When the second edition of the College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday night, ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit found himself trying to explain why Kansas State jumped eighth-ranked Michigan State despite comparable resumes.
"It's almost as if Michigan State's hit a ceiling,” he said during the network’s broadcast.
It’s because the Spartans have.
And that ceiling? It has a name.
In a fluid national picture that changes a little more each week, the Big Ten stayed still.
Because of it, the league’s top teams and combined playoff hopes could be mired in the muck of the mediocre conference.
Upon the unveiling, Ohio State— which has largely rolled since an increasingly-bad loss to Virginia Tech — crept up just two spots up after obliterating Illinois last weekend. One-loss Nebraska inched a spot up after blowing out Purdue. Wisconsin stumbled into the frame at No. 25 after back-to-back routs of Rutgers and Maryland.
Considering the Buckeyes, Spartans, Cornhuskers and Badgers have beaten a combined total of one ranked team all season (and that was when Michigan State edged Nebraska in September), the rankings in and of themselves are justified. What's disconcerting for the conference, though, is the lack of mobility.
It's why perhaps the most damning piece of evidence of the Big Ten’s plummeting place on the big stage is how the one-loss Spartans were jumped by the Wildcats — whose 48-14 win against a 5-4 Oklahoma State team was enough to leapfrog the defending Rose Bowl champions.
The point is that the selection committee is working to piece together a shifting puzzle, and the Big Ten doesn’t fit into it right now. It’s harsh, but it seems fair for a league that’s done itself no favors in non-conference play this year.
“We’ve got good teams in the Big Ten, and we’ve obviously seen that with some of the competition that’s gone on this year, some of the games that we’ve won,” junior linebacker Joshua Perry said.
“And if you look at the teams that are really good in the Big Ten, I think we can compete with everybody. We have to go out there and take care of our business and at the end of the year, we’ll let the people decide what they wanna think.”
The problem is most minds are made up already.
While the Buckeyes and the Spartans — which play in a heavyweight bout Saturday night in East Lansing — win on the field and on the recruiting trail, the rest of the conference is a desolate wasteland filled with has-been blue bloods and bottom dwellers that have only gotten worse.
Michigan and Penn State are shells of their former selves. Wisconsin’s an afterthought. So is Minnesota. Purdue, Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern are terrible. Newcomers Maryland and Rutgers haven’t fared much better.
Ohio State-Michigan State means a lot for the schools involved, but a duel between the two teams who carry the conference’s tattered flag means just as much to the Big Ten.
“This is one of the reasons why you come to a school like Ohio State or Michigan State,” junior linebacker Joshua Perry said.
“Is there a responsibility to go out there and put on a show? Kind of.”
Because the whole country is watching and they expect to watch a contest that fits neatly with the preconceived perception of the conference. But it’s hard to overlook good football — regardless of the conference — and the winner of a good football game.
When Ohio State and Michigan State pummel the rest of the league, few folks bat an eyelash. When the Spartans or the Buckeyes beat each other, it means something. And in a league full of mediocrity, this is probably the last chance for either squad to make a statement before the postseason.
“If you play well in this game, you’re going to be noticed. This is obviously a big game,” senior defensive lineman Michael Bennett said. “ESPN’s gonna be there, all that stuff, so you’re on the national stage like most Ohio State games, but the spotlight’s really on.”
After all, Saturday’s a chance for the Spartans to defend its league title. Of course, for the Buckeyes, it’s a chance at regaining national respect that eroded after a loss to the Hokies earlier this season.
"I think (we) know that already," head coach Urban Meyer said, "that this is a game to get the respect that Ohio State deserves and has had in the past.”
It’s also a chance for the Big Ten to roll out a product it can be proud of.
