Michigan and Michigan State are giving the Big Ten a couple of early chances to burnish its national reputation.

The conference’s image has taken a beating in some quarters, and not just because of the child-sex scandal at Penn State or the NCAA penalties at Ohio State.

There is the perceived gap between the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference, a gap many think is growing wider each season. That, of course, is not a problem exclusive to the Big Ten. But the tension is palpable in a conference that once boasted of being the best in the land.