by Kyle Golik
Media Days often deliver a plethora of surprises from coaches, even when they typically don’t. A case in point is Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule. When asked about having confidence entering Year 2 in a league that got much more difficult with the addition of Southern California, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington, Rhule decided to take his response in an entirely different direction.
“I think, when you look at the Big Ten, playing nine conference games, more importantly, playing five road conference games — not every conference plays five road games. Some of the eight-team leagues play four road games, and sometimes those have neutral sites so they play three where you have to go into someone else’s stadium. In the Big Ten, we have to go into someone else’s stadium in our league five times and duke it out. But I think we’ll have a lot of access to the College Football Playoff. I think four teams from this league should get in every year because this is the best league. This is the NFL of college football in my mind. It stretches from coast to coast, different time zones, different weather. That’s not to diminish any other league. The SEC is amazing. These other leagues are great. But the challenge in the Big Ten is going to be really difficult — travel, weather, and great teams. For us, we think every game is a big game because we’re playing in it.”
There is a lot to unpack with Rhule’s response, but notably his suggestion about the Big Ten having four playoff spots might be triggering to many, but it shouldn’t be because Rhule is right about the situation.
The Big Ten spans coast-to-coast like the NFL, with various weather conditions and other elements unique to each stadium. The travel and logistics are NFL-like; many Big Ten coaches spoke today about consulting the NFL about practice routines, regimens, and travel. The logistics behind it make it a tough task.
On the field, this is a conference that has brands like Southern California, Oregon, Washington, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Iowa, all of which have been threats for Big Ten Championships, or in the case of the Pac-12 imports, Pac-12 Championships. Among the eight schools I mentioned above, there have been 11 total playoff appearances, with Ohio State in 2014 and Michigan last season bookending the four-team playoff iteration as champions, and Oregon in 2014 and Washington last season being the runners-up in those games.
The league has a pedigree, and in the 12-team playoff, the controversy isn’t going to be about the battle for the last spot at No. 4 that we got accustomed to; its going to be about who gets in from the Super 2 between the SEC and the Big Ten. Additionally, it will raise the question of whether both of these leagues deserve a spot over an ACC or Big XII team that might be equally worthy.
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I feel for the Big Ten and even the SEC, it might be 2016 all over again for many. If you recall, it was the debate over whether a two-loss conference champion (Penn State) was worthy to make it over a similarly ranked one-loss team (Ohio State) that didn’t win their conference and lost to the two-loss conference champion. Adding the foray was another Power 5 champion (Washington) that had an equal resume to each of their counterparts. The Committee took what it thought were the two best teams in that situation (Ohio State, Washington) and had their playoff.
The question now is, take Rhule’s Cornhuskers: if they go 10-2 and Missouri is 10-2 again, who is the committee taking? Many feel the Big Ten Top 3 this year will be Ohio State, Oregon, and Penn State. Michigan could be 9-3 or 10-2 and be in the mix.
Nebraska has a manageable schedule, though trips to Iowa, Southern California, and Ohio State don’t help. However, the Huskers could be 7-0 going into the Horseshoe, which isn’t out of the realm of possibility. If they win two of their brutal road games, they could be in line to be Big Ten No. 4. Considering the rigors of the Big Ten, how could you question their worthiness?
The seed Rhule planted raises the next argument, as you could make the same case for the SEC. This begin to squeeze out Notre Dame, the ACC, the Big XII, and the Group of 5. When you are the Big Ten or SEC, and you have 4 or 5 worthy teams, why would you be happy with just 2 or 3 spots? This will lead to the consolidation of major college football and the Big Ten or SEC wouldn’t be wrong to fight for their spots. The question becomes, what is the price of this consolidation downstream? It isn’t going to be pretty for the sport.
