Things we have learned from 5 weeks of football...
- The B1G sucks this year and is a clear level beneath the SEC, Big 12 and PAC 12... but still above the MAC.
- There is no "clear cut" set of school who should be considered Elite top 10. We have an Elite 3-4... but after that it is a hot mess that seems to be shifting around more this year then I remember is years past.
Other thoughts?
September 29th, 2012 at 11:29 PM ^
September 29th, 2012 at 11:53 PM ^
Oregon might run the table as well or at least have only one loss, but I agree that after Bama the dropoff is immense.
September 29th, 2012 at 11:55 PM ^
I think Georgia has the players to compete with Alabama in the SEC. UGA has as good a defense as LSU and a better offense.
Aaron Murray is the best quarterback in the SEC, UGA has 4 WRs who are very dependable, and 2 Freshmen RBs in Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall who each seem to get 100 yards per game.
On Defense, tonight was their first game at full strength with their All-American Safety and their starting middle linebacker returning from suspensions (plus, a saftey whose name is "Rambo" should be able to compete with the likes of Nick Saban). Tonight they were still ironing things out and many of the points Tennessee scored were off of turnovers and fantastic field position.
Just my two cents.
September 30th, 2012 at 11:19 PM ^
I very much agree with this sentiment, at least as far as anyone can really "compete" with Alabama. I do not think LSU is anywhere near as talented right now as people are giving them credit for (many more deficiences on offense than defense). Georgia has a lot of skill and Aaron Murray is showing great development as a QB. If they can forego the almost-FSU-like guaranteed one game "Derp", I think they will be seeing Alabama in the SEC championship game. According to Lou Holtz, however, South Carolina is going to beat Alabama . . . so I guess we'll just see about that that one.
September 30th, 2012 at 12:26 AM ^
don't look now, but Oregon is struggling with Wazoo. 23-19 at the half. And Arizona leads #18 OR St 21-17 midway through the 3rd
September 30th, 2012 at 1:02 AM ^
September 30th, 2012 at 12:35 AM ^
September 30th, 2012 at 12:38 AM ^
The B1G sucks
Oklahoma St. got robbed AGAIN
The Big 12 is good.
Geno Smith will win the Heisman
And Brent Musburger still over dramatizes games that really don't matter
September 30th, 2012 at 12:59 AM ^
so basically, fuck texas
September 30th, 2012 at 1:16 AM ^
The SEC will always be overrated compared to the hype ESPN gives them, but I'd say this year they can actually back it up to an extent. Alabama is a juggernaut, and LSU could go head to head with any other team in the country. Georgia looks good, and South Carolina and Florida are alright too despite some less than stellar outings.
Also can you explain to me again how the Big 12 is "good?" They may not be as bad as the B1G, but that's not saying much. They have no elite teams whatsover. I'd say they're equivalent to the Pac-10 minus Oregon.
Although I do agree Geno Smith is going to win the Heisman.
September 30th, 2012 at 8:11 AM ^
September 30th, 2012 at 10:02 AM ^
September 30th, 2012 at 11:36 AM ^
Brent over dramatizes everything - not just games that really don't matter
September 30th, 2012 at 12:39 AM ^
We should just throw the rankings out, so many unranked teams are beating the ranked teams. And the ranked teams that do manage to win are doing it in an unflattering fashion. Both Texas and Georgia barely pulled it off today against unranked opponents. These "upsets" have become commonplace this season.
September 30th, 2012 at 1:09 AM ^
are unranked, I think they are both pretty good teams. Both will be bowling and both could pull a big shocker at some point. Close games happen sometimes, even to good teams.
Ole Miss was beaten 66-31 by Texas 2 weeks ago, yet seemed to physically and athleticaly hang with Alabama for a good portion of that game. It happens.
September 30th, 2012 at 1:00 AM ^
to pick against the spread.
September 30th, 2012 at 1:03 AM ^
September 30th, 2012 at 2:02 AM ^
September 30th, 2012 at 12:38 PM ^
Have you watched Martinez this year? Martinez has completed 68% of his passes and has an 11 to 1 TD:INT ratio. He's averaging 8.75 YPA. Yeah, his throwing motion is weird, but he gets the ball to his receivers. As for whether he's better or worse a runner than Denard, I don't know, but he seems to know when to tuck and run more often. Right now I think he looks vastly improved.
September 30th, 2012 at 8:22 AM ^
September 30th, 2012 at 1:06 AM ^
offenses and the up tempo offensive attack teams employ. I think it robs defenses of the opportunity to be creative and situational substitute. Most teams have to revert to a base defense against spread/tempo teams. I think the offenses run today make teams look better than they really are physically.
The BIG is however noticeably slower all over the field and we don't seem to have many elite receivers or throwers. Thus our offenses are not very 'dangerous' or 'explosive'.
September 30th, 2012 at 2:10 AM ^
Well, we won't rob defenses of these opportunities. Even down two scores with five minutes left, we will huddle and slowly proceed to our next play. (Yes, the tempo from the Notre Dame game is still killing me.)
September 30th, 2012 at 1:07 AM ^
We've learned that Purdue leads the race to the Big Ten title game without playing a game.
September 30th, 2012 at 1:34 AM ^
September 30th, 2012 at 1:46 AM ^
They're winless in a whopping THREE GAMES!
I'm guessing you didn't take any advanced statistics classes.
September 30th, 2012 at 1:46 AM ^
The new unis look like ass on every team that wears them.
September 30th, 2012 at 12:04 PM ^
Accurate and astute observation. I concur.
September 30th, 2012 at 2:25 AM ^
What I learned:
BIG TEEEEENNNN (maniacal laughter at Illinois giving up 52 points to a WAC school).
