After an interesting opening weekend, we can see that the five power conferences continue to dominate. Led by the Big 10's perfect 10-0 record in OOC games, the top 5 ran up a 36-8 edge OOC (with Miss @ Memphis still to come). The Big 12 went 8-2, the PAC-10 was 7-2, the SEC 6-2 and the ACC 5-2.

The mid-majors were 8-16. BE went 3-3, MWC was 2-4, CUSA 2-5 and WAC 1-4.

The bottom feeders and IAA provided the "L"'s.

Of course the BE is a major not a midmajor.

While Big 10 pounded the MAC, Tulsa, and had wins over lower BE foes USF and Rutgers in OT, these are not extremely telling nor particularly surprising. Next week, when Michigan plays Notre Dame, and Ohio State takes on Texas, and Iowa plays Iowa State, may indeed be more revealing. The Big10 is not ready to be anointed--yet!
In addition to the Oklahoma-TCU game, the Clemson-Texas A&M game was a good inter-sectional match-up this past weekend.

Oh, I wasn't trying to annoint the Big 10, D&C. Just reporting the surprising sweep of the MAC, which used to put up better battles. BG looks good, and No. Ill may handle NW this week.

The BE will have to prove that it deserves major status on the field, TS2. Louisville may well run the boards in the BE, but its defense looked like Swiss cheese against Basketball U.

Best upcoming games: Texas @ Ohio St, ND @ Michigan, S. Carolina @ Georgia, Arizona St @ LSU, So Miss @ Alabama and (maybe) BSU @ Oregon St.

The BE is a BCS conference.They have a great market place unlike MWC or CUSA.They have great alliances with ND and will have them Army and Navy and they have OOC games with other BCS conferences..They have many bowl games.They also great other sports.Your bashing of the BE is pure CRAP.

A better way to look at conference strength is to see how BCS conferences to against other BCS confernces. Just because the Big10 won games against 9-0 against non-BCS teams and 1-0 against a BCS team. The BE would be 1-2, etc, etc.

This thread should probably be moved to College FB - General Forum.

That is always a good point to note, assuming the bigger schools often open with softer competition, and being in the BCS suggests some level of general superiority over non-BCS conferences; though we all know such is not that cleanly presented and upsets can happen, i. e. TCU vs Oklahoma.
It is still early, and teams with an opening game loss do have a chance to recover a bit and have a fine season.

In the BE, West Virginia won at Syracuse. Everyone is hyping L'ville for the BE, but WVU could be a bit of a surprise. Perhaps that later battle with VPI will be even more interesting.

There were actually TWO B10-BE match-ups this past weekend. Univ. of So. Fla did play Penn State in addition to the Rutgers-Illinois game.

My concern is NOT whether the BE will have a couple of fine teams that will do well this year. A couple will prove themselves. The standing question, being at only 8, they just are not deep.

Dogsnthings, you are right on the mark for BE issues. The same issues existed when Miami and Va Tech were in the BE as the conference always took a beating in this type of comparison scenerios simple due to size.

No one is comparing how many undefeated teams exist after day one and are still in the hunt for a BCS bid?

The Big East is just not being taken seriously in football and will not until the conference expands for football reasons and not just to keep 16 unlike members happy.

Football needs depth and the only way to get it is with numbers.

I was impressed with the ACC performance this weekend not counting wins by formal BE members Va Tech and BC.

The Big East can look at one major benefit to this past weekend, the Miami loss to Florida State in previous years would have been a big blow. Everyone would have stated the Big East does not deserve BCS status simply because Miami lost a game.

Some good points, Lash. I believe there is a wide consensus that BE fb needs to broaden, at some point, in numbers and this could be relative to trends elsewhere.

I see TS2s messages and do note that a conference that is not all-sports may look internally for development and expansion initially. The BE has already done that with UCONN's 1-A upgrade; and, C-USA did the SAME when USF's new fb program was brought on board several years ago. Note, C-USA could have gone with a more established fb program at the time (even UCF was further along); but USF already was a C-USA member in bb.

The problem, I see, with the above type pursuits in the BE, is that opportunity and options have near closed. UCONN did it, but contrary to all the posts, Villanova, Georgetown, nor any other BE bb member have not announced such. Notre Dame will not. Army and Navy, I see as totally external to the BE, other than geography, and possessing unique issues about joining any conference. To get any more in fb upgrades from the current BE, full scope of members, is like drawing blood from a turnip.

