Big Ten Relevancy

America's oldest conference began in 1896 and in the present day you'd think the most experience would lead to the most success but it has not. In today's world, it's all about what have you done lately. Welcome to the now Big Ten Conference. You've joined the big boys. Finally on a national stage you didn't cower from the bad boys in the south and let them bask in their untouched eight year dominance. Seven titles by the SEC, and one by Florida State, who is a southern team just in the ACC. Southern football dominance is all that has been talked about for eight years. Eight years of the Big Ten, Pac-12, Big 12, etc being ripped because they can't compete with SEC speed and SEC defense. It's also been eight years of the same chorus of berating the Big Ten. The Big Ten isn't this, the Big Ten can't do this, yada, yada, yada. Finally, three teams ended that, and  restored credibility to the Big Ten.

The Big Ten owes a sincerest thanks to Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State. Not only did the Spartans, Badgers, and Buckeyes beat a combination of two SEC teams, and a Big 12 team, they beat them on a national stage on the biggest day of the college bowl season. New Year's Day felt like New Year's Day again. Huge, intriguing match-ups throughout the day culminated with a new perception of the Big Ten. First the Badgers downed last years runner-up, Auburn, in OT. Big Ten takes one from the SEC. Next, MSU took the Cotton Bowl right out of Baylor's bear hands. (Yes, bear hands). Big Ten steals a game from the Big 12. Then, on the big stage in the second playoff game of the night, Ohio State, took down #1 Alabama in a convincing victory. Two games taken from the SEC. Any question about whether the Big Ten was capable of keeping up with the big bad south was vanquished. The SEC West lost four bowl games on New Year's Day. Yes the same SEC West conference some pundits had three of its members joining the playoffs. Yes, three of the four slots in the new college football playoff were to be occupied by teams of the SEC West. Why?, you may ask? Well because SEC football is the best and baddest brand of football in the land. Seven years of domination would bring you to that conclusion. But in those seven years, only four of the SEC's fourteen teams one a national championship. Four SEC schools combined for seven national titles.

The SEC was really dominated by four teams with six other teams being above-average and four other teams being average but also losing to "lesser" opponents. By lesser opponents I mean, anyone outside of the SEC, because if you ain't one of us then you don't count. Florida State ended that reign over college football, and the Big Ten furthered the Seminoles attack. The Big Ten took down some of the nation's elite and
restored the dignity it once held. No doubt the
SEC is great football, but now everyone is catching up. The SEC was merely the first to start the system every other program is following and those programs are beating the SEC at their own game.

The Big Ten gained some national respect but now it's all about keeping it. Remember it's not how you start but how you finish that matters. MSU is the only team that has played the two teams in the national title game. I guess you could say the National Championship runs through East Lansing and Big Ten country. The Big Ten still has a while to go but now it has key wins on the national stage, three of the top ten college coaches in America, and a new sense of pride about it's football product. Go do something with it.