Nebraska’s addition to the Big Ten (which now has twelve members) means a divisional breakdown for the conference, as well as a much-anticipated conference championship game for the first time in Big Ten history. Before the first game of the new-look Big Ten even began controversy existed over the names chosen for the two divisions. As opposed to dividing teams by region and going with a simple “east/west” distinction commissioner Jim Delaney opted to make one division the “Leaders” division and the other the “Legends” division.
The overwhelming majority disagrees with the division names, and I fall into that majority. The idea of calling one half the “Leaders” and one half the “Legends” almost implies that one half is currently superior to the other. Not to mention the names do not provide any distinction as to who is in what division. Rather than the six most western teams making up the “West” division the teams are mixed in with one another.
We are already two weeks into the season and people still do not know the divisional breakdown. Before I add to the confusion, there is a rule of thumb for figuring out who is a Leader and who is a Legend. The Legends are every school beginning with an “M” or “N” with the addition of Iowa. That means Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, and Iowa are all Legends. That would make Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Ohio State, and Wisconsin the Leaders.
Now that we are past the names we can get to the field. The introduction of divisions affects the rivalry picture. The conference protects one cross-divisional rivalry per team. The obvious protections are Ohio State/Michigan and Wisconsin/Minnesota. Unfortunately, this also means Wisconsin will not play Iowa annually, which has become one of the more important rivalries in the Big Ten.
The largest advantage of the conference’s expansion is that it adds legitimacy to the conference. Nebraska is well respected and fields a very talented team each year, which adds depth to the Big Ten. The conference championship game will allow a no-questions-asked champion to represent the conference in the bowl season, solving the issue of ambiguity among the Big Ten we have seen in the past few years with shared champions.
The championship game also shortens the amount of time off before the bowl game. With the regular season ending on the last weekend in November in the past, over a month of time passed without competition for Big Ten teams before bowls. The conference championship game will allow the competing teams to see the field once more before their bowl games, hopefully reducing the rust that comes with the pre-bowl layoff.
That being said, the Legends division appears to lack depth this year. In their first year as a member of the Big Ten, Nebraska looks to be the Legends favorites behind the legs of dual-threat quarterback Taylor Martinez. The only competition for the divisional crown could come in an upset bid by last year’s co-champion, Michigan State. The Leaders division favorite this year is presumably Wisconsin. Their punishing ground game with the tandem of junior running back Montee Ball and sophomore sensation James White is enough to favor them in every game. Add the stellar performance of transfer quarterback Russell Wilson through his first two games as a Badger and Wisconsin looks extremely tough early on.
Ohio State has a chance to make a run at a Leaders division title despite some off-season controversy stemming from a memorabilia scandal involving a handful of star players. Four players are suspended for the first five games of the year, including running back Dan Herron and wide receiver Devier Posey. If the Buckeyes can survive their battle with Michigan State (the last game of the memorabilia suspensions) they have a chance to regroup for their tougher conference battles.
All in all the introduction of divisions will make Big Ten football much more hectic as the season goes on. However, it is a small price to pay for a clear-cut champion with no guesswork at the end of conference play.
