CNNSI Stewart Mandel ranks the conferences....

[HarveyGlass]

Listen the Big East will be a very good conference. However, they haven't played enough teams to make me fully believe they are on par to a Michigan, Ohio State, or Wisconsin. There is not one team that the Big East played last year outside of Va Tech that I would have taken against those three.

You're trying to compare a BigEast opponent to those three.  Why not compare BigEast teams against them instead.

IMO, UofL, Rutgers, USF, and WVU could easily split with the Big10's top four.  Do you agree?

[Joe]

You're trying to compare a BigEast opponent to those three.  Why not compare BigEast teams against them instead.

IMO, UofL, Rutgers, USF, and WVU could easily split with the Big10's top four.  Do you agree?

No I'm not. I've compared all teams. I was stating that I don't believe we know enough to see if the top of our conference is on par with the top of the Big 10.

Breaking it Down

2006:

Ohio State > Louisville - Louisville is a good team, but Ohio State was really freaking good. I know they got smacked by UF, but most days that wouldn't have happened.

Wisconsin > Rugters - Wisconsin's ground defense v. Rutgers 2 back offense would be one hell of a game, however Wisky found a way to stop McFaddon, Jones, and Fish. No doubt they were better than last seasons Rutgers team in the battle of soft schedules.

Michigan < WVU-  Michigan was in the National Championship picture until 6pm on BCS Selection Sunday. They stepped up when it counted outside the USC game. That being said they would not have stopped WVU's offense in a game that could be this year's national title game.

Penn State > USF - Sorry, but we've lost this game a few times and looked bad offensively in doing so. I know, we didn't have Grothe, but we also played really bad against phyiscal defenses. Paul Pozulsney and Dan Conner would have held Grothe in check.

Purdue = or < Cincy - Tough call here. If the Cincy that played Va Tech, UL, Rutgers and USF shows. Yes. If its the Pitt, WVU, and Ohio State, No.

Minnesota > Pitt - Doo Doo Bowl. Minnesota gets the nod for beating Michigan State handedly, while Pitt was beaten handedly by the same team.

Indiana < UConn - The game was played. UConn won.

Iowa > Syracuse - The game was played. Iowa won without their starting QB.

2007:

WVU > Michigan - This could be BCS Title game. I just like that offense, it reminds me of that unstoppable Nebraska offense of the 90s. Now if only they had a defense they would be a shoo in for the BCS title. I still like WVU's chances.

Rutgers < Wisconsin - Wisconsin is one of the most physical teams in the country and their size is too much for Rutgers... for now. In 3 years we'll be comparing these two teams for their eriely similar style of play. Wisky returns 18 of 22 starters and will really freaking good.

USF < Ohio State - Too many great players for us to match up to this year, including a defense that returns almost everyone including Nagurski award winner James Laurinitus.  I think 2008 is USF's year.

UL = Penn State - When all is said an done Penn State could win the Big 10, they have way too much talent not to give Joe Pa one more run. UL is gonna struggle with coaching changes. Its the way these things have always and will always work. However, UL has a lot of talent on offense to work with, and Penn State has a lot of talent on defense. If this game were played it would be one of the best we'll see all year.

Pitt < Iowa - I don't foresee Pitt making the jump to top 25 caliber, but they will be better than last year. Iowa could be a top 25 team come Novemeber.

Cincy > Purdue - I don't like the change of the offense, and the Cincy coach made way too many playcalling gaffs in the MAC that would get him killed in the BCS. However, I like what Cincy has going...more than Purdue.

Syracuse > Illinois - Had to do this matchup because they play in Sept. I think Cuse wins with a much improved defense and 1/2 assed offense (again)

UConn < Michigan State - Dantonio knows the Big East and Uconn. I don't believe he'll be bringing Sparty back to life so quickly, but I also fully believe that UConn is the worst team in the Big East this year. They don't have an answer at QB. They have a great RB in Donald Brown but the passing game is so bad the defenses will key in on him. Finally UConn's defense is still pitiful...Sparty is returning a 7 starters on offense (4 on the line) and a great RB in Javon Ringer who reminds me a lot of USF favorite Andre Hall. Their defense will struggle, but should be capable of stopping UConn's anemic attack.

