A Perfect Cinematic Depiction of the Big Ten's Bowl Game Effort

by Graham Filler on Jan 10, 2009 1:16 AM CST

Although Ohio State is being fetted for hand fighting Texas to the death and the Buck's are no longer the most well known big game chokers in CFB (Thats the reason they made Ohhklahoma), most Big 10 football fans walked away from his bowl season slightly scarred from the 1-6 performance against stiff competition. No matter the strategy that was tried or the effort given this offseason, victories were rare to come by. Since when did the Big 10 become the weak and sniveling combatant, battling uphill to no avail? It was almost like...well...just pay attention to Commodus at the 2:04 mark.

No matter how hard Commodus desperately smashes Maximus, the emperor knows he's defeated. The outcome can be read on the face of Russell Crowe: "Your done kid."

It's no use spending too much time crying over losses, but one must begin asking: What are they key's for Big 10 Football to become a dominant conference again? Sportswriters talk about an offensively retarded Big 10, but most of the Big 10 teams run complicated offenses with elements of the Spread either a main focus or an important part. These same writers say that a change must be made to "speed based" offenses, speaking as if these Midwest teams only employ fullbacks at the skill positions. So what is the turning point? What needs to be tweaked, who needs to be recruited?

Poll

What must the football teams of the Big 10 do to improve their competitiveness at the national level?

Nothing. Things are cyclical and the Big 10 will be back near the top in no time.

16 votes

Ditch the "power running game" philosophy that prevails at almost half the Big 10 schools.

3 votes

Recruit more athletes from California and the South for their presumed speed and agility.

12 votes

Bargain for tougher scheduling to boost national exposure and toughen teams.

14 votes

Some combination of options 2,3, and 4.

13 votes

58 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

I wanted to choose:

make a bigger effort to win (money wise, from the programs), and…

play less Noon games.

Michigan, PSU, OSU, and Iowa clearly go all-out to win. What of the other schools?

Tomahawk Nation: No-Holds-Barred Nole Analysis

by Bud Elliott on Jan 10, 2009 2:59 AM CST reply actions

If we want to return to prominance

We need to win big out of conference games, it’s that simple. Not just bowl games, but those early games that create national buzz. It’s only when those games are won that we have a benchmark set for the rest of the season for the commentators to go back to.
As far as exposure, noon games make a difference, but I think a lot of the exposure issues come from the BTN not being watched by anyone other than Big Ten fans, so most games not being seen by the bulk of the country. And that’s only going to get worse as the SEC/ESPN deal turns them from just friends with benefits to a full time married couple. Why will the worldwide leader bother to pimp any other conference ?

by chitownhawkeye on Jan 10, 2009 11:43 AM CST reply actions

Isn't this an end and not a means?

How do you win those games?

Tomahawk Nation: No-Holds-Barred Nole Analysis

by Bud Elliott on Jan 10, 2009 12:01 PM CST up reply actions

Recruit more athletes from California and the South for their presumed speed and agility.

This is a result of the media being stupid and lazy, everyone recruits in Florida and California—that includes the “slow” Big 10.

I’m not sure what the solution is, but it will eventually correct itself over time (I’m not saying it’s completely cyclical, just that it will appear to be that way because there are different solutions for different teams and said solutions aren’t always overt). There is too much money flowing into the top schools in the Big 10 for this to become a systemic problem (and this is not to say that there won’t be another down year or two, possibly three in the interim).

by Estrada on Jan 10, 2009 12:16 PM CST reply actions