Why the #Buckeyes Should Look at Leaving The Big 10
Yeah, I said it, and I am well aware it is not a popular statement. But sometimes the truth is the least popular thing the masses want to hear. I deal in reality here and, quite simply, the reality is this: the Big 10 is a conference soaked in mediocrity when it comes to the football programs. The reasons Ohio State should change their status to "single" are starting to pile up.
First, a lack of viable in conference opponents does not make it easy to climb the rankings in this day and age. Saying your the best team from the Big 10 is like pimping yourself as the valedictorian of your senior class when everyone knows there were only 6 other seniors. Every time the Buckeyes go on the road in conference play a tough game and come away with anything but a blowout victory the rest of the country, led by the south-biased media, scream about "weak competition". They are right. Aside from Michigan State playing down to your competition is an issue every week for The Bucks in The Big.
Sure Penn State has a new coach who HOPEFULLY rebuilds that program into a power again, but it will be tough to bring them back to national prevalence. Wisconsin absolutely refuses to pay their coaches therefore they will always be in flux and have a even harder time recruiting. Who wants to winter in Wisconsin already? Nebraska will never be the Cornhuskers of old and the recruits of today don't care about the programs' history. Mike Reilly is a good coach, not a great coach. Mid grade talent will continue to flow through Lincoln. Minnesota? See Wisconsin. Illinois and Iowa? Not worth mentioning. Purdue? Indiana? Just give football up already.
Which brings us to Michigan. Ohio State desperately needs Michigan to be a legitimate rival again, not an under achieving, under manned shell of itself. Without UM the Bucks have only State to test them in the Big and to highlight to the national media. I am not at all convinced that Michigan will be able to make the splash that they hope for in their search for a head coach. If Jim Harbaugh turns them down watch the tailspin ensue. Right now every egg UM has seems like its in Jimmy's basket. If he takes his basket and stays in the NFL somebody better have the storm drains clean at the Big House so the place doesn't flood from all the tears flowing in Ann Arbor. Harbaugh might actually be Ohio State's saving grace as far as the Big 10 is concerned. He could recruit the resurrection of the University and combined with legendary recruiter Urban Meyer could salvage a league out of this mess.
The smart guys running the show didn't help either. In my opinion the Big 10 screwed themselves when they brought in Rutgers and Maryland for purely money/TV reasons. Apparently competitiveness and future possibility of competing mattered little to the moneygrabs in charge. So if the almighty dollar is so important to the conference then it might as well be at the forefront to The Ohio State also. Can you imagine who would come calling if the Buckeyes were "available" and the money they would bring? Picture The Ohio State as a part of the ACC with FSU, Notre Dame, Clemson etc. Or, even more intriguing, picture The SEC East with the Buckeyes in the mix! The possibilities are out there and if I'm thinking about the future you know somewhere some big wigs are too.
The ideas I've stated here will probably never come to fruition, but the Big 10 is nearing a tipping point and right now the only thing keeping the teeter totter balanced is Ohio State on one side and the rest of the conference on the other. If the Buckeyes leave the playground the whole thing slams to the ground in a spectacular crash.
