Big Ten Considers Desperate Plea For Attention

The Big Ten is sad because no one pays attention to it after Thanksgiving, so it wants to add a new school and rebuild its entire organizational structure to play one extra football game. I have a better solution.

Take those games you used to play before Labor Day and play them in December instead. Done.

The conference's announcement that it will consider an evaluation process to determine the feasibility of possibly opening negotiations to entertain the idea of expansion may just be an empty gesture. They've done it three times since Penn State joined the league in 1990 without adding anyone. But Jim Delany has to be feeling cold and lonely counting all the money that his conference isn't raking in, because it doesn't play a football championship game. And money is the only reason to do it.

It's funny how all the arguments against holding a nationwide college football tournament, suddenly become arguments in favor of having a one-game conference playoff. The kids need more exposure, less time off, a de-pressurized regular-season. Ironically, it would probably even hurt their standing with the BCS bowls, since a team that loses a pointless conference championship game doesn't often get an at-large berth. (See: Hawkeyes, Iowa.) Delany himself admitted that just seven months ago.

So what's the upside again? Oh, right the money. But think of how much you'll end up paying some crappy consulting firm to re-design the Big Ten logo in order to shoehorn a "2" into it. Plus, you really want to go to Rutgers for away games? If Notre Dame agrees, then go ahead and sell yourself out, but try to consider the Minnesota rowing team (they still count as Big Ten too, right?) as they scrounge up enough gas money to get their van to Syracuse.

Meanwhile, what—besides crippling cold temperatures and misplaced respect for the Army-Navy game—is preventing you from shifting your football season by two weeks? Oh, right... the money! I keep forgetting that one.

Big Ten Conference looking into expanding to 12 teams? [Chicago Tribune] Dandy dozen: Big Ten to consider options for 12th team [Detroit News]