[HarveyGlass]

Looks like you've got the conferences about even.  I can live with that.

I'll disagree that Ohio State and Michigan were as awesome as you make them out to be.  And why was Wisky's schedule tougher than Rutgers'?  You should take a closer look.  The Badgers played 1(one) ranked team before their bowl game, and lost.

FYI, Rutgers beat Illinois 33-0, Wisky beat Illinois 30-24.

Also, in Wisky's bowl game, Arkansas's McFadden and Jones ran for 239 yards for 7.2 ypc, and two touchdowns.  Hardly a recipe for run defense.

Fact is, teams in football don't play enough games to truly measure who's better.  Even when the teams in question play each other, there's always an excuse.  Like how people say UF wasn't that much better than OSU.  Could've fooled me.  That's why so many people fall back on names and "tradition".  It's easy to do, and hard to be proven wrong.

There's so much guessing and coulda's woulda's and shoulda's.  We don't know enough to see if the conferences are on par, or if they are not on par.  All I'm saying is that the Big10 powers didn't show me enough to say that they are clearly better than the BE powers.  The conferences look too close to call, IMO.

FWIW, I think Louisville could have, should have, and would have scored 60 on Notre Dame last year.  I was praying for a piece of that.  If they gave up 40+ to LSU, Michigan, and USC.... :'(

[BullsFanInTX]

You're trying to compare a BigEast opponent to those three.  Why not compare BigEast teams against them instead.

IMO, UofL, Rutgers, USF, and WVU could easily split with the Big10's top four.  Do you agree?

No I'm not. I've compared all teams. I was stating that I don't believe we know enough to see if the top of our conference is on par with the top of the Big 10.

Breaking it Down

2006:

Ohio State > Louisville - Louisville is a good team, but Ohio State was really freaking good. I know they got smacked by UF, but most days that wouldn't have happened.

Wisconsin > Rugters - Wisconsin's ground defense v. Rutgers 2 back offense would be one hell of a game, however Wisky found a way to stop McFaddon, Jones, and Fish. No doubt they were better than last seasons Rutgers team in the battle of soft schedules.

Michigan < WVU-  Michigan was in the National Championship picture until 6pm on BCS Selection Sunday. They stepped up when it counted outside the USC game. That being said they would not have stopped WVU's offense in a game that could be this year's national title game.

Penn State > USF - Sorry, but we've lost this game a few times and looked bad offensively in doing so. I know, we didn't have Grothe, but we also played really bad against phyiscal defenses. Paul Pozulsney and Dan Conner would have held Grothe in check.

Purdue = or < Cincy - Tough call here. If the Cincy that played Va Tech, UL, Rutgers and USF shows. Yes. If its the Pitt, WVU, and Ohio State, No.

Minnesota > Pitt - Doo Doo Bowl. Minnesota gets the nod for beating Michigan State handedly, while Pitt was beaten handedly by the same team.

Indiana < UConn - The game was played. UConn won.

Iowa > Syracuse - The game was played. Iowa won without their starting QB.

2007:

WVU > Michigan - This could be BCS Title game. I just like that offense, it reminds me of that unstoppable Nebraska offense of the 90s. Now if only they had a defense they would be a shoo in for the BCS title. I still like WVU's chances.

Rutgers < Wisconsin - Wisconsin is one of the most physical teams in the country and their size is too much for Rutgers... for now. In 3 years we'll be comparing these two teams for their eriely similar style of play. Wisky returns 18 of 22 starters and will really freaking good.

USF < Ohio State - Too many great players for us to match up to this year, including a defense that returns almost everyone including Nagurski award winner James Laurinitus.  I think 2008 is USF's year.

UL = Penn State - When all is said an done Penn State could win the Big 10, they have way too much talent not to give Joe Pa one more run. UL is gonna struggle with coaching changes. Its the way these things have always and will always work. However, UL has a lot of talent on offense to work with, and Penn State has a lot of talent on defense. If this game were played it would be one of the best we'll see all year.

Pitt < Iowa - I don't foresee Pitt making the jump to top 25 caliber, but they will be better than last year. Iowa could be a top 25 team come Novemeber.

