Wolverine247 Board

I never thought I'd upvote a Buckeye. Congrats!

I'm gonna hold off on the "big 2, little 10" talk until we play each other for the Rose Bowl 7 out of 10 years.

There's a lot of work ahead.

We gave Dantonio a hallpass given he was Tress's DC during the title season. However, Dantonio just used up that one freebie. What a shame. Now, I suspect when Urb has his foot on MSU's throat and drops 50 on Dantonio's D .. few in Buckeye Nation will feel sorry for him for having poked the bear.

I don't even know what this is supposed to mean.

He means that neither program is "back" till they actually start winning a lot over a period of years. So far the tOSU and UM have a lot of stars on paper. Before it can go back to the "Big 2 Little 10", UM and tOSU actually have to dominate the conference on the football field.

Could that happen? Sure. Is it definitely going to happen? I don't see how you can say that. tOSU is ineligible for the Big 10 title next year and UM plays in a pretty competitive division. I don't exactly see Nebraska, Wisconsin and MSU going away any time soon.

The last time both UM and tOSU dominated the Big 10 was in 2006. I think the changes of either tOSU or UM being a factor in the Big 10 each year is pretty high, but both being consistently dominate programs for a decade straight? It'll take more than 1 year of great recruiting to make that happen.

Osu went away for 1 year. Michigan for 4. Those seem to be the only years that matter to some people. Good coaching + highly regarded recruits = best chance for success. RR had decent recruiting classes butno coaching. Same for OSU last year. I like where things are headed.

When you lose to App St, get blown out by Oregon, and lose to OSU again, the year is an unmitigated disaster.

He said OSU AND UofM.

And if beating both of those schools, winning your division, getting back to back 11 win seasons, and dominating your in state rivals is considered "second-tier" then I am just fine with that position.

Get to back to back rose bowls and then you can talk.

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut (pun intended). When what you described becomes commonplace rather than a point of significance, then you will have reached tOSUs and UMs level.

You guys have a solid coaching staff that does a great job at developing talent, the same can be said for Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin but recruiting is the lifeblood of programs. Now, that's not to say you can't have success without recruiting at a high level but Michigan and Ohio State are recruiting at multiple levels above the rest. I understand that it's been like that for a long time but if we look at your recent success it came from some of your higher ranked classes, the vast majority of your highest ranked class were the main contributors for your team. Now obviously, one year won't make or break a program but if the current trend of Michigan and Ohio State recruiting at a top 5 level then it will make it very hard for the rest of the conference to keep up. The other teams in the conference have made a living being in that 20-35 recruiting ranking and there aren't really any teams in that area for 2012. I think 2013 will be a big indicator for the future of the conference(on and off the field).

Agreed.

For me, it's the size of the gap between Michigan, Ohio, and the rest of the conference in terms of the talent that's being added to the table. Being able to recruit like Michigan and Ohio is like drafting with all first and second round picks. It's doesn't necessarily mean the players will pan out but you have a hell of a lot better chance.