I am a huge Big 10 fan, especially BOTH OSU and Michigan. (I grew up in Columbus, raised four children in Ann Arbor.)
Georgia and Alabama deserve all props, and Texas A&M is on the ascent. I have no quarrel with how this is turning out, but the Big 10 needs to change the game. Alabama and Georgia have a momentum that is essentially self-fulfilling.
The Big 10, though, is less top-heavy, better and more competitive looking at the conference as a whole, and with much more athletic department money and much bigger markets. Their head coaches are actually quite good more or less end to end and are in stable relationships. They are paying big bucks to get good coaches, including assistants.
Meanwhile, football talent coming out of high school has improved consistently year over year, cumulatively quite a lot, and the Big 10 more than any other conference has benefitted from a rising tide lifting all boats.
There are more factors long term favoring the Big 10. They just need to take full advantage. They should:
1. Continue to aspire to have the national champion via the 4-team playoff, but really prioritize intra-conference play and the conference championship, take 100% ownership of all post-season play, put great emphasis on the integrity and stability of their football programs, and issue a joint statement from 10 HCs, 10 ADs and 10 University Presidents saying that all are staying in the NCAA but that the NCAA can go jump in the lake. In general, take ownership, seize control, stiff arm the NCAA and SEC-biased sportswriting establishment and control the overall narrative.
2. Re: Player recruitment, better leverage the fact that they are great universities both academically and in terms of developing players for the NFL. On the latter, do better along many more margins. There are huge opportunities.
3. Invite North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Pitt, and Miami to join the Big 10. These are good fits academically, culturally etc and take over four more of America’s largest media markets, two in the heart of the SEC. It’s all about the Benjies.
4. Really, really win the whole NIL thing. Figure it out and get it done.
5. Better promote other conferences as counterweights to the SEC. As one example, the premier bowl game outside of the CFP should go back to the Big 10 v Pac 12 in the Rose Bowl, and the two conferences should wrest all ownership and control of that venue from the NCAA. All Big 10 University presidents should just tell the wicked and pathetic NCAA to go pound sand, they should partner with the PAC 12 in doing so, and deals like this should be the platform for displacing the NCAA knuckleheads in favor of ADs and University Presidents. As a quid pro quo, the Big 10 should tell the Pac 12 to put lots more money and competence behind their football programs.
I could go on, but I think I’ve made my point. College football is both a mess currently and a likely very different animal in five years. The Big 10 is well positioned to get out in front of this and come out dominant in 2027, and not just in football but in all sports.
Do you really think that those 4 schools would jump to the B1G from the ACC? Don’t forget, the B1G dissed Pitt when PSU joined. And the other 3 are unlikely to want to play more cold weather games in November.
PS: there are 14 teams in the B1G.
I posted this a few months back, but this is my Proposal for Overhauling College Football.
Create 11 Divisions, which consist of two-tiers within each Division. The “Power” Tier, and the Lower tier. Each season One Team from the Lower Tier gets to play in the Power Tier based on a Playoff game at the end of the Previous Season.
First and Second Place finishers in Each Division Make the Playoffs.
Division Winners get a First Round Bye. The 11 second place teams play in the First Round, with a Play-In Game with the two lowest-seeded Second Place finishers, to get into the First Round.
The Winners of the 5 First Round Games, join the 11 Division Winners in the Round of 16.
The Play-In, First Round and Round of 16 games take place at the home field of the higher seeded team.
The Round of 8, will take place on New Years’ Day as the Traditional Bowl games (Orange, Sugar, Cotton, Rose). Then the following weeks, the Semi-Finals and National Championship Games.
Basically now, with all of the playoff games, plus the games between the Lower-Tier teams to determine who moves up the next season, December is chock full of games, so no need for all of those other meaningless bowl games. Every game matters.