Is the Big Ten Weaker This Year?

[Blizzard]

I've been giving this a lot of thought lately. It seems to me that Michigan State is down, very slightly, Purdue is better, Ohio State is better, after a bit of stumbling Illinois, I think, is about the same or a bit better than last year, Indiana has certainly improved, Iowa isn't much worse than last year, Penn State is certainly down and we're down. The Big 10 only had two teams in the final rankings last year, Purdue and Michigan State.

This is a week short of the final, but the final doesn't show the AP ranking.

http://sports-ak.espn.go.com/ncb/rankings?seasonYear=2009&weekNumber=1&seasonType=3

At this moment the Big Ten is making a very solid showing in the rankings at 4/9/11/14 with Illinois being very close.

http://sports-ak.espn.go.com/ncb/rankings?seasonYear=2010

I don't know why it's bothering me. But a lot of talk this year has centered around a " down " Big Ten.

Is it really?

Would love to hear other thoughts.

Sorry, forgot Wisconsin. They are much improved from last year.

 

[Section201]

bliz

Seems to me the conference is a bit stronger than last year and only the Nits and the Gophers are weaker than last year.

 

[Blizzard]

I forgot Michigan as well. They are certainly down.

 

[SelectionSunday]

Much stronger at the top with MSU, OSU, Purdue and Wisconsin, weaker from the middle on down. Much better chance this year of getting 3 or more teams to Sweet 16 & beyond.

Michigan, Gophers and Penn State are big busts, relative to preseason expectations.

 

[streetfighter]

I agree 100% with SelectionSunday. Good chance of seeing more B10 teams later in the tournament than last year. Hopefully we are able to get 3-4 teams to the sweet 16 and beyond. Would be good for the conference.

 

[mnboiler]

The current top 5 teams in the conference are as good or better as advertised. But "down the middle" i.e. Minnesota and Michigan are worse than expected. Overall I think the bottom of the conference barring Penn State is better than expected. I think the reason people think the Big 10 is weak this year is simply because if Michigan and Minnesota, mainly Michigan, are not as good as expected.

 

[Gopherholefan]

Conference RPI (last time I checked) shows the conference is down from last year as well.

 

[vaporboy]

Big Ten finally beat the ACC in the challenge, I think that points to a somewhat stronger conference as well.

 

[rcpratt]

Yeah...the top is better but the middle/bottom has been a disappointment. But the top is what will earn the conference respect in the tournament, so that's okay.