Ohio State football broke the Big Ten

The success of Ohio State has been great for the Buckeyes, but in turn, has destroyed the rest of the Big Ten.

Ohio State is going through a stretch of unprecedented success in the Big Ten. The most recent game on Saturday showcases just how distant the Buckeyes are.

Penn State was supposed to be the second-best team this year, and a squad that could potentially compete for a College Football Playoff spot. Ohio State beat Penn State by 13 on Saturday and the game was not as close as the score makes it appear.

The Buckeyes did not play a perfect game. Far from it, against a similarly talented opponent, Ohio State made errors that likely would have cost them the game. Silly penalties, terrible kicking, and special teams play and taking their foot off the gas too early allowed Penn State to still have chances late in the game.

And yet, there was no doubt which team would win.

Ohio State is so far ahead of the conference that a good but not great performance is an easy two-score victory against the next best team. A look around the league shows the other powerhouses in the Big Ten are all struggling. Michigan is an entire program on the hot seat after their embarrassing loss to Michigan State.

The Spartans lost to Rutgers. Penn State is in a struggle to just reach 6-2. And a deep dive into recruiting shows that Ohio State is head-and-shoulders better than anyone else in the Big Ten.

The rich get richer in the Big Ten and Ohio State is at the top. A cycle of winning games, bringing in the best recruits, which allows you to win more games, and bring in more top recruits in playing out. Across the country, high school players are choosing the Buckeyes and not looking at other Big Ten programs. And right now, there is not a clear idea of what needs to be done to bring parity to the conference.

While Ohio State continues winning, the rest of the Big Ten is tracking backward. Programs that used to be relied on to compete with Ohio State (Michigan and Penn State) are hoping to get past .500 this year.

The Buckeyes should want some level of competition each year within their conference, but right now nobody has answers for how any program steps up. The Big Ten needs a second team to step up, but it appears the usual players are incapable of reaching an elite level.

The more Ohio State wins, the more challenging a proposition this becomes for teams. The better the Buckeyes do, the more broken the rest of the conference becomes.