Pollin' It: The Big Ten should change its name to "Ohio State and the Pips"

Coaches Poll

The logjam at the top of the poll still stands, with Ohio State sitting in the middle of six undefeateds.  Good news for Ohio State is the continued success of Michigan State, which could be a big possible resume boost in the Big Ten title game, although as it stands, Ohio State probably only sees one more ranked opponent this year, as you figure the loser of next week's UM-MSU game drops from the polls and may not play enough of a tough schedule to jump back in.  BIG TEN.

The conference still only has four in the polls.  Ohio State leads the way, with Michigan, Wisconsin, and Michigan State in the 20-25 range.  The Big Ten is basically the Big East from a few years ago.

AP Poll

More Big Ten fail as Wisconsin, Michgian, and Michigan State stand back-to-back-to-back at 22-24.

We've spent years debating and tracking the downturn of the Big Ten as a football conference.  This has to be the nadir, or at least somewhere close.  There are nine one-loss teams and four two-loss teams ahead of the Big Ten's cluster of teams.  This isn't a matter of a few upper echelon Big Ten teams having down years,   This is Big Ten: Marginalized conference, and it is going to take a lot of success to change minds around the country.

It is kind of depressing to think about, but after a weekend in which Northwestern — a preseason Legends division favorite — dropped to 0-4 in the conference, Nebraska lost to Minnesota, and Penn State was completely outclassed by Ohio State, is it any wonder that the nation looks at the Big Ten like its name is "Ohio State and the Pips"