So Long Big Ten… We’re B1G Time Now!

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How it started

It started in 1990 if you ask my mom, but to others, it might be when the University of Chicago left, or when Notre Dame left (yes, they used to be full members of the conference). It’s been coming for some time, but this feels like the ACTUAL end of the “Big Ten” Conference.

I know, they’ve been “B1G” since 2012, but it’s only because they were expanding out past the 11 teams, and the logo HAD to evolve from the CLEVER logo that included the #11 inside the words. Although the conference expanded to Nebraska and then to the East Coast, it felt like the core was still rooted in the Midwest.

That was the Big Ten Conference! All-time great coach, Bob Knight, taking his Hoosiers to the Breslin Center to play Jud Heathcoate and Michigan St. on a Tuesday night in January, and Don Fisher calling the game on WOWO, while my dad and I sat and ate our dinner. Those of you who know me might be wondering what in the world I’m using an IU analogy to show how the Big Ten was when I grew up, but that’s how I grew up. My dad was an IU fan, so I had to watch/listen to the Hoosiers, but I didn’t mind… it was sports!

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THE OLDER DAYS

I started to get older and Keith Smart hit the shot to beat Syracuse in the NCAA Championship game, and I no longer liked IU! My favorite color is orange, and I didn’t like seeing the bright orange unis of Syracuse losing… so, Purdue was where my mom went to college, and I had always liked them, so… I was now a Boilermaker!

Minus 10 degrees is a normal starting temperature on a Tuesday evening in January for the Big Ten… so now, a 14-year-old near Champagne, IL will watch Illinois play in Los Angeles where it’s 75 degrees and sunny!
Not. The. Same. Feel.
I can remember the feeling of watching Purdue travel to Madison to play Wisconsin, it was dark and cold at my house, and they would look outside the arena in Madison… yep, dark and frigid looking! You could relate to how it looked like it felt in Wisconsin, or at least somewhat! Now…? I’m going to sit and throw used-up “Hot Hands” at my TV when I see the sunny beaches of LA, when Purdue travels to play UCLA in the middle of January!

THIS is the end of what felt like what the conference was, for the most part, my entire life! The Big Ten was rooted in the Rust Belt, Flyover Country, The Bible Belt, The Corn Belt, Tornado Alley… you know, all of those nicknames that are weirdly infatuated with belts or destruction! This expansion will be adding teams that reasonably could, and should, win conference titles in years to come. It doesn’t feel wrong, it feels odd. You would include Pennsylvania in that, mostly, so even Penn St. joining and making the conference an 11-team Big Ten doesn’t feel wrong, winning championships, it just felt different.

Changing of an Era!

I don’t drink alcohol anymore, but let’s take a moment to raise a glass to the changing of an era!

From the 10-team to 11-team, to 12-team, and finally, the 14-team conference that felt like was still ruled by the middle-of-a-cornfield universities who prided themselves on being the blue-collar programs they were. The Big Ten has always been the take your lunch to work conference. They worked hard to compete with maybe a lesser roster than most. There are some blue blood programs, in the conference (both in basketball & football), but most of the conference has had to “do more ‘with less.’”

We are now adding in teams who are like shiny new sportscars getting ready to jump into our demolition derby that’s been essentially the same for over 100 years! By adding in these teams, the wood-panel station wagon that is Purdue football will have to suddenly become the version of the wood-panel station wagon Dax Shepard owns to compete in the new version of the B1G in 2024 (If you don’t know what I’m talking about when I talk about Dax… just look up “Dax Shepard station wagon”)

So long, good friend. The 2000 Big Ten championship that Purdue won, with Drew Brees, will most likely be the only time I see that happen, and I’m saddened by it and know that it will never be the same… and that sucks!
TO THE OLD BIG TEN!

So now we have Trojans, Bruins, Ducks, and Huskies to worry about in a conference of Spartans, Badgers, Hawkeyes, and Gophers!

Great… I usually love ducks!