The first week of college football is officially over following the Monday night game, and it looks like I was proven correct about the Big Ten being the best.
The conference went 11-2 in the opening round of games, and the only two loses game with Purdue losing by a touchdown to 16th-ranked Louisville and Rutgers losing by 16 points to eighth-ranked Washington. Both games were much closer than expected.
The top of the Big Ten broke out a whooping on their opponents for the ages. Ohio State blew apart Indiana, Wisconsin wrecked Utah State, Penn State embarrassed Akron and Michigan beat down Florida.
Cellar dweller Maryland even walked into Austin and defeated a ranked Texas team. It was epic.
PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 02: Quarterback Trace McSorley #9 of the Penn State Nittany Lions looks to pass the ball against the USC Trojans during the 2017 Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Rose Bowl on January 2, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
The conference presented its four best teams to the nation, and all four looked like national title contenders. Alabama looked solid for the SEC, Clemson looked decent for the ACC, but UCLA and USC both struggled at times for the Pac-12.
All I’ve had to listen to all offseason was I was wrong about the Big Ten. I was told by all the “experts” the ACC and the SEC were top tier.
I doubt anybody believes that anymore after what we saw this past weekend. SEC “power” Tennessee needed two overtimes to defeat an average Georgia Tech team. If that’s what the best of the SEC has to offer, then I’m not sure it’s even close to elite.
Every major conference has a team capable of winning the whole thing, but the Big Ten has four. I’m not sure any other conference in America has more than two.
You wanna come play with the big boys and the men of the Midwest, I suggest you bring a whole army with you. Just and wait and watch people’s heads really explode if two teams from the Big Ten get into the playoff. The South might try to secede again. Bring on the chaos.