I'm Going To Fix Big Ten Football's Biggest Problem With One Simple Blog

College Football officially kicks off this week. It’s my favorite time of year. There might be better leagues in the country, but the B1G is my favorite. 11am kickoffs, grey skies, cold and damp weather, your noses is dripping, but you can still smell the grill. Big Ten Football is beautiful. but its not perfect. The Big Ten Conference has a problem. See that image above? That’s it. A couple years ago the Big Ten decided to switch from that stupid “Leaders and Legends” divisional format where the historically power programs were split up evenly. Then when Maryland and Rutgers were added the league switched to a Geographical breakdown.

If you look at the West Division you’ll notice that it closely resembles. It wouldn’t be so bad if it were 1995 and Nebraska was still relevant, but as currently constituted the Big10 has scheduling issues. The strongest programs are going to cannibalize each other in the East, and then in most years the West Division champ will be some sacrificial lamb in the Big Ten Championship Game. People will point to the SEC and say that it’s cyclical. It’s not. Theoretically Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida all have the resources necessary to compete year in and year out with SEC West powers Alabama and LSU. Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Wisconsin will NEVER have the resources or the recruiting pipeline to consistently compete with Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State. So how do you get a balanced league that also allows you to have your two best teams in the Championship Game? Who can fix this problem? Well here’s the answer

No, not Sepp Blatter per se. The NCAA is plenty corrupt as it is, but I want the B1G to determine their college football schedule in a similar fashion to the World Cup Draw.

Step 1: No Divisions. Geographical divisions don’t work in the Big10 and arbitrary divisions are stupid.

Step 2: Every team has one or two opponents locked into their schedule

Now, I’m not married to every team having two rivalry games locked in, but I think Ohio State-Penn State, MSU-Michigan, and a few other matchups should happen every year.

Step 3: Home and away dates for all nine conference games are set. i.e. teams know that week 8 Illinois is at home, but the oppenent is TBD.

Step 4: Made for TV schedule show

Picture Archie Griffin, Ron Dayne, Drew Brees, etc standing on stage filtering through ping pong balls to randomly fill out the rest of the Big Ten Football slate. If that selection special was on in TV February everyone would watch that. Get coaches reacting immediately. Fans breaking down the schedule and talking football at a time when nobody is thinking about college football. It’d be fantastic.

Step 5: Whoever the top two teams are at the end of the season go to the Big10 Championship game. If you get Ohio State vs Michigan in back-to-back weeks then so be it. Ohio State-Michigan for the B1g Championship and a possible playoff spot would actually be incredible. Facing Harbaugh two games in a row is the type of thing that would cause Urban to fake a heart attack. Need that.

Is having a Championship game without divisions even allowed by the NCAA? I don’t know. I don’t think that should stop Jim Delany from putting this into motion because this is one of the best ideas my brain has ever concocted. Put Big10 Football in the front of everyone’s brain in the offseason, get a balanced schedule, and a new revenue stream. Jim Delany, you owe me.