September 30th, 2012 at 8:18 AM ^
Although cumulative conference records don't tell you much of anything about how well teams within the conference are actually playing as teams, it should be noted that, whatever malaise the Big Ten appears to be under, our conference does have the second-best cumulative record (0.684 winning percentage, compared to the SEC at 0.677 or the Pac-12 at 0.630) of the conferences mentioned by the OP.
As for a summary look at conference offensive stats just for kicks, the Big Ten has collectively put up at least comparable rushing numbers when put next to the Big 12 and Pac-12, and marginally better numbers than the SEC. As for passing, after five games, there would be plenty of teams across conferences whose numbers are basically within 10-15 yards of one another, so really the Big Ten is somehow managing to put up some decent numbers despite looking bad doing it.
September 30th, 2012 at 8:31 AM ^
Thanks for the perspective. I do think the reasone everyone is so down on the Big Ten is that the traditional powers in the conference have struggled. Eveyone sees Michigan, Ohio, Penn State, Wisc. getting beat or barely slipping by opponents. Our perception of conferences and their strenghts are mostly based upon what we see the traditional powers doing.
September 30th, 2012 at 9:43 AM ^
I hate it when people paint out worthless stats when discussing football. anybody who watches a large amount of football and isnt a homer can see with just their eyes that the big 10 sucks this year
September 30th, 2012 at 10:38 AM ^
I would agree that the Big Ten is doing everything possible to tank the eye test to date this season (and succeeding in some important respects, if that's how you judge it), but going back to looking at some of the offensive stats at least, here are some select conference averages:
| CONFERENCE | YDS | YDS/G | PASS | P YDS/G | RUSH | R YDS/G | PTS | PTS/G |
| Big Ten | 1945.4 | 411.9 | 1122.6 | 238.1 | 883.3 | 186.4 | 139.7 | 29.7 |
| SEC | 1944.8 | 417.7 | 1166.0 | 249.4 | 842.3 | 181.9 | 154.0 | 33.0 |
| Big XII | 1937.6 | 496.7 | 1196.7 | 306.6 | 779.2 | 200.2 | 159.8 | 40.9 |
| Pac-12 | 1913.3 | 421.7 | 1269.9 | 281.5 | 725.6 | 158.0 | 139.1 | 30.4 |
So, for the most part, they are reasonably similar, with the Big XII averaging more yards per game (everyone is shocked there after Baylor-WVU, right?), but the Pac-12 averaging the most total passing yards and the Big Ten average the most total rushing yards (but the Big XII averaging the most of both per game). Keep in mind, of course, that what goes on in the Big XII comes at a price - this is the most anemic conference of these four when looking at defensive statistics. That, and they also have the lowest denominator for computing averages (as "The Other Big Ten" is not a good name for a conference).
September 30th, 2012 at 11:41 AM ^
September 30th, 2012 at 8:19 AM ^
September 30th, 2012 at 12:08 PM ^
I wouldn't go so far as to say NOT a top 25 team, but they certainly didn't look like a top 10 team to me. We cannot expect top ranked teams to have the hammer down at ALL times (let down games, sluggish starts, etc.), but I expected more from LSU against an FCS team.
September 30th, 2012 at 2:20 PM ^
UofM: I mean we have barely put together two quarters of football let alone four. If we execute and put it to Purdue chicken farmers, that could give us momentum heading into Illinois. Gotta take it one game at a time and improve week by week.
September 30th, 2012 at 9:25 AM ^
It's harder to dominate now then ever. Kids regularly play on TV no matter which school they choose. With the power of internet, they can check out schools outside of their locale without ever getting on a plane. Plus, there is little danger with sophisticated scouting that they'll be overlooked when the pros come calling.
I think it's generally more balanced FBS wide.
September 30th, 2012 at 9:27 AM ^
I think the OP has a generous assessment. I don't know if I'd call any of the Big Ten teams "Elite." A few are okay, and the rest... perhaps worse that the better mac teams.
October 1st, 2012 at 5:56 AM ^
September 30th, 2012 at 9:56 AM ^
1. Bama and Oregon appear to be a lot better than everyone else. It's sad commentary, though, that both teams cheated and/or loopholed their way to dominant collections of talent.
2. The SEC isn't the juggernaut everyone thinks it is. Simliar to the Big Ten, almost every team in it has a "fatal flaw." They are still probably the best conference, but not by much.
3. The Pac 12 is looking extremely good.
4. I'll put the Big Ten fourth this year, after SEC, Pac 12, and Big 12.
5. Does anyone really think LSU has a prayer of beating Bama this year? I don't.
6. Bring it on, Sparty.
September 30th, 2012 at 10:25 AM ^
September 30th, 2012 at 12:09 PM ^
Maybe it's just me, but I do not understand the hype with the Big 12 right now. When you only rush 3 guys over 60% of the time, what do you expect to happen defensively?
September 30th, 2012 at 10:31 AM ^
Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana Tech are both playing really well. Tech doesn't seem to play D but when you play LSU, it doesn't seem like you need much
September 30th, 2012 at 11:03 AM ^
Dave Brandon: don't ever schedule a team that runs the Air Raid.
September 30th, 2012 at 2:33 PM ^
October 1st, 2012 at 4:20 AM ^
October 1st, 2012 at 9:06 AM ^
1. The B1G has lots of parity in it. No one as of now is a clear favorite to win either division seeing how Michigan hasn't played yet. The Mich-Purdue game should tell us a lot.
2. No one in this conference is elite and we have no one that is good enough to compete in the rose rowl.
3. The B1G will probably have their worst bowl season ever this year.
4. Don't sleep on Iowa.Wiseman punished the Gophers on the ground.
October 1st, 2012 at 9:21 AM ^
We learned that Bennie Fowler couldn't catch syphilis in an MSU sorority house.