Fixin’ College Football: Shuffling the Conferences (4/11)

Big Ten
Established 1896 (Added Penn State in 1990)
11 Teams
8 States
Longest Distance Between Schools: 841 Miles (Minnesota and Penn State)


Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan State
Minnesota
Northwestern
Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue
Wisconsin

The Big Ten, like the Big East, definitely has room to improve but has the potential to become a top conference with a few basic changes. The first change the Big Ten could address is its name; its embarrassing in and of itself to have a grossly inaccurate name for your organization. The "hidden" 11 in the Big Ten logo is not a solution. Aside from the 11 teams flubbing the name, having 11 teams is not conducive to running a conference properly. 11 teams does not allow for every team to play each other annually (making for an extremely unbalanced schedule at times), nor does it allow the conference to be broken up into two divisions. Although some conferences such as the Pac-10 and Big East do not have conference championship games, each opponent plays one another to allow for a fairer schedule. In the Big Ten for example, when Michigan has to play rivals Ohio State and Michigan State every year but misses out on games against Northwestern and Minnesota (like it will this year), not every team has an equal shot at making the postseason. While expanding the Big Ten to 12 teams, which it should do as detailed below, will not allow every team to play each other, it will allow for the formation of two divisions. Though in-conference divisions may not be of equal strength, having two set divisions is more fair than playing a constantly changing 8 of 10 teams every year. That way, the conference championship game winner would normally also be the true best team in the conference. If the Big Ten were to expand, it could set up East and West divisions and adopt the scheduling tactics of the ACC, in which each team plays its five opponents in-division, two teams from the other division that changes every year, and one permanent rival from the opposite division.

A few options exist for adding a team that makes sense, but one option is so obvious and easily achievable that we shouldn't even mention the others. But we will. The less obvious options include adding Cincinnati from the Big East (since the school is close to other Big Ten schools and would create an in-state rival with Ohio State) or adding Iowa State from the Big 12 (since Iowa State is sort of an outcast in the Big 12 and would create an in-state rival with Iowa). But those two options don't make sense for the Big East and Big 12 respectively unless they were to follow up with some additional changes. The one option so obvious for every reason imaginable is....adding independent Notre Dame! Adding Notre Dame makes so much sense because no other conference would be disturbed by the move, the Big Ten would benefit greatly from having 12 teams, most of ND's rivals (aside from BC and USC) are in the Big Ten, ND lies in the heart of Big Ten country, and, most importantly, fans across the country would not be subjected to torturous games between ND and the weakest Division I-A schools every week on national television (either through ESPN/ABC or NBC). Last year alone, NBC and ESPN aired ND games against San Diego State (finished with a 2-10 record), Syracuse (3-9, though they beat the Irish), and Washington (0-12). This year, fans will be tormented with ND games against powerhouses Nevada, Washington, Washington State, and Stanford (combined record last year: 14-36). It's time for Notre Dame to join the rest of the country and compete in a conference (and not have an independent television contract). Year in and year out Notre Dame plays 2-3 tough games a year and then pads its record against teams in the cellars of their conferences. Years ago, when Notre Dame was a perennial powerhouse, it was adequate for them to be unique and not compete in a conference. But those days are long gone; just two years ago Notre Dame was arguably one of the five worst teams in college football, and this past year, ND only made a bowl game because it played a tremendously easy schedule and finished with a 6-6 record (the minimum needed to be bowl eligible).

With a move to the Big Ten, Notre Dame would still be able to play rivals BC and USC but it would also be able to strengthen its rivalries with Big Ten teams, such as Michigan, because the in-conference aspect would be added. With Notre Dame part of the Big Ten, two divisions could be created. The East would consist of Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Penn State. The West would consist of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, and Wisconsin. While the East would currently be stronger than the West, if the unbalanced divisions work in the Big 12, why wouldn't it work here? Once the two divisions are created, a championship game could be installed helping the Big Ten in terms of the BCS. Every year, since the Big Ten does not have a championship game and sometimes has a bye the week before championship games, Big Ten teams may have an extra two weeks off in addition to the month of December before bowl games. This not only throws off Big Ten teams by providing them too much rest, but it hurts the top Big Ten teams because voters penalize teams that do not play the last few weeks by subconsciously/consciously forgetting about them.

Solution: Add Notre Dame, Create East and West Divisions, Adopt ACC Style of Scheduling, Add Championship Game