ironyisadeadscene wrote:
those schools are trying to make a name for themselves and make the jump to division 1A. so they throw money at big schools for the exposure. and it works. thats the way the NCAA works. big schools take money to beat up on smaller schools, and those smaller schools soak it all up and ask for another. this isnt a big 10 problem, its the way it is around every major conference. and thats the way its been for a while. i hate saying this, but you may want to educate yourself better on college football because i dont think you understand it well. at least not that part of the game.
as for cowherd, hes a fucking moron. always has been, always will be.
They're not trying to make a name for themselves. THEY'RE the ones getting paid. They travel and give a (supposedly) guaranteed win to a BCS school, and in exchange get a hefty check that they never would have gotten otherwise. It isn't the big school taking money, its them dishing out some of the massive amounts they have to beat the shit out of inferior schools.
Note: I'm not picking on the Big 10 here, just using them as an example:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Appal ... tball_gameQuote:
Instead of an easy tune-up for Michigan, Appalachian State leaves with its most profound victory ever and a check for $400,000 that was supposed to be their pay for getting punished.
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/20 ... etics.aspxQuote:
For Penn State, the amount of money it pays for guarantee games pales in comparison to the total amount of money it makes per game.
The fact that everyone does it, doesn't make it any less bullshit, nor does it hide the fact that the Big 10, a conference that isn't that good to begin with, continually features a pathetic out of conference schedule. It's not like they're the SEC where the conference is so good the conference schedule speaks for itself, and their out of conference games aren't as important. The Big 10 earns more money as a conference than any other in the country except occasionally for the SEC.
Seriously, would you have put Penn St. or Iowa in the national championship had they gone undefeated over a one loss Alabama or a one loss Texas team?
PSU Quality wins would have been Iowa (kinda), and #16 Ohio St.
Iowa Quality wins would have been #5 PSU and #11 Ohio St.
Alabama Quality opponents were Virginia Tech, Mississippi, South Carolina, LSU, and Florida. Throw a loss in there somewhere.
Texas Quality opponents were Oklahoma, Oklahoma St. and Nebraska. Throw a loss in there somewhere. (To be fair, the Big 12 isn't exactly strong either.
If the Big Ten isn't going to boast an elite roster of schools like the SEC, and is going to continue to schedule dogshit opponents, then they're only hurting themselves. The winner of the SEC already has a proven track record against quality teams based on conference play. The winner of the Big 10, right now does not.
Here's what I hope happens:
One of the "big time" Big 10 schools (Michigan, Penn St., Ohio St.) goes undefeated and doesn't make the national championship because of one loss Florida/Texas/LSU/Alabama/Miami/Georgia Tech with more impressive wins. Hell, for a while it was being flirted with last year.
And Herd is so often right, and hilarious, you just don't like him because he's been ripping on Michigan for years.