If you had told me a month ago that at this point in the season both Northwestern and Minnesota would have significantly better records than Wisconsin and Illinois, two top-20, preseason-ranked teams, I probably would have questioned your mental state. But here we are about halfway through the season, and things have taken a far different form than anyone could have anticipated.
In the last few years, the Big Ten Conference has struggled to live up to its winning traditions. With Ohio State's back-to-back losses in the National Championship game, to go along with Michigan and Illinois losing the Rose Bowl back to back, the conference hasn't matched its past achievements.
The conference began the season with four ranked teams in the AP Top 25 Poll: Ohio State (2), Wisconsin (13), Illinois (20) and Penn State (22). Now the landscape looks drastically different, as Wisconsin and Illinois have failed to live up to the hype, while Penn State has asserted itself as a title contender. Michigan State has also cracked the top-25 and has gained a lot of respect from around the country. So has the Big Ten conference as a whole.
We've already seen this type of elevated respect for the Big Ten in the country's evaluation of the Badgers. A loss to Michigan, an unranked and struggling squad, probably should have sent the Badgers lower than their No. 18 ranking indicated. But the intensity of Big Ten Football and the atmosphere of playing at the Big House is something that experts take into consideration. Even with another loss to Ohio State, the Badgers still hung on to a No. 24 ranking in the USA Today Poll. No doubt they have been evaluated for their poor play, but also their high level of competition.
One of the bigger stories surrounding the Big Ten's resurgence might not be the fall of teams like Wisconsin and Illinois, but the surprising comebacks of both Minnesota and Northwestern, two programs that have struggled mightily over the past few years.
The Minnesota Gophers are coming off a season in which they finished with a pitiful 1-11 record, going winless in conference play. The Gophers have not put together a winning season since 2005. Over that stretch, two former Gophers, Marion Barber and Lawrence Maroney, became featured running backs in the NFL after graduating from Minnesota. But before this year, those days of promise seemed to be lightyears away.
Yet this season, Minnesota went undefeated in its non-conference schedule. Leading up to this weekend's games, Minnesota had the second highest-scoring offense in the Big Ten, behind Ohio State. The Gophers also claimed the conference's leader in both passing and receiving yards in sophomore quarterback Adam Weber and junior receiver Eric Decker.
The Northwestern Wildcats are another program with mediocre results during the last couple of years. The Wildcats have managed to reach the seven-win mark just once in the last five years. But this season the Wildcats have started 5-0 for the first time since 1962. Northwestern knocked out its non-conference schedule in particularly impressive fashion behind two long-time starters. Senior quarterback C.J. Bacher and senior running back Tyrell Sutton have done a solid job in their third and fourth years as starters, respectively.
Can the Wildcats be taken seriously in the conference? That remains to be seen. But at least Northwestern will have a home field advantage for three of its toughest opponents: Michigan State, Ohio State and Illinois.
Let's not forget that it's still very early in the Big Ten season. In a few weeks, we may wonder what happened to Minnesota and Northwestern and why they weren't able to maintain their surprisingly fast starts.
Either way, both of these schools should be commended for what they've already accomplished thus far. Yes - some of their opponents were weaker, non-conference teams, but that's part of what the Big Ten needs to gain back some of the credibility it's been lacking. The strength of a conference should be defined not only by how its top teams fare in large-scale games, but the overall consistency of the conference from top to bottom.
No longer should Badger fans circle their Nov. 15 date with Minnesota as an easy victory, even at Camp Randall Stadium. Whether the Gophers win or lose, Wisconsin's uneasiness is an unspoken compliment and a major sign of respect.
If you think the Big Ten's era of mediocrity will last for all eternity, tell Matt the sky falling at mfox2@wisc.edu.
