Advice To The Big Ten: Play The SEC

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Though it's been a while since the Big Ten has been one of the top two conferences in college football, for some reason the hate that comes from the South is directed at the Big Ten more than any other league.

Which is odd because the PAC 10 and Big 12 have been better than the Big Ten during the SEC's current run of dominance the last four or five years.

The league owned by Ohio State during this stretch is really only the fourth-best league in college football.

And it will continue to struggle unless it follows this advice: Play the SEC in September.

I've long praised OSU for going out and putting teams like Texas and USC and Miami on the schedule. And Oklahoma, California and Virginia Tech in the near future. But if the Buckeyes are going to surround those made-for-TV tilts with three regional or in-state cupcakes in September, then start the Big Ten season with a pair of league Nancys like Illinois and Indiana, then of course the Buckeyes are going to be ill-prepared when they reach the meat of their Big Ten schedule. A national television audience saw perfect evidence of that Saturday night when Wisconsin dominated the Buckeyes from the opening kick.

Iowa and its rugged defense allowed 34 points in a loss at Arizona last month. On the same day, Wisconsin barely avoided an embarrassing upset loss at the hands of PAC 10 scrub Arizona State.

Neither of those teams played anyone else worthwhile in September. And outside of its win over Miami, Ohio State spent September mauling Marshall, Ohio University and Eastern Michigan, teams with a combined record of 6-14.

Michigan and Michigan State each played Notre Dame early in the season. Those are good rivalries and all, but a win over the Irish these days is hardly the formula for reaching elite status.

What Penn State should be commended for is having played at defending national champion Alabama. Playing a team is one thing; being competitive is another, so performing better might be of interest to the Nittany Lions when the Tide roll up to Happy Valley for a return visit next year. Michigan and Michigan State also have 'Bama on future schedules, so those are good steps.

Welcoming Nebraska into the Big Ten next year certainly helps the overall strength of the league. But the move will split the conference into two divisions, which means a rotating schedule could still keep a formidable foe or two off the ledger here and there. So September scheduling will continue to be critical.

If teams like Ohio State want to contend for national championships, they need better results for their one or two difficult road games within the league schedule. Two weeks before Wisconsin handled the Buckeyes, the Badgers lost at Michigan State, which has proven to be the Big Ten's best team so far.

But the best way to prepare for the tougher in-league tests has always been to play some difficult out-of-conference games in September. And no offense to South Carolina and Arkansas, but I mean the most difficult tests possible. The Alabamas and LSUs and Auburns. And you know Florida will be back next year, so count the Gators among the SEC elite and get them on the schedule one of these years.

I know these heavyweight tilts are often planned five or six years ahead of time, but start lining them up now. With conference expansion and BCS politics forcing programs to calculate their every move, especially with regard to out-of-league scheduling, the adage still remains: to be the best, you need to beat the best.