Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor, September 14, 2015
In the new college football playoff era, conference perception is more important than ever before.
[ MORE: Best of Week 2 | Power Rankings | Bowl Projections | Latest polls | Week 2 picks revisited | New Week 2 uniform designs | What Tom Dienhart learned | Gerry DiNardo's Week 2 takes | Week 2 scores, stats & recaps ]
As everyone knows, there's just four spots in a sport that fields five power conferences, not including independent Notre Dame or an undefeated non-BCS team.
Fresh off a big week, one in which Michigan State beat reigning national runner-up Oregon and the SEC had its share of unimpressive results (Arkansas lost to Toledo & Auburn needed a late TD to force OT vs. Jacksonville State), Ohio State coach Urban Meyer was asked about the Big Ten's perception in his weekly press conference.
Here is the exact question: "There's been some wild swings in the way people perceive conference already early in the season. Could you just evaluate where you think the Big Ten stands?"
Fair enough. It's true, and Meyer, the coach of the reigning champ, knows it. He just doesn't really care about it and is more focused on getting his team better each week.
Here is Meyer's response:
"I don't have any idea. I don't know (how) people have time to do all of that. I don't know anyone else's schedule, I don't care. We are going to work on punt when I am done here in a minute. We have enough issues.
"This time a year ago, we were a really bad team. We got better. Probably because our focus was on getting better and better and better. If I ever hear one of our coaches talk about another conference, that's a problem. Because then I'm going to go check what they are doing during the day."
Watch the full interaction in the video above.
No doubt, Ohio State fans will love where Meyer's focus is. That said, it is an important topic, because the overall perception, whether true or not, can play a big role in deciding the field for the second annual College Football Playoff.
