“Penn State’s No. 3 ranking is completely bogus. They have played no one, and the Big Ten is one of the weakest conferences in college football.” - October 31, 2008
Here were my predictions for key arguments from the Fan Line following Penn State’s win over Ohio State.
“The Big Ten is still super-weak this year. Penn State got lucky that Pryor fumbled. How can Penn State be ranked #3 when they haven’t played anybody respectable other than Ohio State? Ohio State is just another cupcake. Paterno is a manager, not a coach.”
This call covers two of my predictions. I had a hunch that Ohio State would qualify as another “nobody.”
As far as strength of conferences, don’t let ESPN brainwash you too much. The Big 10 is actually one of the strongest conferences in college football. I calculate it as 3rd strongest.
Big 12 - 5 teams in the Top 25. 4 of them ranked in the Top 10.
SEC - 4 teams in the Top 25. 3 of them ranked in the Top 10.
Big 10 - 4 teams in the Top 25. 1 ranked in the Top 10.
ACC - 3 - teams ranked in the Top 25. Florida State leads the charge at #16.
Mountain West - 3 teams ranked in the Top 25 (Utah, TCU, and BYU)
Pac 10 - 2 teams ranked in the Top 25. USC is ranked #7. Otherwise, this is an empty conference this year.
Big East - South Florida is the only ranked team (#24), and they’ll be exiting the polls next week. The UConn/West Virginia winner should enter the Top 25, and Cincinnati may have a shot, and Pitt could have a shot with a win over Notre Dame.
WAC - Boise State is coasting through the WAC. Only their game against Fresno State will stop them from running the table.
Mid American - Ball State is coasting through the MAC. Only their game against Central Michigan will stop them from running the table.
CUSA - Tulsa is still undefeated in Conference USA. Can they survive Arkansas this weekend?
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5. November 2008 | 13:04 hFrom the November 5, 2008 Fan Line: “You have all these arguments about SEC and ACC and Big Ten and Big 12. You want a league that’s absolutely pathetic, it’s the Big East. Louisville lost to Syracuse, Pitt lost to Rutgers and West Virginia lost to Colorado and East Carolina.”
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6. November 2008 | 09:10 hFrom the November 6, 2008 Fan Line: “The Big Ten might be down, but it’s still third behind the Big 12 and the SEC. And that’s only this year. The ACC, and especially the Big East, don’t even compare. What a waste of money to pay those teams for a BCS bowl game.”