The external options are not pretty. (Did not believe the USF addition was pretty either, but they were added). But there is potential, and some of the schools we have mentioned are close to BCS level potential if they had the right conference mechanism in place. For the BE. we are only talking about a couple for starters, not some massive overhaul of the conference. For fb, it is a matter of adding, not taking anyone way. The "take aways" are now in the ACC and the one not desired, Temple, is now gone as well.

See folks ;)!

With the exception of the Univ. of South Florida, all of Penn State's opponents are in the midwest. Other OCC games include Cincinnati and Central Michigan. The two BE foes are newcomers. Penn State will renew a future series with Temple (post BE exit).
There is simply not a lot of warmth or urgency for Penn State to schedule games with former northeast rivals now in the BE. On the one hand, some intense rivalries have been missed; on the other, history and inflamed sensitivities matter.
Penn State is solidly focused in the Big 10, and that is not reversible for practical reasons.

DogsNthings, college football has to be very careful to not over do the very thing that makes it magical. Tradition is an important as money.

I remember spending many summers in eastern Pa and lots of the kids some being family members would discuss which school to attend and which schools would have the best chance to exceed in football and possibly over take Penn State. Penn State, Pitt, and WVU (university of southern Pennsyvania).

I don't get back there much anymore, however, wonder how many of those new kids are saying are you going to Penn State or attending Iowa?

These type of things are hard to understand as money has long overtaken tradition in college football. Texas in the Rose Bowl? BC playing in a southern league?

I look back to profession baseball which dont think has every truely recovered from the strikes that turned off so many fans and wonder if college football is putting itself in the same situation.

Everyone hates the BCS. No one wants to see two or three super conferences and no one wants to prevent the execitment of an upstart making waves such as Utah last year.

Maybe the extra BCS game will take care of some issues, it does not take care of missed tradition that took years to build.

Actually Lash, I would like to see Penn State playing WVU, Pitt, and Syracuse, at least one of them on a rotating basis. One of the issues, at least with Syracuse and some with Pitt in the past, is Penn State's preference for the 2 home and 1 away stuff. Of course, that is not unique, and part of the reason schools schedule teams willing to agree to OCC games that are 2-1 or don't seek a return game. As you know, finding cupcakes for OOC games is factored in as well.
Decades ago, including the one Nixon era Texas championship, when Penn State had undefeated or near undefeated seasons, critics would cite Penn State's relative weak eastern opponents. There were times when Pitt wins in the series were not often, Maryland was always beaten, and WVU did not win against them until the later years of the series. Ironically, as the prime eastern teams got much better, is when Penn State went the Big 10 direction.

The Big 10 rivalries with Ohio State, Michigan, and MSU have gotten strong. Still, some of those eastern games are missed. Students today, and the new generation, do not know how it used to be at Penn State.

Dognthings, good points with new traditions! I dont see why the Big East especially Pitt, WVU, and Syracue old rivals of Penn State do not schedule 2 for 1. After all Penn State does seat over 100 thousand. Maybe they could negotiate for 20 thousdand of the tickets for the away team.

With Notre Dame playing 3 BE games per year. ACC having to play certain amount of BE games with legal settlement, Penn State along with Army and Navy schedules would help to corral some of the BE markets that TV is distorting by provided to other conference to make up for revenue that was provided to those conference.

Does anyone in New Elgland give a rats as@ about the Clemson/Miami game? Not sure there would be all that execitment if BC were playing Miami, yet ABC will broadcast the game in New England.

The eastern media including TV and voting members of the polls need to become more bias to the east similiar to how the midwest and south are to schools located in those respected areas and maybe some things could change for the Big East football concerning TV.

If I were a TV station owner in New England outside of Boston, I would dictate which game would be televised in my market or it would be an old rerun movie.

Granted both Pitt and Nebraska are not up to past years standards, however, Pitt is an eastern team and Clemson and Miami are deep south teams.

ABC talks out both sides of their month with all this distortion tactics. According to ABC, college football is a regional sport. Yet ABC has to make up for all the cash it provide the ACC by tramping on Big East markets.

Maybe to get ABC atttention, fans in those markets should just turn the set off. Or better yet, switch to college football on CBS. This is a double edge sword to the ABC.

Sadly, had Syracuse gone for that 14 years ago, Penn State would likely be in the BE, and we wouldn't be having these arguments.