Big Ten not yet the SEC, but that’s just fine

Change in perception

is happening slowly

By Doug Lesmerises

Northeast Ohio Media Group

COLUMBUS

Is it what you want, really? A top-10 quality foe every week? Test after test, no breather?

An awesome conference, top to bottom?

“No. No,” Urban Meyer said.

“I’m joking,” he added.

Are you sure? Ohio State’s coach was at least a little bit serious, right?

Because it’s time to slow the roll on the comparisons between the Big Ten East of now and the SEC West of recent vintage.

At the top? Absolutely. Ohio State won a national title and stands as a unanimous preseason No. 1; Michigan State won at least 11 games in four of the last five years and stands as an absolute College Football Playoff threat this season; Penn State looks ready to turn James Franklin’s recruiting prowess (No. 14 class in 2015) into on-field results in the near future; and Michigan got Harbaughed.

“Our side of the conference is kind of ridiculous right now as far as the quality of teams,” Meyer said, impressed by the East’s 5-1 bowl record last season.

But overall? Some people think the SEC West may not be college football’s top division anymore — but those huzzahs go now to the Pac-12 South. Not to Ohio State’s home.

If the Buckeyes are going to build a version of a Buck Dynasty here in the next few years, the conference will matter. Each game, Ohio State is only half the equation. So yes, a better Big Ten means a bigger, broader platform for the Buckeyes.

Talk has changed

“You look at the discussions and the things that are being talked about nationally, the excitement, and it’s a 180-degree turn from the conversations that were going on a year ago,” Franklin said. “That’s exciting. The perception really has changed.”

“I think it’s good for our conference the better we are,” Meyer said.

Urban Meyer on conference strength Do you want your conference to be awesome?

Just not too much better. Reality is perception’s twin, but they wear different outfits. Check out the first six games of Ohio State’s conference schedule. Indiana, Maryland, Penn State, Rutgers, Minnesota, Illinois.

Reality is a little rumpled. The Big Ten, in this moment, may be exactly what Ohio State needs.

The Buckeyes received 1,525 points in the preseason AP poll. Those six teams earned 20, all to the Nittany Lions and their preseason No. 31 ranking. Top to bottom, the Big Ten, right now, is not what the SEC has been.

And that’s great for the Buckeyes. The league no longer is mocked. But this also isn’t the weekly grind where a tight, physical win one week can help a team lose the next. Meyer has lived that. He went back nine years.

“I remember at Florida, there was that run every October - a gauntlet now - I want to say it was Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, LSU right after each other,” he said at Big Ten Media Days in July.

• Try 2006 - the year of his first national title.

Sept. 30 to Oct. 28.

Alabama, in the last year before Nick Saban. No. 9 LSU. No. 11 Auburn. Georgia. Won three of four. Went on to win it all.

• Try 2007.

Sept. 29 to Oct. 27.

Auburn. No. 1 LSU. No. 7 Kentucky. No. 18 Georgia. Lost three of four.

• Try 2010. Meyer’s final year in the SEC.

Oct. 2 to Oct. 30.

No. 1 Alabama. No. 12 LSU. Mississippi State. Georgia. Lost three of four and the win was in overtime. He retired.

“Delany would probably love it,” Meyer said of a Big Ten stacked with contenders.

That’s Jim Delany, Big Ten boss, first of his name, ruler of commissioners, creator of TV networks, expander of boundaries, embracer of demographics.

Top-20 matchups every week. Sure thing. Great programming.

“But to answer your question, no.”

Meyer doesn’t want it. Not top 10 every week.

Right conference, right time

The Big Ten can’t be what it was. If you thought the Buckeyes were going to miss the four-team College Football Playoff last season, it wasn’t about who they were as much as where they came from. Did winning the mediocre Big Ten mean enough?

But what the Big Ten might become could make things more difficult the other way.

Michigan and Penn State could join Ohio State and Michigan State as legitimate top-10 teams in a year or two. Right now, 247sports.com’s recruiting ratings for the Class of 2016 have the Buckeyes at No. 1, Penn State at No. 5, Michigan at No. 9 and Michigan State at No. 12. Throw in the bountiful recruiting grounds in New Jersey and Maryland, and the East’s new additions, Rutgers and Maryland, could be top-25 contenders soon enough with the right management.

So Ohio State’s run at a dynasty may be coming at the ideal time, with the Big Ten on the way up but not yet at its peak. In the meantime, the Buckeyes should embrace, appreciate and capitalize on this limbo.

Where the SEC West has five teams in the AP preseason poll: No. 3 Alabama, No. 5 Auburn, No. 14 LSU, No. 17 Ole Miss and No. 18 Arkansas.

Where the Pac-12 South has four teams: No. 8 USC, No. 13 UCLA, No. 15 Arizona State and No. 22 Arizona.

And where the Big Ten East has two: No. 1 Ohio State and No. 5 Michigan State.

Where the Big Ten is now enough of a threat to legitimize a conference king, but not enough of a grind to threaten to knock off the champ each week.

Where the Big Ten, in more than a few eyes, is on the rise, while the SEC is in decline.

Who’s mocking now?

“It’s a one-year cycle,” Meyer said. “And we’ve got to do this for a while. The SEC had a seven-year cycle going. So there’s a lot of pressure on the Big Ten to keep this rolling.”

Pressure, expectation and benefit of the doubt - which the Big Ten hasn’t earned since Ohio State and Michigan played their No. 1 vs. No. 2 game at the end of the 2006 regular season.

Consider these comments ESPN analyst and former Michigan receiver Desmond Howard made to the Northeast Ohio Media Group before the national title game in January. This was before the Buckeyes had won a ring but had vanquished Alabama on the same day Wisconsin beat Auburn and Michigan State rallied against Baylor. Meyer said those wins by the Badgers and Spartans fueled the Buckeyes in their win over Alabama.

Howard:

“I think the perception of the Big Ten would change dramatically if they were to win this game.”

“The SEC West kind of dominated the regular season, then got dominated in the bowl season.”

“I think the perception of the Big Ten is trending upwards now, without a doubt.”

And then he went at length into the SEC’s 2-5 bowl record by its ranked teams, with the league 7-5 overall.

“Mississippi State got drilled by Georgia Tech. Ole Miss got annihilated by TCU. Alabama got manhandled by a Big Ten school with a third-string quarterback. Auburn got beat by an interim coach (Wisconsin’s Barry Alvarez.) So a lot of things didn’t look good for the SEC West.”

And they looked better for the Big Ten East. As the Big Ten has learned the hard way, looks matter.