The UNC Football program spoiled the party for the Big Ten Conference

With a lot of non-conference action consuming the early portion of the college football regular season schedule, fans have the opportunity to see how conferences do against teams from outside of their normal realm.

Not many (if any) conferences had more success than the Big Ten in Week 1, as Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Rutgers, Illinois, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Maryland, Purdue, Indiana, Nebraska, Northwestern, UCLA, Washington and USC all picked up season-opening victories.

To avoid you having to do the math, that's 17 teams within the conference that won their season opener.

The ONLY blemish came from Minnesota, who lost to none other than the UNC football program.

Sure, you may be saying, "Well, some of those Big Ten teams played "cupcake" games." No one is arguing with you about that! In the same token, a team like USC (ranked No. 23 in the top 25 polls) found a way to defeat No. 13-ranked LSU, a game that isn't an easy one by any means.

Regardless of the strength (or lack of) of opponents, the conference saw 17 of its 18 teams win in Week 1, falling just one win short of completing the perfect weekend.

Let's face it: if it wasn't for two missed field goals from one of the better kickers in the country, Minnesota could've been victorious as well. The kicking odds (unfortunately for them, good for the UNC football program) didn't go in the Gophers' favor.

When we look back at this weekend, the Big Ten will say it was a successful one for the conference. However, there will be one blemish in the overall record, as the "1" in 17-1 is courtesy of Mack Brown and the UNC football program.