The ACC and Big Ten: Indecipherable and Indistinguishable

I enter every Saturday thinking that the ACC and Big Ten, even above all other entities in the stormy world of college, are chaotic masses tending towards total unpredictability. And by the mid-afternoon games, I’m usually thinking things are even more inscrutable. ↵
↵Today, that happened again.↵↵At noon, Michigan was the most complete offensive team in the Big Ten, throwing four games of 30+ points together in sequence. After a 26-20 loss in overtime to Michigan State, I’m not so sure. That result that took a magical Tate Forcier drive to both push the Wolverines into positive rushing yards on the day and tie the game with two seconds left in regulation, but the maize-and-blue-clad wunderkind also threw an interception in overtime that essentially lost the game for Michigan. The Spartans rolled up 417 yards of total offense in victory.↵

↵↵At noon, Virginia Tech was the best team in the ACC, fresh off an assertion of dominance over Miami. Now, the Hokies are yet another inconsistent team, a sloppy 34-26 win at Duke in their rear view mirror. Should VT play like they did against the Blue Devils when visiting Georgia Tech, they probably won’t escape with a win.↵

↵

↵↵At noon, Iowa was the Big Ten’s most impressive team, with a defense that put vises to shame. Then the Hawkeyes gave up 297 yards and 7-of-14 first downs to Arkansas State and needed to catch an onside kick to preserve their 24-21 win. Those aren’t great numbers against minimal competition; Ricky Stanzi’s two picks aren’t great, either.↵

↵↵At noon, North Carolina was still looking like a probable ACC contender; now, after an ugly 17-6 loss to Virginia, the Tar Heels just look lost, with an offense that gained under 200 yards. Similarly, Maryland was probably the worst team in the conference at noon, but the Terrapins beat Clemson 24-21. Actually, the Terps are probably still the worst team in the conference.↵

↵↵The point is: The ACC and Big Ten have one or two good, but flawed teams at the top (Virginia Tech and Miami; Ohio State and Iowa), a marginal Top 25 team or two lurking (Florida State and Georgia Tech; Penn State and Michigan), and a bunch of teams who got fat on non-conference opponents and will ride three or four conference wins to a bowl game without anyone acknowledging that those teams are, in actuality, pretty bad. At least I think that’s the point. Next week may well prove me wrong again.↵

↵