, you have to earn them on the field.
This year the Big Ten has gotten off to a good start in bowl season. It is 2-0, with Illinois and Iowa both posting bowl wins. Today will tell the tale, however, particularly since three of the bowl games match up the Big Ten and the SEC. Each of the games, moreover, poses intriguing questions and matchups. How will Northwestern perform without their fine quarterback, Dan Persa, and will it be able to win its first bowl game since the Truman Administration? Can Michigan State put a signature win over the defending national champions as a capstone on a break-through season that has seen the Spartans win 11 games? How will Michigan’s Denard Robinson fare against the Bulldogs, and can the beleaguered Michigan defense keep the Wolverines in the game? And which Penn State and Florida teams will show up for the Outback Bowl?
It would have been nice if Northwestern, Minnesota, and Michigan State had pulled out wins in their games, too, but I’ll take a 4-3 bowl record for now. After all of the criticism of the Big Ten as “overrated,” “slow,” “unimaginative,” “boring,” and so forth, it was nice to see Big Ten teams step up in games against top-ranked teams and show what they could do. I think the bowl games demonstrated that this year’s Big Ten had many strong teams with excellent athletes and coaches. It should quiet the naysayers for a while, at least.
On the defensive side of the ball, I think Ohio State just had more talent than Oregon expected. Even though Oregon consistently had good field position due to poor kick return coverage by the Buckeyes — thanks mostly to short, low kickoffs and lost contain — it often struggled to move the ball and its quarterback was under pressure whenever he went back to pass. Although Oregon clearly has speed on offense, they didn’t have the enormous speed advantage that the experts forecast and, as the game wore on, couldn’t come up with the big plays at crucial moments. Oregon also had a crushing turnover on a blown handoff that stopped a drive and allowed Ohio State to get the ball back and run more time off the clock.
For old-line Big Ten fans (such as me) the Rose Bowl will always occupy a special place because, for years, it was the bowl destination of the winner of the Big Ten. It was the oldest and, for Big Ten fans at least, the most prestigious bowl game. My college roommate and I actually went to the Rose Bowl on January 1, 1980, when the undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes lost to the USC Trojans in a thrilling game. We both were on the Ohio State Lantern at the time and got the Lantern‘s press box pass and field pass for the game. Graydon sat in the press box, and I took the field pass and watched the game from the sidelines. It is the only time I have watched a major sports event from the field of play, and it was awesome looking up at more than 100,000 cheering fans sitting in that big bowl. Although the outcome of the game was not what I would have wished, it was an experience I will never forget.
I expect it to be a tough, hard-hitting game. Iowa’s offense is banged up and, at times during conference play, has struggled at moving the ball. Due to an injury they will be starting a new quarterback, so when Iowa has the ball Ohio State fans will look to make the Horseshoe as loud and intimidating as possible. Iowa’s defense, on the other hand, is one of the finest defenses in the Big Ten and in the nation. They are a gritty, ball-hawking group that thrives on turnovers and big plays. Iowa also has excellent special teams that have kicked and covered well and blocked field goal and punt attempts.
