Why is Big 10 football so boring?

[EvilVodka]

This morning, Big 10 football kicks off on ESPN...

Ohio State @ Illinois
Northwestern @ Michigan

wow...incredible

And if you were bold enough to get the Big 10 network, you'd have the opportunity to watch Penn State play Indiana or Purdue at Iowa

this is about as exciting as watching paint dry, no wonder Jim Delaney wants to add Texas

[Lincoln Tower]

Yes, any game not played in 70 degrees and sunshine is "boring"

[Blue Hen]

Not many B10 night games. I've always thought playing under the lights added some atmosphere.....giving the perception of a more exciting brand of ball.

[ZOOMBAG]

I know this for sure, and they repeated it on the Alabama game, the whole college football world is thankful, first, to Penn St. for ensuring Ohio St did not get to the MNC game and to Iowa for ensuring NO Big Team will be going to the MNC game....

The Big 10 has definitely fallen well behind the Big 12, SEC, and PAC 10 in terms of quality, and entertaining football. They are lot closer to the Big East than the SEC....

[aufan59]

Poor QB play, soft defense, and quiet crowds (it's cold).

[Lincoln Tower]

I know this for sure, and they repeated it on the Alabama game, the whole college football world is thankful, first, to Penn St. for ensuring Ohio St did not get to the MNC game and to Iowa for ensuring NO Big Team will be going to the MNC game....

The Big 10 has definitely fallen well behind the Big 12, SEC, and PAC 10 in terms of quality, and entertaining football. They are lot closer to the Big East than the SEC....

So you'd rank teams based on a beauty contest. Yet decry the polls as bad for the same reason.

Hypocrite alert.....

[Lincoln Tower]

Poor QB play, soft defense, and quiet crowds (it's cold).

Road teams won in 3 of the 5 games. In the Iowa/Wisconsin games, the crowd was loud.

[ZOOMBAG]

So you'd rank teams based on a beauty contest. Yet decry the polls as bad for the same reason.

Hypocrite alert.....

I hope Big 10 fans enjoy their Oregon St - Penn St snoozefest of a Rose Bowl nobody is going to watch....

[GatorGrad]

Didn't Penn St already destroy Oregon State? Is the Rose Bowl really going to stage that game if both teams win out?

[Blue Hen]

With all the poor QBs and soft defenses, the B10 has still been too dificult for the SEC teams to handle in bowls in the BCS era ( SEC teams hav only won 12 out of 25..in their own backyards vs the B10 boys ).

[Lincoln Tower]

I hope Big 10 fans enjoy their Oregon St - Penn St snoozefest of a Rose Bowl nobody is going to watch....

Oregon State has improved a lot. Replacing an entire front 7 is usually tough. Should be a better game.

The Rogers brothers and Derrick Williams are exciting football players. SHould be very exciting.

You're still a hypocrit.

[buckeyejim]

I hope Big 10 fans enjoy their Oregon St - Penn St snoozefest of a Rose Bowl nobody is going to watch....

Most Watched BCS Games:

1998: #1 BCS Title Game; #2 Rose Bowl
1999: #1 BCS Title Game; #2 Rose Bowl
2000: #1 BCS Title Game; #2 Rose Bowl
2001: #1 BCS Title Game in the Rose Bowl
2002: #1 BCS Title Game; #2 Rose Bowl
2003: #1 BCS Title Game; #2 Rose Bowl
2004: #1 BCS Title Game; #2 Rose Bowl
2001: #1 BCS Title Game in the Rose Bowl
2006: #1 BCS Title Game; #2 Rose Bowl
2007: #1 BCS Title Game; #2 Rose Bowl

Unless this trend is broken, the Rose Bowl will have the highest viewership of all the BCS games except for the BCS Championship Game.

[Lincoln Tower]

Most Watched BCS Games:

1998: #1 BCS Title Game; #2 Rose Bowl
1999: #1 BCS Title Game; #2 Rose Bowl
2000: #1 BCS Title Game; #2 Rose Bowl
2001: #1 BCS Title Game in the Rose Bowl
2002: #1 BCS Title Game; #2 Rose Bowl
2003: #1 BCS Title Game; #2 Rose Bowl
2004: #1 BCS Title Game; #2 Rose Bowl
2001: #1 BCS Title Game in the Rose Bowl
2006: #1 BCS Title Game; #2 Rose Bowl
2007: #1 BCS Title Game; #2 Rose Bowl

Unless this trend is broken, the Rose Bowl will have the highest viewership of all the BCS games except for the BCS Championship Game.

Eh, ZOOM doesn't let facts get in the way of a argument.....

[Doc]

There were some great football games in the Big Ten this past weekend and the games were played in less than ideal conditions. I can tell you that every Big Ten game I watched was better than the blowout played down in Gainesville or the Bama/MSU game. Personally, I love watching games played in the elements of the fall. And how about this run by Beanie Wells...this is a 240 pound man...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGZvIFIW14o

[AJBuckeye]

That 3 - 2 Mississippi St game must really get your blood rolling.

[AJBuckeye]

That Florida - South Carolina Bama - Miss St were so darn exciting I had to put my Depends on because I did not want to miss a single second for a restroom break.

