Graceless in Defeat
Bowl Losses and Population Shifts Sink a Revered Conference
By DARREN EVERSON
WSJ
To win a national championship today in college football, a school must have certain building blocks. A massive fan base that buys tickets and makes donations. A legacy of success that attracts recruits. An administration willing to pay for top-flight coaches and facilities.
But it's become clear that one element trumps them all: local talent. The best players, increasingly, come from the South and West, and that's a problem—potentially a permanent one—for the Big Ten Conference.
As the college-football season starts this week, the Big Ten—an ancient group of Northern schools stretching from Iowa to Pennsylvania—is again out to rebuild its tattered reputation. The conference has lost its last six appearances in the Rose Bowl, equaling its longest losing streak there ever. It has won two Associated Press national titles since 1969—in 1997 and 2002—while the Southeastern Conference has won the last three in a row. The general knock on the Big Ten is that its players are slower than those in the other power leagues. Last year's 1-6 bowl record weighs on the minds of its fans and players alike. "I feel personally responsible," says Minnesota linebacker Lee Campbell.
Money and tradition have nothing to do with the conference's decline. Founded in 1896, the Big Ten is college's biggest, richest and oldest major conference. The average undergrad enrollment at each of its 11 members—roughly 30,000—is greater than that of any other league, and the amount it shares in revenue has also been superior to that of the other major conferences. The conference's teams also have been perfectly willing to spend money on football. Ohio State's Jim Tressel and Iowa's Kirk Ferentz earn above $3 million a year, placing them among the 10 highest-paid college coaches in the country. Average coaching pay is comparable to rival leagues.
(Continued here.)
By DARREN EVERSON
WSJ
To win a national championship today in college football, a school must have certain building blocks. A massive fan base that buys tickets and makes donations. A legacy of success that attracts recruits. An administration willing to pay for top-flight coaches and facilities.
But it's become clear that one element trumps them all: local talent. The best players, increasingly, come from the South and West, and that's a problem—potentially a permanent one—for the Big Ten Conference.
As the college-football season starts this week, the Big Ten—an ancient group of Northern schools stretching from Iowa to Pennsylvania—is again out to rebuild its tattered reputation. The conference has lost its last six appearances in the Rose Bowl, equaling its longest losing streak there ever. It has won two Associated Press national titles since 1969—in 1997 and 2002—while the Southeastern Conference has won the last three in a row. The general knock on the Big Ten is that its players are slower than those in the other power leagues. Last year's 1-6 bowl record weighs on the minds of its fans and players alike. "I feel personally responsible," says Minnesota linebacker Lee Campbell.
Money and tradition have nothing to do with the conference's decline. Founded in 1896, the Big Ten is college's biggest, richest and oldest major conference. The average undergrad enrollment at each of its 11 members—roughly 30,000—is greater than that of any other league, and the amount it shares in revenue has also been superior to that of the other major conferences. The conference's teams also have been perfectly willing to spend money on football. Ohio State's Jim Tressel and Iowa's Kirk Ferentz earn above $3 million a year, placing them among the 10 highest-paid college coaches in the country. Average coaching pay is comparable to rival leagues.
(Continued here.)
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