Big Ten has believers, skeptics

CHICAGO - When it comes to judging the perception of Big Ten football around the country, the conference's coaches and ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit were the width of several football fields apart Thursday at the Big Ten football summer media preview.

Minnesota coach Tim Brewster said, "I think the Big Ten is as good a conference from top to bottom as there is in America."

Wisconsin coach Brett Bielema said, "I really believe the Big Ten Conference is as strong as ever and will go out and play anybody on any given day."

Purdue's Joe Tiller said, "The Big Ten is very healthy, very competitive."

That's not what Herbstreit hears from fans outside Big Ten country when he and Chris Fowler and Lee Corso take ESPN's Game Day on the road, though.

"The Big Ten has always been hated by the SEC and the PAC-10 but it has never been a punch line. Right now - not by me but from what I hear from other regions - the Big Ten has become a punchline," Herbstreit said.

"They mock the Big Ten, they laugh at the Big Ten. They think the Big Ten is the most overrated conference in the country every year. And it's a shame because if you went back and studied it, the record would be about equal. But because of the stage and the magnitude, everyone is like, ‘See what I'm talking about.' "

The stage Herbstreit is referring to are the back-to-back thumpings absorbed by Ohio State in the last two BCS national championship games, along with Illinois and Michigan being dominated in the last two Rose Bowls.

"Outside this region, when I walk on the stage for Game Day, I get ‘Big Ten sucks. Big Ten sucks,' wherever I go," Herbstreit said. "It's like I'm the commissioner of the Big Ten. It's like it says Big Ten on my forehead. They just wear me out."

Herbstreit, a former Ohio State quarterback, sees the greatest physical difference between SEC teams and Big Ten teams at linebacker and on the defensive line.

"I'm not saying the SEC is fast and the Big Ten is slow. I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying the Big Ten can run equally to the SEC in skill (positions) but where I see a noticeable difference is in the trenches," he said.

One solution he thinks would help is if the Big Ten forced itself to play more challenging opponents in its non-league games.

"Like Ohio State playing USC, if they lose by 30 it's not going to help them. If they go out and win, it sets them up. But if they lose but they compete, where are you going to drop them, to No. 5 or 6? Whereas, if you beat Youngstown State and Rice and Troy, who cares? What do the fans get? What do the players get out of those games?" he said.

NOTES

PATERNO DOESN'T KNOW WHEN: Wherever he goes, 81-year-old Penn State coach Joe Paterno knows he is going to be asked when he is going to retire.

Obviously, he knew the question would be waiting for him on Thursday and it didn't take long for it to arrive.

"I obviously get tired of answering the same question about when are you going to retire. I don't know. I'll retire when I feel I can't make a contribution to Penn State. I'm having a lot of fun, I don't want to get out of it. But I don't want to get too stupid and not get out of it the way I want to get out of it," he said.

"Health-wise I feel good. I'm excited about it. I think we have some people who can play football. I'm really looking forward to it, I'm ready to have some fun."

Paterno mentioned a name with an area connection when he talked about the search for a quarterback to replace the graduated Anthony Morelli. He said senior Paul Cianciolo, son of Spencerville High School graduate Fred Cianciolo, is one of three QBs he is looking at.

RODRIGUEZ KNOWS OSU'S IMPORTANCE: New Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez is well aware the Wolverines have lost six out of their last seven games to Ohio State.

"Do I understand the importance of the rivalry? You'd have to be crazy not to," he said.

"I'm not a coach who has a countdown to a particular game other than the game that's next. But there's nothing wrong with that. Obviously we have some work to do (against Ohio State). I've heard fans say, ‘Coach, if you win one game, the Ohio State game, we'll be happy. But I don't believe that," Rodriguez said.

CORRECTION, PLEASE: When Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema was asked for his reaction to Michigan not being voted among the top three teams in the Big Ten's preseason poll for the first time in recent memory, he said, "That's probably a misprint."