Bad day for the Big Ten

The Big Ten didn't prove much to the critics this weekend.

From top to bottom, the conference pretty much underachieved in the opening weekend of college football for 2009.

Knock #1:
First and foremost, you've got to look at Ohio State's game at home against Navy. The Midshipmen just outplayed the Buckeyes and were a 2-point conversion short of sending the game in to overtime.

Navy chose to pass on the conversion attempt and the ball was picked off by Brian Rolle, who returned it all the way. Ohio State was awarded two points for the return and won 31-27.

Sure, there are some cobwebs to brush off for every team at the beginning of the season. However, title contenders are able to brush them off and still earn a convincing W.

Ohio State was far from convincing, which leads me to believe they are not a championship caliber team this season. And, to be honest, the rest of the conference appears to be following suit.

Knock #2:
On Thursday night, Indiana barely snuck out a home win against 1-AA (FCS) opponent, Eastern Kentucky. The Hoosiers were shut out in the second half, but managed to pull out a 19-13 win.

Knock #3:
Minnesota rolled in to Syracuse against a putrid Orange team from last year. The Golden Gophers needed extra time, winning with a field goal in overtime. And had it not been for a silly mistake from Greg Paulus in his first game in four years — he was picked on Syracuse's first drive — Minnesota could have very well lost.

Syracuse is probably improved from last year, especially with good leadership at the quarterback position. However, the Orange are not a bowl team and Minnesota is expected to earn a bid.

Knock #4:
No. 22 Iowa needed not one, but two blocked field goals in a row to beat 1-AA Northern Iowa at home. That's not a performance worthy of a national ranking.

Knock #5:
Wisconsin faced Northern Illinois of the Mid-American Conference at home, barely sneaking out a win. The final score was 28-20 in favor of the Badgers, which had to fend off a comeback by the Huskies. NIU scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, nearly coming back to tie the game.

Now the good thing is that all of these teams won. However, the manner in which they won was less than impressive.

There has been a lot of conversation leading in to the 2009 season about whether conferences like the Mountain West should have a BCS bid. Many pointed to the Big East as the weakest conference, saying it is undeserving of a bid given the fact that not one school was in the preseason top 25.

Maybe the Big Ten should worry as well.

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Chris G.