At long last, Nebraska made it's Big 10 Debut and promptly ran into the buzzsaw that is the Wisconsin Badgers. They got pounded and hard in a 48-17 loss up at Madison.
Probably not the debut they were hoping for, but I think they'll bounce back- they've got Ohio State at home next week, so I'll be rooting for the Huskers to get back on track against a delightfully depleted Ohio State team. (Sparty made my shitlist for a minute or two yesterday as they were seconds away from handing Ohio State it's first shutout since 1993 (I was 10) and their first shutout at home since 1982 (I wasn't even born) and incredibly, let them score with 10 seconds left in the game. I was really looking forward to seeing some salt rubbed into the Buckeyes wounds. But Sparty still won, so I forgave them. Sort of.)
Wisconsin though, looked beyond insanely good. If they're not in the National Title conversation, they damn well should be. Their O-Line is bigger than the Green Bay Packers for cryin' out loud and Russell Wilson is a picture of experience at QB who can run and throw and pretty much do everything he wants to. (Again, if his Heisman Stock isn't rising, it damn well should be.) Kirk 'I'm A Huge Schill For the Buckeyes' Herbstreit managed to annoy me last night by saying that Wisconsin is going to need some help to play for the Crystal Football while pissing all over their non-conference schedule and the lack of ranked opponents down the stretch.
I'll acknowledge Herbie's point about cupcake non-conference games. Everbody does it- but down the stretch? Wisky is going to have on the road to East Lansing and Columbus (a tough ticket, I don't care what year it is) and then play a hot Illinois team in Champaign (who might be looking to kick the Badgers in the groin...) and then assuming they win all that and run the table you've got potentially Nebraska or Michigan lurking in the Big 10 title game. (Or Iowa, I suppose- we'd probably be ranked if we ran the table and won the Division.) So there's a tough road schedule plus 1-2 more ranked conference opponents waiting. That's a pretty good resume to me.
People need to stop sucking on the teat of the SEC. 'Bama is a damn good team, but they play Arkansas, Florida and LSU in terms of ranked teams. That's it. (Penn State was ranked when they played them, but shouldn't have been.) Stanford has Andrew Luck and they play Oregon. That's not a resume. Boise State played Georgia and beat them- TCU lost to SMU so will probably drop off the polls so that's one ranked team and a weak conference. Not a resume. Oklahoma State has Texas, Baylor and Oklahoma down the stretch-- they have an argument to make. Oklahoma went on the road to FSU and beat them, they've got Texas, A and M, Baylor and Oklahoma State waiting. They've got an argument to make. LSU, of all the teams ranked ahead of Wisconsin has probably the best, in terms of schedule. They played Oregon, a then ranked Mississippi State, West Virginia and get Florida, 'Bama and Arkansas down the stretch. Now that's a damn good resume.
What annoys me is that Wisconsin is portrayed as a good team, but not a contendor for the National Title and this with a ton and a half of football left to be played and no BCS rankings as of yet. We could be looking at Stanford, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, LSU, 'Bama, Boise State and Wisconsin all with good arguments for their inclusion in the National Title game. There's more than one conference out there, ESPN... just so you know.
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