Read Loyal Homer’s argument to add another team to the Big 10 and Bleacher Fan’s argument to avoid another team.
To me, it’s interesting how this debate has evolved. What began a strict question discussing the specific pros and cons and possibilities of the Big Ten conference adding another team for an even 12 evolved into a debate about the value of a championship game.
Being a traditionalist myself, I find Bleacher Fan’s argument to be very appealing. Like many other Sports Geeks out there, this Sports Geek loves the Big Ten and all of the crazy traditions that Bleacher Fan recounted so well. My favorite bizarre Big Ten tradition is the Illibuck Ohio State and Illinois fight over. That’s why it pains me to award the victory for this debate to…
LOYAL HOMER!!!!!
Loyal Homer made THE point of the debate, a point that I haven’t been able to shake while contemplating how to write this verdict: A championship game isn’t solely about money. A business professional will say it is a no brainer to add a team, and a championship game, because the opportunity to make gobs and gobs of money exists. However, is money alone reason enough to potentially change the longstanding, deeply beloved traditions unique to the Big Ten conference? No.
However, Loyal Homer is not making an argument for another team and a championship game solely on the grounds of financial gain. I agree that it’s not a money issue but a respect issue.
For the Big Ten conference to earn the national respect Loyal Homer argues they’ve forfeited because of several consecutive poor BCS showings, adding a championship game helps. One of the benefits for the SEC, for example, is that it is clear in the national picture which team is the conference’s best and belongs in the BCS. Sure, the Big Ten has had at least two teams in the BCS for two consecutive years, and that has earned them a significant payday. Last season, the first team to make it to a BCS game in the Big Ten, Penn State, earned a fat $18 million bucks. The second team to make it to the BCS in the Big Ten, Ohio State, earned a $4.5 million dollar award. That’ll buy a lot of buckeye candy. But money is something the Big Ten has. Respect is what it needs.
In the end, the Big Ten is not forced to abandon all of their traditions, as Bleacher Fan intimates. In reality, some concessions will have to be made. Some jugs and bucks and buckets will not be contested EVERY year, but they won’t be completely forgotten and phased out, either.
The most important aspect of adding a team and a championship game for the Big Ten is supremacy. Not only will a supreme champion receive national publicity and the full efforts of a conference’s marketing power as they enter the BCS, the conference will remain relevant at the end of the season. A major drawback to the current construction of the Big Ten football season is the fact that they disappear as the other major conferences begin to play their most interesting, relevant games. The last Big Ten game of the season is before Thanksgiving with THE Game, while the SEC, ACC, and Big XII all play national, heavily hyped championship games in early December. The Big Ten gains nothing by being absent from the national dialogue, but they gain a lot by playing their bowl game 20-30 days after their season ends, instead of the now customary 40+ day layoff BCS teams have been forced to endure.
Thank you, Sports Geek, for perpetuating the hatred of the Big Ten!
That’s okay, it’s that exact sentiment that makes us REAL Big Ten fans all the more passionate about our beloved teams. GO BUCKS!
Say what you want about respect, but I think you should consider crowds of over 100,000 per game, thanks to the very TRADITION that I spoke about. I think that, more than anything else, is the example of respect which ALL programs are looking for!
I love the Big Ten. That doesn’t mean they are perfect, though. They have an opportunity to grow, and they should take advantage of it.
Yes, but the issue I have is that their lack of respect comes from poor performance OUTSIDE of the conference. How would an extra IN-conference game affect that?
It doesn’t matter that Purdue and Northwestern play again in a conference championship game if the winner of that game STILL goes on to lose to the SEC representative. That does NOTHING to improve their respect!
They need to play better in their NON-Conference games to build respect. That’s the ONLY way that will happen. A conference championship will add NO legitimacy to a conference that basically wrote the book on successful college organizations.
When a team like Ohio State is forced to play a team like Penn State for a second time, the game is much harder for both teams. The other team knows them already, knows their strengths and weaknesses. Winning that in-conference game proves a lot, and prepares a team for additionally difficult competition in the bowl game and BCS.
The old guard needs to be disrupted in college football. I think the Big Ten adding a conference championship game is a positive sign for positive change in college football.
The big ten is overrated.. Look at OSU in the fake national championship game. They blown out.. bobby Gee’
http://bobbygee.wordpress.com/
So, you agree that adding a championship game may improve conference perception?
I have no problem with adding a team and having a championship game.But lets do a hypothetical.First the name.Since it is called the BIG TEN with eleven teams,the obvious name with an additional team is the BIG ELEVEN!Lets say for the sake of argument(Debate)that Pittsburg is the new team.How do you divide up the league?
I think end up with the teams from Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa on one side, and the rest on the other. Must have Michigan and Ohio State in different sides of the conference, right?
You have them play each other. In the same division they have to! Depending on the schedule, if they are in opposite divisions they may not play each other or with a championship game they could play each other twice!
To continue with my question.Do you put OSU,mich,Penn St,MSU,Purdue,and Pitt in one division?With Wisc,Minnesota,Illinois,Northwestern,Iowa,and Indiana in the other?Would that be a fair line up?One would be the East the other the West.While the teams in the West do have good seasons they are not as consistant as the the perennial powers of the East.The East would not have to worry about playing teams in their division twice,but, would it have an affect on national rankings?
Can’t the same argument be made about the SEC? The West was the punching bag of the SEC years ago when Alabama was in trouble (no, not THAT time or that other time or even that other time… that other, other, other time) and LSU wasn’t good yet. The West was the punching bag, now it’s even with the East. Is it fair to say that better competition within a division actually raises the entire conference’s level of play across the board?
I’ll also point out that there have been years when Wisconsin was the dominant team in the Big Ten, Illinois and Iowa, too. Minnesota is really up and coming, too – arguably better than Michigan. Is it really that imbalanced according to how you’ve divided them?
Last thing… you think Pitt is the team? What about Syracuse? Bleacher Fan and I will be discussing that prospect on the radio today!
Bleacher Fan,
Is the Big 10 too “traditional” to even consider a championship game? It’s like you think they are too “good” to have one! Is it the Big 10′s world and we’re just living in it?
Haha buddy, I think the recent record of your Buckeyes in big games says otherwise!