Fact or Fiction: Big Ten is worst Power Five conference
National recruiting director Mike Farrell and national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney tackle three topics daily and determine whether they believe the statements or not.
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1. The Big Ten is the worst Power 5 conference.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. The Big Ten is bad, don’t get me wrong, with power programs Penn State, and Michigan struggling. But I present you the Big 12 as the worst Power Five conference. Your leader is Iowa State, a team that lost to Louisiana, followed by more two-loss teams in Oklahoma, Texas and Oklahoma State. And down at the bottom? Baylor and Kansas, two of the worst teams in college football. Try doing the power rankings for the Big 12 and you’ll be disgusted.
Gorney’s take: FACT. Four teams in the Big Ten East including Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State have losing records. Four teams in the Big Ten West are playing .500 ball or worse including Purdue, Minnesota and Nebraska.
Ohio State is the best team in the conference, Indiana is a tough out and Northwestern is 5-0, but does anyone seriously believe if Oklahoma and Northwestern played a game that the Sooners would lose?
The Big 12 might not even be the second-worst conference if you take a look at middle to bottom teams in the ACC. Iowa State is playing really well right now after an early stumble, I’ve argued that a two-loss Oklahoma deserves a shot in the playoff if it wins out, Texas and Oklahoma State have had moments as well and West Virginia has a phenomenal defense and is 5-0 at home. The Big Ten this season is pretty bad.
2. J.T. Daniels should have started sooner for UGA.
Farrell’s take: FACT. I don’t care how limited he was, J.T. Daniels was clearly the better option after being cleared than D’Wan Mathis and Stetson Bennett. Why? Because he can actually throw the ball downfield with arm strength and accuracy. I know there was some concern about his mobility, but it appears Kirby Smart thought he could rely on his defense and running game to get through this season until he felt comfortable with Daniels. That was clearly a mistake.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. This is a tricky situation because I was not privy to Daniels’ medical records and condition and it’s unclear when exactly he was cleared by the Georgia doctors to play in games. But if Smart thought Bennett or Mathis were better options at quarterback and Daniels was available, then some serious questions need to be asked.
Smart has made curious quarterback decisions before, namely not playing Justin Fields in favor of Jake Fromm and then seeing Fields leave for Ohio State, where he’s leading the Buckeyes to another run at the College Football Playoff. If Daniels was healthy and cleared to play, then absolutely he should have been in sooner. I’m just not sure that was the case.
3. The Hokies need to move on from Justin Fuente.
Farrell’s take: FACT. I liked this hire and he’s 37-25 overall after a strong start in his first two seasons. However, 19 of those wins came in those first two years and he’s 18-17 since. And recruiting has been downright awful in the state as well.
The Hokies are in a winnable division but losses to Wake Forest, Liberty and a blowout loss to Pitt have things on a downward spiral. Maybe it’s too early to say this, but this doesn’t appear to be working out after a very strong start.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. Everybody wants to talk about Pitt blowing Virginia Tech this past weekend and that’s fair, but let’s not forget the Hokies nearly upset Miami. Virginia Tech lost to Liberty by three in a thriller, by a touchdown to Wake Forest and they were down only five heading to the fourth against North Carolina.
Fuente has also never finished lower than third in the ACC Coastal. By no means is recruiting good enough, especially in-state, and I can understand why many around the program might want him gone as they long for the Frank Beamer days, but let's not forget - Beamer won 40 games in his final five seasons. Fuente has won 37 with two games to go in a shortened fifth season. That's really not a dropoff.