Lately a hot topic has risen in college football. That is that the MAC is gaining ground or as tough as the Big Ten. Blogger Bill Simonson of The Huge Show on November 10th wrote a blog where he felt the MAC was just as good or better than the Big Ten top to bottom this season.
Simonson says "Tell me any Big Ten coach who would want to face Ball State, Central Michigan or Western Michigan this year."
Honestly who wouldn't want to play them. They may be the top of the MAC but put them against the top of the Big Ten and I'd wager that the Big Ten wins all three. The Big Ten is 9-4 against the MAC this season and Simonson likes to base his arguments on the fact that many MAC teams almost beat a Big Ten opponent. Well those almost wins are what makes the difference between the Big Ten and MAC. Although the MAC teams may hang in games or even have a lead they need to be able to finish games.
If Purdue can beat Central Michigan and Indiana can almost beat them I don't think any other coach is going to be scared to take on the Chippewas so don't even bring them up as a scary team.
But lets take a look at the top team in the MAC Ball State. They are a great team and should dominate the MAC. Congrats they beat Indiana this year. But who else? Absolutely no one worth mentioning. They would get worn down by Ohio State or Penn State and could probably get beat by Michigan State or Iowa as well. Now anything can happen any given day but I would put my bet on the Big Ten.
This whole thing is really not even worth arguing because it is absolutely ridiculous. I guess it just got under my skin because it was so stupid. Congrats MAC you are having some success this year but you aren't going to scare anyone from the Big Ten. Plus the MAC being as good as the Big Ten top to bottom. Are you kidding me? Lets look at the top 11 MAC teams matched up with their equal from the Big Ten.
1.Penn State vs Ball State
2.Ohio State vs Central Michigan
3. Michigan State vs Western Michigan
4. Northwestern vs Buffalo
5. Iowa vs Northern Illinois
6. Minnesota vs Bowling Green
7. Illinois vs Akron
8. Wisconsin vs Temple
9. Michigan vs Kent State
10. Indiana vs Miami(OH)
11. Purdue vs Toledo
I don't know about anyone else from the Big Ten but I'm not really scared by this schedule and I think there's a long ways to go before there is anything close to a shift in power.
8 comments:
I completely agree! There is NO way that the MAC is as good as the BIG X.
Yeah, it's dumb. I agree.
But the Big 10 is down of late, and because of this weaker teams can catch up to them.
So don't be surprised if other teams from lesser conferences knock some Big 10 teams off.
Yea I get the Big 10 is down. But for anyone to say that a conference like the MAC is as strong or even close top to bottom is ridiculous. Plus the only legit team I believe the MAC knocked off is the Illini and they aren't playing that great this year. Besides that the knocked off Indiana twice and Michigan which is nothing to celebrate too much
I think its would be wrong to say that the MAC is better than the Big Ten, however the MAC is gaining ground as compared to years past. Its a combination of the MAC getting strong and the Big Ten being down. So to say that Ball State would beat Penn State is off, but they would have a winning record in conference if they were in the Big Ten, as could be said for a few MAC teams. In earlier years, that would have been a stretch. So to say that the MAC is on the same level as the Big Ten is definitely wrong, the gap isn't where it was 3-5 years ago.
I agree the whole idea is dumb, but at the same time the gap is closing, however, its still not that close.
The Big Ten is down, but the MAC will never be as good as the Big Ten top to bottom.
T.J. has it right on this one. It is a combination of the two. Teams like Ball State this year, Central Michigan of the past couple years, the Akron teams with Frye at QB, Western Michigan with Greg Jennings, and the NIU teams with Turner and Wolfe could all hang in the Big Ten. Those teams are or were all legit. They can hang with the Big 10 middle of the road teams, but not the league's top tier teams.
I really don't get the total lack of respect the Big Ten gets. Ok, so it's no Big 12 or SEC anymore, but big deal. I would argue that the Big Ten is stronger overall then the Big East and the Pac 10, yet no one ever rags on them. The Pac 10 has one great team (USC) and for some reason that puts them above criticism and the Big East, well, I have no clue why a conference won by Cinci doesn't get made fun of. I agree that the top 1 or 2 teams from the MAC can hang with the big schools but to say that as a whole the MAC is on par with the Big Ten is total madness.
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