Cincy > Purdue - I don't like the change of the offense, and the Cincy coach made way too many playcalling gaffs in the MAC that would get him killed in the BCS. However, I like what Cincy has going...more than Purdue.

Syracuse > Illinois - Had to do this matchup because they play in Sept. I think Cuse wins with a much improved defense and 1/2 assed offense (again)

UConn < Michigan State - Dantonio knows the Big East and Uconn. I don't believe he'll be bringing Sparty back to life so quickly, but I also fully believe that UConn is the worst team in the Big East this year. They don't have an answer at QB. They have a great RB in Donald Brown but the passing game is so bad the defenses will key in on him. Finally UConn's defense is still pitiful...Sparty is returning a 7 starters on offense (4 on the line) and a great RB in Javon Ringer who reminds me a lot of USF favorite Andre Hall. Their defense will struggle, but should be capable of stopping UConn's anemic attack.

Joe, I respect your usually very knowledgeable opinions, but I think RU was nearly = with Wisconsin last year, but I will give that one to you.  I think we beat Penn State at the end of the year last year, so I will also give that one an = sign or slight edge to us.

Also since the BE only has 8 teams, shouldn't you be compaing our bottom 2-3 teams against the 9, 10, and 11th B10 team.  You are comparing the TOP 8 B10 teams (not the whole B10 conference) against all out teams

[dabull80]

Bullsfanintx has it exactly right.  If you want to compare make it the top against the top and the bottom against the bottom.  

This has been a good off season disscusion - I like it.

Joe - I still don't see any great OOC games for the big 10  I mean Ohio St did beat Tx wich looked better at the beginning of the year then it did at the end of the year.  Also Mich beat what many thought was an over rated ND.  Those are the only regular season wins for the Big 10 of any merit.

We really can't do much about our bowl games until new contracts come up.  After the raid by the ACC the BE was almost dead.

I have no problem with someone saying the Big 10 is better then the BE going into next year but I think it is so close it really is just a matter of opinion.

The folks that should be really mad about this is the ACC.  They got dissed big time.

[Joe]

Joe, I respect your usually very knowledgeable opinions, but I think RU was nearly = with Wisconsin last year, but I will give that one to you.  I think we beat Penn State at the end of the year last year, so I will also give that one an = sign or slight edge to us.

Also since the BE only has 8 teams, shouldn't you be compaing our bottom 2-3 teams against the 9, 10, and 11th B10 team.  You are comparing the TOP 8 B10 teams (not the whole B10 conference) against all out teams

TX,

I think RU/Wisconsin would have been a good game, but Wisconsin was 12-1 and really freaking on their Oline. I fully believe the Rutger's front 7 would have been overwhelmed and PJ Hill would have had a nice game. Further, while it was pointed out above that Arkansas ran for over 200 yards on them, they did stop Mike Hart, Tony Hunt, and Iowas combo (Sims and Young), plus 120 of Arkansas' 230 came on 2 plays.

As for USF, I love the Bulls, but I have to disagree. Penn State was everything we hated to face last year. Powerful back, great linebackers (a corp that might be viewed as one of the best in college history with Pozlusney and Conner), and a defense that was very phyiscal and demanding.

We have not responded well to these defenses in the past, nor did we last year. (Cincy, Louisville...who came out hitting, unlike 2005). I just don't see us beating Penn State last year.

USF had a great year, a great stepping stone year. However, we had 2 wins over teams with winning records. WVU and ECU, while the WVU win was the greatest spectacle I had seen ince being a USF fan, realistically a 9-4 Penn State team, who played a very tough schedule, would have probably beaten us.

As for the conferences, I agree that it's hard to judge I just went with top eight for easier comparison.

[ProfessaBull]

Look at the depth of talent the BE has against the Big 10. It will be very interesting to see what conference sends more players to the NFL after this season. My money is easily on the the BE

[Joe]

Look at the depth of talent the BE has against the Big 10. It will be very interesting to see what conference sends more players to the NFL after this season. My money is easily on the the BE

Not sure depends on who comes out. Both conferences are Jr. heavy. Based on Srs. the Big 10 has a slight edge, including Jrs you might give the lean to the BE.