Changing of the guard in the Big Ten?

[Muck]

There is no "changing of the guard". Every 2-3 years Iowa,MSU,Purdue,Minnehaha,etc. gets a couple of fast recruits they think are special, and think they will actually challenge OSU or scUM for supremacy of the Big 10. Bottom line-beating each other does not consistently equate to beating OSU,scUM, or Wisky. OSU will dominate, scUM will trail it's tail in 2nd, Wisky and PSU(maybe occasionally Iowa)will occasionally challenge/consistently challenge for 2nd/3rd. If you think IU and/ot Minnehaha are ready to take over from OSU and scUM as Big 10 powers, you must also think that France and the EU will take over from the US and China as major power players in geopolitics.....

Interesting that you would mention Wisconsin in such a manner. They are the only team that has managed to become competitive with Ohio State and TSUN on a yearly basis. Starting in the early 90's Alvarez turned the program around and they have stayed near the front of the pack. Prior to that they were among the worst of the bottom feeders...and no other Big10 team has put together the right formula for long term consistency.

 

[Dublin Buckeyes]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Ron Zook is 'teh suck'

Illinois will do better purely because they had no where to go but up.

Indiana I think will be interesting to watch. I wouldn't classify any movements thus far as a 'changing of the guard' in the Big Televen.

 

[Zurp]

Teams go through cycles. Some teams (Ohio State and Michigan) seem to stay "up" much longer than they're "down." Other teams (Northwestern and Indiana) seem to stay "down" longer. When I first started going to games, Wisconsin was one of the Big Ten whipping boys. Now, they have a winning record against Jim Tressel. Northwestern won the Big Ten championship not too long ago. I remember thinking, "Maybe it's a good thing that Ohio State doesn't play Northwestern this year." Penn State came into the Big Ten in 1993 as a very strong team. In 1994, they went undefeated. Then they fell off the map, somewhat, and have just recently re-emerged.

So, yes, I think that short-term, the middle of the Big Ten is changing. Maybe Purdue and Michigan State will become the new bottom-feeders, and Northwestern and Illinois begin making a serious run for the championship.