It’s Time For the Big Ten To Expand

The Big Ten has been a fantastic conference since long before I was born. One constant is that it has always changed while somehow stayed the same. Much like my favorite team, Ohio State, it’s a football entity. While basketball is great, it’s always been a football conference. Of course I didn’t begrudge Penn State when they became Mr. 11.

PSU prior to scandal was a huge get, and when they didn’t win it every year, much to the chagrin of the national media, it helped validate the tradition rich conference.

11 doesn’t really work when trying to align a conference, and the Big Ten added Nebraska. What a get. A tradition rich football school that goes beyond sports. A great addition. Then the powers that be felt they should add a couple more teams, neither which really moved the meter in the heartland. Maryland was solid enough, with a good basketball pedigree and solid football presence. Rutgers was nothing but adding the New York market, and we accepted it.

We are a few years past that, and now I want to add to the Big Ten brand. Sure, we could add more programs, but I don’t know who, nor do I care. I am happy with the teams we have, and the regional footprint we have.

So what we need to do is add sports. Sure, lesser conferences are dropping non-revenue sports left and right. I don’t blame them. I just want to add two sports, and it will only take a dozen or 2 scholarships.

The first, Throwy Egg Ball Challenge. It’s nothing like football’s 7 on 7, because the NCAA might step in. In this game, we pass the egg ball around, with no blocking or tackling, to improve certain skill sets. Probably a bunch of football players will also play this in the spring, mostly to keep in shape. As a completely unrelated side effect, it might also allow some throwy/catchy types to grab a scholarship that might not be good enough to play D1.

Of course the other sport would be trench wrestling, where fat guys try to push each other around, also in the spring. Again, there would be some football crossover.

Maybe I am just a dreamer when trying to make Ohio State football the best it can be. Maybe I am a sneak and a cheat trying to gain an advantage.

Would you subscribe to such tactics, if they won, from your favorite team? It’s the off-season, let’s talk about something.