Big Ten changing its image

Published: Saturday, 1/3/2015 - Updated: 17 hours ago

BY DAVID BRIGGS BLADE SPORTS WRITER

NEW ORLEANS The college football landscape underwent a transformational shift one night in the Arizona desert eight years ago.

Ohio States 41-14 loss to Florida in the BCS championship game represented not just one bad night for a proud power but the creation of a deep-fried monster that would assume a life of its own.

As the Southeastern Conference claimed seven straight national titles, other leagues became cast as the junior varsity. Ohio State might be good but not SEC good and certainly never SEC fast.

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On Thursday night, Urban Meyer with the help of his uncommon Buckeyes team formally ended the reign he began.

Ohio States 42-35 win over top-seeded Alabama in the Sugar Bowl provided the latest implausible chapter to its storybook season and punctuated a Big Ten bowl mutiny that upended everything we thought we knew.

Meyer came to Ohio State in 2012 to build a deeper, faster program modeled after the titans of the SEC the way he did in leading Florida to national titles in 2006 and 2008. Three top-five recruiting classes later, he has a team without equal in the once-invincible southern league.

The Buckeyes (13-1) will play second-seeded Oregon for the first College Football Playoff title on Jan. 12 in Arlington, Texas.

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Big Ten changing its image