(10-02-2018 09:21 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(10-02-2018 08:58 AM)Hokie4Skins Wrote:  I'm pretty confident that Rutgers will never win a Big Ten title. How many stars would need to align for them to get past Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Michigan State in the same year?

There's a serious talent divide in the Big 10 between top shelf teams and the lower half of the league-- maybe more than any other P5 league. Using Ohio State as the barometer, here is their all-time wins vs. their conference mates:

Indiana 73-8-4
Minnesota 44-7
Northwestern 61-14-1
Wisconsin 59-18-5
Nebraska 3-1
Iowa 46-15-3
Michigan State 31-13
Purdue 39-14-2
Penn State 17-8
Illinois 68-30-3
Michigan 48-46 (OSU has won 6 in a row)
Rutgers 4-0
Maryland 4-0

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that most of these are simply overmatched by the Buckeyes historically, presently and likely into the future. I would argue that the divide has probably only gone stronger as many of the wins these teams have over OSU took place in decades past when OSU was not as strong or when demographics were different and some of those teams had stronger programs.

Nah. Its a lot more balanced than it was in the 70s or 80s. Urban Meyer has put Ohio St. on a higher level as Saban has at Alabama, but coaches eventually change.
Yet, Ohio St. only has two Big 10 titles since 2010. Michigan St. and Wisconsin have won more in that period. Since 2000 only Indiana and Minnesota among the long time members haven't won a Big 10 title.