Is the Big 10 relevant any more? We vote no. Hence, that conference should now be called the Little 10. What has that conference contributed to any of the three major sports (football, basketball, baseball) in recent memory? Nothing other than being blown out and embarrassed in the last two BCS title games.

In fact, the only thing big about the Big 10 is that it is actually comprised of 11 teams, not 10. But, in the end, that extra teams just make the conference’s failures even worse.

The only major championships of the last 10 years the Big 10 can boast are Michigan State’s basketball title in 2000, and Ohio State’s extremely controversial win over Miami in the Fiesta Bowl in 2003. If you do not recall, that’s the game where Miami won in the first overtime, but some referee called a pass interference penalty where non existed about 10 seconds after the play was over.

Other than that, what do they have to show for themselves? Look at this past football season. The conference finished with an RPI ranking of 4th, well behind the SEC, Big 12, and Big East. The Big 10 tallied a bowl record of 3-5, with 1 of those 3 wins coming over a MAC team.

On top of that, Ohio State’s only competitor over the past few years, Michigan, is coming off a season where it lost to 1-AA Appalachian State, saw its coach retire, and has seen most of its quality players either enter the NFL draft or transfer. But hey, maybe Minnesota will win more than 1 game next season.

Moving to basketball, the Big 10 has not won the championship since Michigan State won in 2000. Last season’s Ohio State squad made it to the final (after getting some more referee help versus Xavier), only to get dominated by the SEC yet again in a game that was never close.

There is an event mis-named the ACC-Big 10 Challenge as well. It’s mis-named because the Big 10 has never won the event. Teams from each of those conferences play each other in November every year, and the Big 10 has yet to win a majority of the games.

This current season, the Big 10 is rated 6th in the RPI and has 6 of its 11 teams ranked 100 or worse in that index. Its top rated team, Michigan State, is coming off a 43-36 loss to Iowa. Yes, the Spartans scored 36 total points in 40 minutes. There’s nothing quite as exciting as watching two teams combine to shoot 27-92 from the field. That’s Big 10 basketball for ya!

And baseball has been an even bigger embarrassment than the other two sports. The Big 10 has not sent a team to the College World Series since 1984. That’s 24 years without having one team able to compete at a championship level in baseball. During that stretch, the SEC has won it all 6 times, the Pac-10 has won the title 5 times, the Big 12 has won 3 times, and the ACC has won twice.

So, we ask you, what has the Big 10 contributed to the sports world? We have grown tired of seeing Ohio State start out ranked in the top 15 in football based on the name on the jersey. All that leads to is a cruise control run through the sorry conference, and then a boring, embarrassing loss in the title game. Meanwhile, deserving teams sit on the outside looking in for the sole fact that they did not get to play the easy Big 10 schedule.

And who wants to tune in on a Tuesday night to watch Big 10 basketball on ESPN? There’s more action to be had in the MLS. Oh wow, Ohio State plays Michigan State tonight on national television. Maybe the two teams can combine to break 100 - that would be so entertaining.

In the end, if you’re a fan of the Little 10, we’re pretty sure you have lost all privileges related to bragging or complaining. Hence, your only option is to keep your mouth shut until some team in your conference - in any sports - stops being an embarrassment and at least reaches the level of “not terrible.”