A perception-crushing week way back in early September put the Big Ten on life support, without much chance of surviving.
But instead of pulling the plug and making funeral arrangements, the league hung on and gradually regained strength—if not reputation.
Now, after Ohio State bested Alabama in the Sugar Bowl to cap a trio of significant bowl wins for the conference, the Big Ten is quite alive. In fact, it just stomped all over what’s left of the smoldering corpse that is the SEC’s dominance.
OSU will be playing for a national championship, something it—and its conference—hasn’t had a chance to do in seven years. Meanwhile, the long run of SEC dominance is officially over, rendered limbless over the course of bowl season and then decapitated on the first day of 2015.
The 42-35 outcome wasn’t a fluke victory for the Buckeyes. Nor was it a matter of running into a disinterested opponent that may or may not have had some issues that prevented it from playing at peak performance. Nope, this was the flagship program of a much-maligned conference standing up for the rest the league—which, by the way, combined to win three huge games on Thursday—and planting a B1G right in the heart of SEC country.
OSU now gets a chance to bring home its first championship since January 2003. But even if the Buckeyes can’t beat Oregon in the first playoff-fueled title game in Arlington, Texas on Jan. 12, that should in no way diminish what they and the…
Continue Reading: The Big Ten Is Back
