by AL Hogan
(Portland, Maine)
Every bowl season you have uneven matchups in conference standings. One example this year was; #2 from Big Ten vs #1 Pac Ten (on #1's home field) #3 Michigan beat #4 Florida and #3 Tennessee beat #4 Wisconsin was a wash. What I'm getting at is every year the Big Ten is around a -15 vs competitors. The SEC was a -10 this year although #5 Georgia vs #1 Hawaii skewed the overall as we now know about Hawaii.
No excuses, but the fact is the Big Ten plays higher ranked (in conference) teams, on their home field or close by, year in and year out.
I look forward to the OSU LSU matchup as it will be #1 vs #1 even if LSU gets home field advantage. I do not place a lot of stock in any disparity matchups in conference comparisons.