How to Fix the Big 10

Happy New Year!!

I'm not nearly as hung over as I thought, and watching the Gophers look terrible, for the most part, has pissed me off so much I have come up with a solution to the Big 10 problem. No, SEC fans, we can't disband it. But we can make it better.

After watching the Big 10 get steamrolled during bowl season so far, it's become apparent that the conference is hurt by two things: Ending the season before Thanksgiving while everyone else plays leaves too much time between the regular season and their respective bowl game, and with the conference out of the limelight for those two weeks while everyone else plays, I think recruiting takes a hit as well. Of course, it doesn't help when you have your 5th, 6th, and 7th place teams playing 3rd, 4th, and 5th place teams of other conferences, but I digress. I am a big traditionalist, so my natural inclination is to not support the addition of a 12th team and a conference championship game, but the time has come for the Big 10 to enter the 21st century and do it, as long as you keep most significant and historical rivalries intact.

So, who should the Big 10 add? I think the most natural answer, both from a geographic standpoint and rivalry standpoint, is Notre Dame. Adding Notre Dame makes perfect sense. They add to an already rich history, the addition is mutually beneficial for both the school and the conference, and they have natural rivalrieas already set up with Michigan, Michigan State, and Purdue. And when setting up the divisions, let's be more creative than North/South or East/West. I think the conference should be split geographically along an East West orientation, but let's call the divisions the Great Lakes and the Great Plains Division, because it's cool.

So, breaking down the divisions would look something like this:

Great Plains (West):
Minnesota
Iowa
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Illinois
Notre Dame

Great Lakes (East):
Michigan
Micigan State
Purdue
Indiana
Ohio State
Penn State

In the Great Plains, you keep natural/trophy/historic rivals MN-IA, MN-WI, IA-WI and NU-IL. In the Great Lakes, you keep natural/historic/trophy games with UM-MSU, IN-MSU, MSU-PSU, The Game, and PU-IN. Notre Dame still keeps their MSU and UM rivalry games because they can still play them every year, and then rotate between the remaining four teams in the division. The only real rival/trophy games that stands out as one that is in yearly jeopardy is the UM-MN game for the Little Brown Jug, but you can easily schedule a UM-MN game on a yearly basis. And really, when one team wins the trophy once every 20-25 years, how much of a rivalry is it? The OSU-IL game for the Illibuck isn't a yearly game anymore, either, and there's no real rivalry there, as much as Illinois might think so.

I think Notre Dame is the obvious answer, but they do align with the Big East in other major sports like basketball, so I could see them going to the Big East if they abandon their independent status. If not Notre Dame, I think there are a few possibilities that would be intriguing, and somewhat out of the box. Keeping in mind that a new entry into the Big 10 must be a school that borders a current Big 10 state (Big 10 rule), the pick would come from the Big East or Big XII North. I think Pitt, Cincinnati, or West Virginia would be prime candidates to join. Pitt has an up and coming team, and could renew an historic rivalry with Penn State. Cincinnati football has been revived under Brian Kelly, and they would play a perfect New Jersey Generals to Ohio State's Harlem Globetrotters on a yearly basis. West Virginia fans are still bitter about Rich Rodriguez going to Michigan, so if RichRod can be successful in Ann Arbor, that makes for great theater, and a great rivalry. So let's replace Nore Dame with one of these three teams. Division breakdown looks something like this:

Great Lakes (East):
Penn State
Pitt or Cincy or WVU
OSU
UM
MSU
Indiana

Great Plains (West):
Purdue
NU
IL
WI
MN
IA

Again, most rivalry/trophy games of meaning are left intact, with the main exception of the Old Oaken Bucket game. But again, on a case by case basis, you can schedule natural rivals in different division every year, and rotate the remaining teams through the schedule. But with Pitt in, you would revive a great Pitt-PSU rivalry, and there would be a natural geographical rivalry with OSU. And with kids growing up in Northern Ohio hating the Steelers, it might help recruiting...who knows? Cincinnati has a natural rivalry with OSU, West Virginia with OSU, Michigan, and Penn State.

Let's look west. The Big XII has taken a decidedly southern flavor in recent years, and that's okay...for some. For the old Big 8 crowd, it isn't sitting well. Big XII headquarters was moved from Kansas City to Dallas, and the conference championship game is going there as well, thanks to Jerry Jones and his billion dollar playground. From the Big XII, I see two possibilities, Missouri and Nebraska. Mizzou is a longshot, though, because they have a rivalry in Kansas that is every bit as bitter as OSU-UM. Even though they have a budding rivalry with Illinois, I don't see them giving up over 100 years of the Border War for the Arch rivalry.

So that leaves...wait for it...Nebraska. Yeah, Nebraska. Another powerhouse program on the way to redemption, with only a faded rivalry with Oklahoma keeping them where they are now. And the ruination of the grat Oklahoma-Nebraska rivalry was the prime reason that I feel you need to keep OSU-UM in the same division. They only play every few years now, and at one time it was one of the top three rivalries in the country. So if you can add Nebraska, it would look something like this:

Great Plains (West):
Minnesota
Iowa
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Illinois
Nebraska

Great Lakes (East):
Michigan
Micigan State
Purdue
Indiana
Ohio State
Penn State

The only drawback is that there aren't any rivalries that jump out for Nebraska in the Big 10, but Iowa and Wisconsin, the two strongest programs in that division, would quickly become top rivals with the Cornhuskers.

Now, for the conference championship game. It could be rotated throughout the Midwest, and there are some great facilities that can host it. Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis, Soldier Field, Ford Field in Dertoit, even the new Vikings stadium, if they ever build the damn thing. But how about, at least in the inagural championship game, you go to Lambeau Field?

You have the Mecca of football (and God I hate to say that) hosting one of the most historic games in college fottbal history. It would make great theater.

Anyways, enjoy the bowls today. And let's hope Iowa, Penn State, and Michigan State can get some respect back for the conference today, and Ohio State can bring us all the way back on the 5th.