It’s the Big Ten’s world. Everybody else is just living in it.
That’s the kind of boasting a conference can do when it has steamrolled to back-to-back-to-back national championships, with three different members combining to do the honors.
“This is the best league in the country,” every Big Ten coach has said at least 37 times already this season.
So why do I smell a Saturday comeuppance coming?
On the main stage: No. 1 Ohio State (+1½) at No. 4 Texas (6:30 p.m., ABC 7) in college football’s nonconference game of the year. It gets no bigger than this.
But there’s also a vast army of riled-up football watchers who are waving torches and jabbing pitchforks in the direction of Ann Arbor, Michigan, where No. 11 Oklahoma (-5½) at Michigan (11 a.m., Fox 32) is sure to steal some of the Buckeyes’ and Longhorns’ thunder. Why? Because so many want to see the Wolverines go down — hard — after their travesty of a 13-12 victory over major underdog Western Michigan in Week 1.
Most of you know what happened: The Wolverines ran out of time against Western Michigan, with three zeroes on the scoreboard clock before what seemed to be the final play concluded. But then? Aha! Big Ten replay officials dug under their seat cushions and found, in miraculous and extraordinarily controversial fashion, an extra second for the Maize and Blue to run one last play. That play turned into a 47-yard walk-off Hail Mary from Bryce Underwood to JJ Buchanan.
A mega-upset was averted. Fairness was launched into the sun. A nation was outraged. A world was flipped on its axis. And so on.
So, yeah, if the Sooners would kindly rough up their hosts, a lot of folks would appreciate it. And if the Buckeyes happen to get dragged down, too, there won’t be many tears shed for a conference whose power and influence in sports is greater than ever but whose handling of last weekend’s fiasco left a lot to be desired.
There’s real invective toward the Big Ten at the moment, and I get it. Even if there weren’t, though, the Wolverines and the Buckeyes would be in serious danger.
Oklahoma, coming off a 51-0 win against UTEP, is a huge step up in competition from Western Michigan, which could well be the best team in the MAC. Is Underwood really ready to put an awful Week 1 performance behind him against this Sooners defense? Especially considering his coach, Kyle Whittingham, doesn’t seem to have much confidence in it himself?
“He’s our QB right now,” Whittingham said. “It’s not something that’s infinite. At some point, we’ve got to turn the corner and we’ve got to see improvement.”
Boomer Sooner is my call, 24-17.
And the Buckeyes? They beat Texas 14-7 last year in Columbus, Ohio, pretty much blowing the lid off Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning’s Heisman Trophy chances in the season opener. The season before that, they got the better of Texas in the playoff en route to the title. They surely are confident going into this one.
It will be a glorious display of talent on the field in Austin, especially at the wide receiver position; these likely are the strongest two receiver units in the country. OSU’s Jeremiah Smith could be the NFL’s next No. 1 overall draft pick, and Texas’ Cam Coleman is widely projected to be among the top handful of picks himself. Manning, seemingly headed toward becoming the first QB drafted, has put last year’s rough start deep in the rear-view. Not to be overlooked is Longhorns edge rusher Colin Simmons, who had 21 sacks over the last two seasons and projects as yet another top-10 pick.
Simmons is a monster. His team is a monster. Hook ’Em gets it done, 23-20, and the Big Ten is left licking its wounds.
OTHER WEEK 2 PICKS
All games are Saturday.
Rice (+44½) at No. 3 Notre Dame (2:30 p.m., NBC 5, 780-AM): There are 138 FBS teams, and the Owls might be right around 138th-best at throwing the football. They did rush for a whopping 458 yards in their opening win against FCS bottom-feeder Houston Christian, for whatever that’s worth. Irish, 56-3.
Duke (+5½) at Illinois (2:30 p.m., FS1, 890-AM): By no means is this a free meal for the Illini against the defending ACC champs. Last year at Duke, though, the Illini survived an even first half before leaning on the Blue Devils like a bigger, more physical team should, wearing them down and winning 45-19; it was the epitome of what Bret Bielema wants his teams to look like. This won’t be that easy, because the Blue Devils are no slouches. They sacked Luke Altmyer four times last year, and it would have been more against a less-experienced QB. New starter Katin Houser has to be crafty. Give me the Block I, 31-24.
No. 12 Alabama (-10½) at Kentucky (2:30 p.m., ABC 7): New Kentucky coach Will Stein has ripped a page out of the playbook of Indiana’s Curt Cignetti by bragging about how good he is. Got to respect his rhetorical game. In other news, Roll Tide, 34-20.
My favorite favorite: No. 21 Iowa (-13½) vs. Iowa State (6:30 p.m., NBC 5): Yes, it’s an unpredictable rivalry. But former Cyclones coach Matt Campbell took a ton of his best players with him to Penn State, setting up what should be a blip in the close-game department.
My favorite underdog: Minnesota (+1½) vs. Mississippi State (2:30 p.m., CBS 2): The Bulldogs are a lower-half SEC team, of which there is no doubt. The Gophers might not be an upper-half Big Ten team, but home turf matters a lot.
Last week: 6-1 straight-up, 3-4 against the spread.
Season to date: 6-1 straight-up, 3-4 against the spread.