With spring football 2011 wrapping up I have decided to dive into the overall health of each program, ranking them from 1-12. In ranking the programs I consider everything from National Championships, Big Ten championships, program history and lore, recent success, number of rivals, facilities, donors, boosters, administrative support, coaching, basically anything and everything under the sun...
1. Ohio State
Maybe the most consistently successful thing the state of Ohio has to offer, in a perfect sized college town, in the heart of Ohio. This program has it all from history to facilities to Big Ten dominance. The only thing they are lacking is more national titles. They have absolutely dominated their rival Michigan.
2. Michigan
Don't let the abject failure that was the three year regime of Richrod fool you. They have the Big House, facilities, money, and history. Programs like Michigan don't stay down for extended periods. Ann Arbor is a great college town that is close, yet far enough away from Detroit, wink, wink...
3. Penn State
A school in rural Pennsylvania with an 83 year old head coach shouldn't be ranked this high should it??? Think again, Penn State owns the talent rich state of Pennsylvania gobbling up recruits from Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and the small towns. Speaking of recruiting they absolutely own the eastern seaboard. They take the top kids from New York, New Jersey, and Maryland every year. Other schools need to ask Penn State for permission before recruiting anyone east of Pittsburgh. Top that off with a picturesque campus in the middle of the Allegheny Mountains that houses a stadium of 100,000 + and you have a superpower!
4. Nebraska
The last of the Big "4". Call Memorial Stadium "The Palace On The Prairie". Lincoln is the capital of the great plains. No one that grows up in Nebraska playing football doesn't dream of playing football for the Cornhuskers. Nebraska has one of the biggest fan bases in the country and they don't just live in Nebraska. The Huskers have fans across the country. They are a huge TV ratings draw. That doesn't hurt recruiting at all.... The Huskers also seem to be "close" to getting back to their past success, but despite not winning a national championship in recent memory are a solid top 20 program.
5. Wisconsin
The Badgers are proof positive that you can go from rags to riches. The Badgers were the laughingstock of the Big Ten just 20 years ago and traded with Northwestern for rights to the Big Ten basement. Barry Alvarez followed a simple philosophy to bring the Badgers to the upper tier of the Big Ten: Wis"can"sin offensive lineman and skill position talent from Florida, St. Louis, and the East Coast. Couple that with a trendy college campus with close proximity to Chicago, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee and you have something.
6. Iowa
Arguably the most passionate fan base in the country, with all due respect to fans from the SEC. Kirk Ferentz is an elite head coach and no program in the country gets more out of their players than Iowa in my opinion. The recently renovated Kinnik Stadium is the cherry on top of the sundae.
7. Michigan State
I can't remember the last time Michigan State dominated their arch-rival Michigan like this and they still aren't anywhere even close to the same level as the Wolverines as a program. Michigan State is also a program that struggles with consistency. Sparty has struggled with everything from fast starts that turn into rotten tomatoes to short leashes for head coaches. The Spartans seems to have a good foundation started with Dantonio, but his health concerns and the programs erratic history still leave me skeptical of the program as a whole.
8. Purdue
The Boilermakers are truly at a competitive disadvantage with Notre Dame just down the road. They are in the middle of a geographical area shared with: Northwestern, Illinos, Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Indian, Ohio State, and a handful of MAC schools such as Ball State, Northern Illinois, etc... They are competing against a lot in recruiting and usually have to battle Indiana and MAC schools for diamonds in the rough. The one thing the Boilermakers can hang their hats on is their history of elite QB's. Jim Everett, Drew Brees, Bob Griese, Kyle Orton, among others slung the ball down field for the Boilermakers.
9. Minnesota
With a campus in a sexy, cosmopolitan city, and a brand new stadium it is almost "offensive" that the program has sucked the way it has the last 50 years. Did I mention that the Gophers have a brand new stadium with views of downtown Minneapolis and a locker room that looks like the Presidential Suite at the Four Seasons? At least the Gophers have a football coach now in Jerry Kill and not a used car salesman in Tim Brewster. The Gophers also have 6 national championships, but none since 1961.
10. Illinois
The Illini are a goofy program, they can go through a 5 year stretch of being awful and then out of nowhere go to a BCS game only to be awful again a year later. A dreadfully inconsistent program with high coaching turnover, I just don't see Illinois ever being a consistent "upper tier" Big Ten program.
11. Northwestern
Poor Pat Fitzgerald, he is one of the best head coaches in the country, and has almost no support. I have seen more fans at High School games in Texas than at Ryan Field on Saturdays in the fall. Northwestern is an elite academic school that has a small local following thanks to an alumni base that is scattered throughout the country if not the world. I will say this, Northwester has zero chance of winning a national championship. So if Fitz is happy coaching his Alma mater to 4-4 finishes and trips to the Alamo Bowl than god bless him for that, but if he has his eyes on bigger things than I recommend sprucing up his resume'.
12. Indiana
The third best program in the modestly sized state of Indiana and did I mention this was a basketball school? Enough said...
No comments:
Post a Comment