Power ranking all 18 Big Ten football programs after latest expansion news


Northwestern is a really odd ranking regardless of how you do it.

If you have northwestern rated in the middle tier then how can you excuse Pat Fitzgerald’s very bad records in many seasons?


The only way you can have Fitzgerald classified as a great coach is if you think northwestern is a really bad job.
I look at all of these as historical rankings over the course of the programs' existences with some weighting for performance since the advent of coast-to-coast TV coverage and then since the advent of the BCS.

Northwestern seems to pop up right before changes occur, like the finally figure it out and then once they do, kaboom, they eff it up.
 

I look at all of these as historical rankings over the course of the programs' existences with some weighting for performance since the advent of coast-to-coast TV coverage and then since the advent of the BCS.

Northwestern seems to pop up right before changes occur, like the finally figure it out and then once they do, kaboom, they eff it up.
Yeah. Northwestern was decently good for a really long stretch though. 1996 they win a big ten title. 2000 they win another one. Two west titles the second one being in 2020.


I’m not sure what the modern era is, but if it’s from AP poll they’ve been decently good 33% of the history of the modern era.
If you start counting it from when champions were counted after the bowl games rather than before, then they’ve been decent for 45% of it or so.

If you say it’s from the Tv era about 1983, they’ve been decent for 2/3rds of the TV era


Rather than say they popped up right before big changes. I would actually say they went from awful to competitive during the cable tv era
 

in the portal era, I think there is going to be more change and more movement from year to year.

a historical ranking is a fun exercise, but from year to year, the order can and will be shuffled.
one team brings in a transfer QB - another team has some injury problems - etc.

you can put OSU, Michigan, Penn State and USC near the top in some order, and probably be pretty close - but after that, I think it's going to be a lot more fluid.
 

in the portal era, I think there is going to be more change and more movement from year to year.

a historical ranking is a fun exercise, but from year to year, the order can and will be shuffled.
one team brings in a transfer QB - another team has some injury problems - etc.

you can put OSU, Michigan, Penn State and USC near the top in some order, and probably be pretty close - but after that, I think it's going to be a lot more fluid.
Even those 4:
Ohio state losing record in 2011
Michigan - 5 or more losses + 2-4 Covid year in 7 of the past 15 years
Penn state - 5 or more losses in 5 of the last 10 years
USC - 4 or more losses in 9 of the last 15 seasons
 


Even those 4:
Ohio state losing record in 2011
Michigan - 5 or more losses + 2-4 Covid year in 7 of the past 15 years
Penn state - 5 or more losses in 5 of the last 10 years
USC - 4 or more losses in 9 of the last 15 seasons
That's a lot more losses than I would have expected based solely on names of the teams. But I would like to see more of it...............
 

That's a lot more losses than I would have expected based solely on names of the teams. But I would like to see more of it...............
Yeah. My point more is Ohio state has obviously been dominant since tressel arrived, but it’s not a given those teams are always successful. Even if they can buy talent. Look at the Yankees. Look at Michigan between carr and harbaugh
 

Yeah. My point more is Ohio state has obviously been dominant since tressel arrived, but it’s not a given those teams are always successful. Even if they can buy talent. Look at the Yankees. Look at Michigan between carr and harbaugh
Exactly. Can also compare Alabama before Saban, or USC before Pete Carroll. But, you're right. OSU has been on a tear since Fickell's interim stint.
 




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