I was a college football coach for nine years. Now I am back to coaching H.S. football (it is less stressful on the family—I actually get a day off during football season!) I live in Big 10 country, but I am not a big 10 fan. Since we only seem to get big 10 games around here, I watched Ohio state several times this year. In my opinion, the Big 10 is in big trouble. In fact, when I watched USC vs. Ohio State, I was surprised that they didn't get destroyed even worse.
The best teams in the country this year can be found in the Big 12 and SEC conferences. In fact, at least 8 of the top ten teams in the nation should be from those conferences. The National championship game will be a Big 12 team vs. a SEC team.
I am not an expert like you but agree with what you said BUT if the stars align right we could see Penn State highly ranked by the end of the year...
BTW: How do you explain Penn State hammering Oregon State and then Oregon State beating USC? Is USC that over rated?