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Thursday, September 20, 2001

By Ray Fittipaldo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Thirteen months ago, the Big Ten reached its zenith as the nation's preeminent college football conference. After going 5-2 in 1999 bowl games, seven conference teams began the 2000 season ranked in the Associated Press preseason Top 25.

Wisconsin (No.4), Michigan (6), Purdue (14), Ohio State (16), Illinois (21), Penn State (22) and Michigan State (25) were the representatives. It was the first and only time any conference had seven teams in the AP poll at the same time.

A little more than a year later and after another rough start for conference teams, the Big Ten might have hit rock bottom. In the most recent AP poll, no Big Ten team was in the top 15 and only three teams made it at all: Northwestern (16), Michigan (20) and Ohio State (21).

In 2000, three conference teams lost to opponents from the Mid-American Conference. In the non-conference schedule this season, Minnesota fell to Toledo of the MAC and Wisconsin fell to Fresno State of the Western Athletic Conference, its first loss at home to a non-conference team since 1995.

Conference power Michigan lost to a Pac-10 team for the second year in a row, 23-18 at Washington on Sept.8. On the same day, in a game that illustrates the league's struggles as much as any loss, Ohio State beat Akron by just two touchdowns, 28-14, in Columbus.

What's going on?

For starters, it would seem AP voters overestimated the conference last season. After the first seven weeks of 2000, only four Big Ten teams were ranked. Illinois, Michigan State, Penn State and Wisconsin were 11-12 overall, 1-9 in conference play.

Another factor has been the reduction of scholarships. In 1992, the NCAA initiated a gradual reduction from 95 scholarships to 85 for Division I-A schools. That process was completed by 1994. Before the rule change, the established programs had used those 10 other scholarships to stockpile talent. With name schools unable to lock up as many players, teams from lower-ranked conferences, many of them promising early playing time and games against big-time teams, have reaped the benefits.

"It's probably cyclical," Illinois Coach Ron Turner said. "Conference USA and the MAC have really made strides with the 85 scholarships. All of these conferences and teams are getting much, much closer."

Other coaches refuse to say the Big Ten is in a down cycle.

"I don't think the conference is down," Penn State Coach Joe Paterno said. "I think we're a very, very competitive conference. We have good parity. We're playing a lot of good teams. Maybe we're not as glamorous as we were in the past because we don't have a great team."

"It'll be interesting to see how the whole thing plays out," Indiana Coach Cam Cameron said. "Maybe we've been exceptional in the past. We've always been solid. We'll be solid. I don't think the Big Ten is down."

"When the 2001 season ends, I don't think there will be too many people saying it was a down year in the Big Ten," Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel said.

One telling factor could be whether a team is ranked in the final AP Top 10. In every year since 1984, a Big Ten team has had a final AP ranking of tenth or higher. That string is in jeopardy this year.

Fighting the Irish

Michigan State has played Notre Dame on and off since 1897. Since 1959, the two schools have played every year, except for 1995 and 1996. They meet again Saturday in South Bend, Ind.

With parity in the Big Ten and the conference's reputation for being a grind, Spartans Coach Bobby Williams has thought about not having such a demanding non-conference schedule, but indicated eliminating Notre Dame is not a likely option.

"Scheduling has become such a factor in college football," Williams said. "Our conference schedule is so demanding. A lot of teams look at scheduling non-league games as a way to have success early. But Notre Dame has been on our schedule for a number of years, since 1897. That's a lot of years."

Notre Dame leads the series, 41-22-1, but Michigan State has won the past four meetings after losing eight in a row.

Quick hits

One team unhappy to have three weeks between games is Iowa. The Hawkeyes are 2-0 and have outscored their opponents, 95-19. ... Indiana is 2-5 in its past seven non-conference games.