Big Ten Year in Review: An Odd, Compelling Mess

There were many fears that the newly expanded Big Ten would be awful. Newcomers Maryland and Rutgers were disrupting tradition, Penn State was coming off of sanctions, and at least three teams had a bum steer for a coach. Doesn't matter; no matter how stupid or crummy this conference seems sometimes, winning the Big Ten feels great.

Where the Big Ten recap has been focused on everyone but Ohio State in weeks past, this end-of-season review includes all 14 schools. Here are some trends to take away from this season in the Big Ten, good and bad, and what they mean for Ohio State going forward.

NON-CONFERENCE SHAME

It's time to talk about the Big Ten's out-of-conference credentials; they don't exist.

The Big Ten was horrid against competition on its own level, securing four wins over major conference opponents all year. Those four wins would be Rutgers over Washington State, Nebraska over Miami, Northwestern over Notre Dame and Indiana over SEC East champions Missouri. Don't let the last two incapacitate you with laughter; otherwise, the Big Ten scheduled weakly and lost in embarrassing fashion.

One can point to Minnesota's loss to TCU (nobody thought TCU would be this good) or Michigan State's loss to Oregon as proof that Big Ten teams scheduled difficult games, but teams lost games they shouldn't have. In its loss to LSU, Wisconsin went away from Melvin Gordon, who you may have heard was pretty good for Wisconsin until Saturday night.

Michigan was humiliated by Notre Dame and Utah, and made the dumbest scheduling decision ever by playing Appalachian State again. Iowa lost to a 2-10 Iowa State team and had to mount a big comeback to surpass 5-7 Ball State. And Ohio State suffered the greatest indignity at all: getting caught unawares by Virginia Tech's bear defense. If the Buckeyes miss the playoff, the VT loss will be the first, second and third reasons they're left out.

The Big Ten loves to crow about how it doesn't schedule November cupcakes like the SEC. If it wants to actually have something to crow about, scheduling better teams and winning those games would be the place to start.

UNEXPECTED QB WOES

As good of a year as it was for Big Ten running backs, the quarterback situation is trouble for a number of teams next year.

The Big Ten's quarterbacks situation looked pretty settled; Braxton Miller, Devin Gardner, Connor Cook and Christian Hackenberg would lead the way while the rest of the Big Ten muddled along. It didn't quite happen like that.

Of the four hyped players, only one (Cook) played anywhere like an all-Big Ten talent. Miller was hurt before the season began, Gardner was a mental wreck, and Hackenberg was too busy dislodging opponents' facemasks from his ribcage to do anything well.

There were a few other weird situations. Indiana was down to a true freshman by October, playing Zander Diamont after Tre Roberson and Cameron Coffman transfered and Nate Sudfeld tore an ACL. Wisconsin's Joel Stave had a mental block that kept him out of action for half of the year, and backup Tanner McEvoy nearly tanked the Badgers' title hopes. Michigan backup Shane Morris was knocked loopy, and Maryland nearly benched its all-time leading touchdown producer, C.J. Brown.

There were a few positive exceptions to the trend. At Purdue, Austin Appleby took over in midseason and had a modicum of success; ditto for Illinois's Aaron Bailey. Gary Nova overcame three years of erratic play to way a senior should at Rutgers, and J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones fared far better than expected in Miller's absence.

If the Big Ten wants to get better, they've got to recruit and develop better quarterbacks. Once they get those good quarterbacks, they must be able to protect them along the offensive line. There's only one Tom Herman; other programs have to find a creative or financial way to improve.

BIG TEN PLAY-CALLING SLOWLY ENTERS THE 21ST CENTURY

Even Wisconsin used Melvin Gordon III creatively.

The Big Ten is seen as a hidebound league, and rightly so. Why, a few years ago coaches were grousing about the gentleman's agreement in recruiting. That and a few other bad practices have been harrumphed out of the league.

There's nothing inherently wrong with pro-style and I-formation and hyperconservative run-run-pass playcalling, but using those probably means you're leaving yards on the field.

Now that Brady Hoke is gone, only one coach uses the inferior pro punt formation on special teams, the yet-to-be-fired Kirk Ferentz. Teams are playing at a quicker tempo, even the ones that like to slow it down, and wider use of the no-huddle means offenses are taking advantage of defensive mismatches more often.

Nobody will ever mistake Big Ten football for basketball on grass. The goal is not to be cool; the goal is to have old man at gym game.

BOWLWARD BOUND

So now it's bowl season. The bowl system is a pain and a half to project, thanks to the four-team playoff and New Years' Day bowls.

The Big Ten has nine teams at 6-6 or better, but one of them is set to miss a bowl game now that Ohio State has beaten Wisconsin.

Here are CBSSports.com's projections as of early Sunday morning. Thanks to Ohio State's decisive win over Wisconsin, the Badgers won't be playing in a New Years' Day game. If they had, imagine that the rest of the Big Ten's bowl spots get moved up a slot.

• New Years' Day Bowls: Ohio State and/or Michigan State
• Outback: Wisconsin (SEC tie-in)
• Holiday: Nebraska (Pac-12 tie-in)
• TaxSlayer: Minnesota (SEC tie-in)
• Foster Farms: Iowa (Pac-12 tie-in)
• Music City: none (SEC tie-in)
• Pinstripe: Penn State (ACC tie-in)
• Quick Lane: Maryland (ACC tie-in)
• Heart of Dallas: Rutgers (Conference USA tie-in)

Conspicuous by its absence is Illinois. The Illini would like to play in a bowl game, but they are at the bottom of the pecking order in interest. Don't suggest that to poor, sweet Tim Beckman though:

Really enjoyed another day of Bowl Practice! Look forward to watching Fighting Illini Basketball here at 1:00! pic.twitter.com/YUFA97tlhC

— Tim Beckman (@coachbeckman) December 6, 2014

GOODBYE FROM THE PINWORMS CONFERENCE

It is absolute folly to project the following season's results before the current season is even finished. Nothing good ever results from it. Even projecting the offseason is foolish. Ignore the siren song of way-too-early polls, and stick to in-season data.

From the prestigious 'PINWORMS' conference, so long and farewell.