Thank goodness for LSU as well. They had to over come a 30 pt deficit to beat that powerhouse Troy Trojan team. Unfortunately for us big 10 fans we had to witness a boring Big 10 style win when the Buckeyes played Troy.

[Coach 3]

...and lets not talk about any tennessee, auburn , arkansas or miss st game this year...okay- auburn-uga was pretty good..if you want high percentage of boring football games...then watch football on sunday...last night, i was yawning in the second qtr. during skins- cowboys and that san diego- pittsburgh marquis game was played like a high school game, complete with a high school final score...

[Hail to the Victors Valiant]

Mandel from CNNSI wrote an article on how the SEC is the most overrated conference this year citing, in part, the number of boring and ineffective offenses in the conference. And when comparing current conference team rankings against their pre and early season ones, he furthers his point.

The hype machine is strong though and the conference could post a stellar bowl record, but there have been a number of boring sec games. any doubts, watch auburn's games replayed this year.

And the osu-ill was kinda exciting as was the snow bowl in Ann Arbor, well at least for the snow and all of Mich's could-have-beens.

[TommyTrojan]

The Big Ten is no more boring than any other league. It is just another case of people buying in too much to the preception of the style of football in the league. 3 yards and a cloud of dust - nevermind that the conference hasn't been that in years.

BTW- why is an Oregon State-Penn State Rose Bowl any more of a "disaster" than a Maryland-Cincinnati Orange Bowl?

[Coach 3]

will not fill the orange bowl with more than 10-12,000.with that attendance added to their puny share of 37,000 likely total crowd attendance for their possible acc title game, that alone should disqualify 'em... its basketball season here now where hoops is king of campus and this is nfl country where we have two nfl contenders within a 30 mile radius of campus. maryland is a good, gritty football team, but seeing them in a bcs-level bowl is admittedly ludicrous. they are no better than 4th in the sec east or a 6th or 7th place team in the big 12 overall this year,an awesome conference who alas could easily argue for 4 bcs slots ...

[ZOOMBAG]

I think both of those highlight is rather spectacular fashion how utterly worthless ALL bowl games are.... My last Div IA, FBS, whatever game I will watch this year will be the Hawaii-Cincy game in the wee morning hours of Dec 7. I almost never watch bowl games anymore than I ever watched those pre-season "classics" they used to have.

[Lincoln Tower]

I think both of those highlight is rather spectacular fashion how utterly worthless ALL bowl games are.... My last Div IA, FBS, whatever game I will watch this year will be the Hawaii-Cincy game in the wee morning hours of Dec 7. I almost never watch bowl games anymore than I ever watched those pre-season "classics" they used to have.

Thats not true. You talk about bowl games constantly.

[ZOOMBAG]

Thats not true. You talk about bowl games constantly.

I talk about their uselessness but I almost never watch them. Last bowl game I watched was Nebraska-Auburn in a cotton bowl a couple of years ago, because a high-school classmate of my daughter was the NU Band drum major and I wanted to watch the half-time show..... I didn't even watch Air Force's bowl game last year, and i won't this year either. It doesn't matter, we didn't win the CIC, or the MWC, so the season is over for AFA as far as I am concerned....

[ZOOMBAG]

Thats not true. You talk about bowl games constantly.

Oh, more bowl futility:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2008-01-08-bcs-television-ratings_N.htm

Another reason why Fox isn't all that enthusiastic in battling ESPN for the BCS. And imagine what putting the BCS on nothing but paid cable is going to do for ratings?

Bowls are the most useless, pathetic invention of modern sport with the BCS and new MNC game being the high point of uselessness....

[Lincoln Tower]

I have no problem think a playoff is better than the bowl system. That is obvious.

Unfortunately, I have no power to change it. So I watch the bowls.

But dont try and spin this. You constantly talked about Boise-OK in 2007. You talked up the Hawaii Georgia game too. You watch them then discuss them here. You have been doing that for years.

Stop lying. It benefits noone.

[Blue Hen]

Bowls aren't a 'modern' sport invention ( relative to CF history ). The Pasedena city fathers started the whole post season exhibition tradition back in 1902. Actually, the Pasedena Hunt Club fostered the idea back in 1889. You would think that over 107 years this great game's post season would evolve into something meaningful.

[Blue Hen]

Hey, AFA could still take home a muffler or credit card trophy..or a bag of nuts trophy.

[Bucs90]

Because the Big Ten sucks. Slow players, ugly uniforms, dull crowds, overrated coaches, lame mascots and a fan base that still wishes the West Coast and South had never started playing football!!!!

The state of Texas has more quality football than the entire Big 10 conference combined.

[Bucs90]

Bowls aren't a 'modern' sport invention ( relative to CF history ). The Pasedena city fathers started the whole post season exhibition tradition back in 1902. Actually, the Pasedena Hunt Club fostered the idea back in 1889. You would think that over 107 years this great game's post season would evolve into something meaningful.

Hen, I must say, I love the bowls. It's a great event for the players and fans. A vacation to a new place, a chance for the players to play football one more time, especially special for the seniors that have that last hoorah in a nice town with their team.

I just wish the bowls didn't decide the champion. Take the top 6-8, have a playoff, then let the rest have the bowls. Perfect world that we'll never see.

So, who ya got in 1-AA? James Madison and App State rematch in store?