It seems like the Big Ten conference can't catch a break. Though the conference doesn't house powerhouses like the Southeastern Conference like Alabama, Auburn, or even Georgia— the Big Ten is arguably one of the strongest conferences in all of College Football Bowl.

The Big Ten East has four College Football Playoff contenders in Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan State and Michigan. The conference finished 7-1 in bowl games with the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions and Big Ten West champion, Wisconsin, swept New Year's Day Six bowls.

With Penn State in 2012, that program singlehandedly transformed for the better given the predicament of the Sandusky Scandal they were stuck in — the program, recruits, the university, and the fans — overcame true adversity and have thrived under James Franklin.

Earlier this year, Michigan State was nailed with the charges surfacing gymnastics doctor, Larry Nassar, with the accusation of abusing more than 120 women and girls. Thankfully, the university is holding their own with an "us-against-the-world" mentality.

However, now with Ohio State taking a tumble in headline news creating more controversy for the Big Ten, what does that actually mean and how much damage will it do? Ohio State has dominated college football for nearly the past decade and a half.

While the university is investigating what its Head Coach, Urban Meyer, knew and did, or to "didn't do" is troubling. It would mean enabling a domestic abuser and endangering his wife by lying and covering up heavy crimes, but is that not worse than enabling a domestic abuser?

Now, a quick flashback to Meyer's time in Florida— this man pretty much owes a whole bunch and then some, to Tim Tebow before he decided to resign. In many later accounts, it's been said that there had been allegations that Meyer had separate rules for his "stars" or that those "core values" could be "occasionally overlooked."

Need I remind you that opposite of Tebow was Aaron Hernandez, the very troubled but very talented tight end who was later convicted of murder after playing for the New England Patriots.

Just by looking at past domestic violence allegations, it's unbelievably difficult to see how the university can evaluate whatever it finds without considering all that has happened before his days at Ohio State.

This is absolutely mind-blowing and a horrible look for the Big Ten. These back-to-back scandals are not some minuscule misconduct situations, they are huge accusations which will not fly the slightest in today's society. With other schools like Texas Tech and Baylor making news for the same exact subject of sexual and domestic assault, there is no comparison to those of the Big Ten.

This conference is in trouble and must campaign harder than ever before to make the playoffs. What a start to the college football season — a possible game-changer for not only Ohio State's season but literally the entire Big Ten race to post-season play.

These teams have to make their case on the field but today, more so, it's more important, to do so off the field. The Big Ten's best case scenario as of right now is that it has the most Playoff-contending teams but, in the scheme of things, that might not mean anything for the Big Ten.

If the consequences that affected thousands of people, including innocent student-athletes at Penn State, under the dark cloud of the Sandusky Scandal hasn't woken enough people up now in 2018, that's a problem. It's time for the conference as a whole to put pride aside by immediately jumping back onto the campaign trail. The class of the Big Ten is slowly being demolished despite showcasing its wickedly raw talent. If not, this could very well mean a major downward spiral.

These are real people's lives being toyed around, on top of hundreds of kids' hopes and dreams of playing in the National Football League potentially being jeopardized. It's time to step up, and it's time to step up now.