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| Leaders vs Legends |
The Big Ten is now officially the "Big 12" without the name change but has 12 teams. The Big 12 is now the "Big 10" because it has only 10 teams. However, neither conference actually changed it's name. I guess I can understand the hassle of trying to make the changes only to add or subtract a team next year. However, the “Pac 10” was the only conference with the sense to make the changes so it’s now called the Pac 12 because it has 12 teams. Really?
The Big Ten has really been the "Big 11" since Penn State joined the conference in 1991. However, they never blinked about changing the name. I’m cool with it being the Big Ten because it's the “brand” and it is what it is. My problem is with the divisional names that some genius came up with for the two sides.
Instead of dividing the schools up by geography like the Big 12 or SEC has done in the past and calling them North/South or East/West they've come up with Leaders vs. Legends. This is the breakdown for the divisions:
Leaders Division: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Legends Division: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern
"The Legends, not too hard in that we have 215 College Football Hall of Fame members, we have 15 Heisman Trophy winners," commissioner Jim Delany said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press. "We thought it made perfect sense to recognize the iconic and the legendary through the naming of the division in that regard. ... We've had plenty of leaders in the conference, that's for sure, but the emphasis here is to recognize the mission of using intercollegiate athletics and higher education to build future leaders."
That explanation sounds great in a history lesson on Tuesday but the whole concept is dumb. Sports is about intimidation and power! How do you show up in a bowl game to play an SEC team and you're the winner of the Leaders division of the Big Ten? I can hear people laughing at you and the season hasn‘t even started yet.
They should have broken the teams up by East or West and called it lovely but they wanted Ohio State and Michigan to play on opposite sides so they could meet in the title game. Bad move because Ohio State is about to get hit and will be irrelevant for the next few years. Why not make it more interesting and put them on the same side so the that match up during the season always means something.
The Big 12 south was always decided by the Oklahoma/Texas game! That way the regular season match up was always off the charts. Also by putting Ohio State and Michigan on opposite sides to set up the match up in the title, you’ve told your other schools that they aren’t important. Folks up north just don't get it when it comes to college football. Also by adding "Big Red Nation" the Big Ten is in for a rude awakening. Say hello to the new Big Daddy of the Big Ten, the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Well...at least for the first 2 to 3 years anyway. Then they'll lose their original recruiting base of kids from California and especially those from Texas because they'll be playing games too far away to attract the same kids. A guy from Texas would in the past go to Nebraska because they were playing 4 to 5 games a year in his home state with Big 12 games and his family could see him play. Now the furthest south they'll play is Bloomington, In. Good luck with that! Leaders vs. Legends sounds real juvenile wouldn't you agree!
Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport
The Big Ten has really been the "Big 11" since Penn State joined the conference in 1991. However, they never blinked about changing the name. I’m cool with it being the Big Ten because it's the “brand” and it is what it is. My problem is with the divisional names that some genius came up with for the two sides.
Instead of dividing the schools up by geography like the Big 12 or SEC has done in the past and calling them North/South or East/West they've come up with Leaders vs. Legends. This is the breakdown for the divisions:
Leaders Division: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Legends Division: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern
"The Legends, not too hard in that we have 215 College Football Hall of Fame members, we have 15 Heisman Trophy winners," commissioner Jim Delany said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press. "We thought it made perfect sense to recognize the iconic and the legendary through the naming of the division in that regard. ... We've had plenty of leaders in the conference, that's for sure, but the emphasis here is to recognize the mission of using intercollegiate athletics and higher education to build future leaders."
That explanation sounds great in a history lesson on Tuesday but the whole concept is dumb. Sports is about intimidation and power! How do you show up in a bowl game to play an SEC team and you're the winner of the Leaders division of the Big Ten? I can hear people laughing at you and the season hasn‘t even started yet.
They should have broken the teams up by East or West and called it lovely but they wanted Ohio State and Michigan to play on opposite sides so they could meet in the title game. Bad move because Ohio State is about to get hit and will be irrelevant for the next few years. Why not make it more interesting and put them on the same side so the that match up during the season always means something.
The Big 12 south was always decided by the Oklahoma/Texas game! That way the regular season match up was always off the charts. Also by putting Ohio State and Michigan on opposite sides to set up the match up in the title, you’ve told your other schools that they aren’t important. Folks up north just don't get it when it comes to college football. Also by adding "Big Red Nation" the Big Ten is in for a rude awakening. Say hello to the new Big Daddy of the Big Ten, the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Well...at least for the first 2 to 3 years anyway. Then they'll lose their original recruiting base of kids from California and especially those from Texas because they'll be playing games too far away to attract the same kids. A guy from Texas would in the past go to Nebraska because they were playing 4 to 5 games a year in his home state with Big 12 games and his family could see him play. Now the furthest south they'll play is Bloomington, In. Good luck with that! Leaders vs. Legends sounds real juvenile wouldn't you agree!
Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport
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