“We’re proud to represent the Big Ten.”

So said Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald this season -repeatedly. Time and time again, the Wildcats’ coach praised Big Ten football, lauding the conference in which he’s been both player and coach.

Fitzgerald has told his share of fibs this season – calling Kirk Ferentz, coach of the 23-hour lockdown Iowa Hawkeyes, one of the best coaches in the country comes to mind – but this might be his biggest.

Because quite simply, the Big Ten has fallen behind.

(One moment for the hate-mongering to subside)

Yes, I know the Big Ten is sacred to millions of Midwesterners, who remember the glory days of Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes and believe “three yards and a cloud of dust,” is a proper way to play football. But it recent years, the conference has been surpassed by the high-powered offenses of the Big 12, the speed and athleticism of the SEC and the quality of play in the Pac 10.

Don’t believe me? Take seven hours and watch the footage of the 2007 and 2008 BCS championship games. Unless you’re an Ohio State fan. In that case, I’d just grind your teeth instead.

See, the Buckeyes came into those title games an undisputed No. 1 in the country. They lost a total of one regular-season game in two years. They had Beanie Wells and James Laurinaitis and 100 years of tradition.

None of it mattered.

Ohio State got pasted by a pair of SEC foes, Florida and LSU, by a combined 79-38. The score doesn’t tell the whole story – the Buckeyes were actually worse than the final margin showed.

The Big Ten champs didn’t belong on the same field as their SEC opponents. And this year’s bowl season was no different.

Other than Iowa’s Outback Bowl trounching of mediocre South Carolina, the conference pulled an 0fer, finishing 1-6. The Cats and Buckeyes played close, competitive contests, but no other Big Ten school was able to walk off with a bowl victory.

You know it’s bad when Rick Reilly compares beating a Big Ten team in a bowl game to “pinning David Spade.”

What’s sad is that the rest of the country hasn’t just blazed past the Big Ten. They’ve changed the way college football is played while our conference has wallowed in the ’70s, and they have more athletic players.

So until the Big Ten trades in Bo Schembecler for Tim Tebow, we’ll continue to be second-rate. And Fitz will continue to pay lip service to a forgotten conference.