Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg
Spin control took a break during Big Ten media days.
As players, coaches and league officials fielded questions about the conference's sagging national image, they didn't deny the obvious. Ohio State players understood why most of the country has no interest in seeing them Jan. 7 in Miami. Illinois coach Ron Zook, whose team finished last season with a 49-17 loss to USC in the Rose Bowl, put it in clear terms: "There's not a whole lot we can say until we go win."
Even Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany acknowledged the damage done in the last two postseasons. He pointed out the league's favorable BCS/Bowl Alliance record before the current four-game losing streak, but then added: "We want to play the big games on the big stage and sometimes you just get whipped, and we did. And so I think you have to kind of nuzzle up to that and sort of accept it."
The Big Ten enters the 2008 season in a somewhat tenuous state after taking plenty of hits nationally. Most place the league behind both the SEC and the Big 12, and possibly the Pac-10, on college football's hierarchy. The criticisms are familiar -- inferior athletes, lack of speed, recruiting shortcomings -- and fueled by two primary arguments.
1. The Big Ten's best team, Ohio State, has performed poorly in the last two national championship games.
2. A large gap separates Ohio State from the rest of the league, as evidenced by the Buckeyes' 22-2 conference record in the last three seasons. If Ohio State is the best the Big Ten has to offer, how far behind are the other 10 teams?
Dispelling the second statement could be the greater priority this season. Ohio State can silence its coast-to-coast critics by beating USC, running the table and winning the national title on its third try (preferably against an SEC opponent), but it will take improvement from others to raise the league's profile.
The three teams trying to catch Ohio State -- Wisconsin, Penn State and Illinois -- all must fill holes in the offensive backfield, and Penn State also must block out the constant banter about coach Joe Paterno's future. Michigan is the league's biggest mystery, as coach Rich Rodriguez tries to fast-track a team featuring mostly unproven personnel.
But the Big Ten's push for respect largely depends on its middle class, headlined by Michigan State, a team many tab to be this season's Illinois.
Iowa has endured disappointing results on the field and embarrassing ones off of it, but the Hawkeyes have a history of turning things around. Purdue tries to send pioneering coach Joe Tiller out on a good note, while both Northwestern and Indiana set their sights on a decent bowl game. Minnesota needs a major upgrade on defense, but coach Tim Brewster should see improvement in his second season.
It won't take long to get a good read on the Big Ten. Arguably no conference has more on the line during the season's first month. The league has taken heat for some soft scheduling but boasts plenty of image-shaping matchups in August/September, and not just the big one Sept. 13 at the L.A. Coliseum.
- Illinois opens the season against Missouri, a national title contender and a team many wished had made a BCS bowl instead of the Illini.
- Wisconsin takes a trip most BCS teams avoid at all costs, to non-BCS power Fresno State.
- Michigan State can boost the Big Ten's stock against the Pac-10 by beating Cal on the road in the opener.
- Michigan, expected to start slow following a major coaching and personnel transition, opens against a respected Utah team before visiting Notre Dame two weeks later.
- Purdue, which hasn't won enough marquee games in recent seasons, hosts Oregon in Week 2 before facing back-to-back MAC champ Central Michigan and then Notre Dame.
- Penn State's schedule doesn't grade too high on degree of difficulty, but a home win against Oregon State would help the league's profile.
- After a rough offseason, Iowa can put the spotlight back on the field by winning on the road at Pitt, a borderline Top 25 team.
The opportunity is there to change minds around the country.
After spending too much time defending its reputation in recent months, the Big Ten is eager to shut up and play.
Adam Rittenberg joined ESPN.com in 2008 after four years at the Arlington Heights (Ill.) Daily Herald, where he covered sports at Notre Dame, Northwestern, DePaul and several other colleges. He lives in Chicago.
