Why the Big Ten Can't Have a Conference Championship Game

Yeah, that didn't really work either.  Trading Illinois for the new team and Indiana for Northwestern doesn't change the fact that "Big Ten East" would be much harder to win year in and year out than "Big Ten West."

By now, you may see the best solution to this problem is to get Penn State out of the same division as Michigan and Ohio State.  I agree.  Let's see how that would look.

Big Ten West (+ Penn State)

• Penn State
• Wisconsin
• Minnesota
• Iowa
• Illinois
• Purdue

Big Ten East (- Penn State)

•    Indiana
•    Michigan
•    Michigan State
•    Ohio State
•    Northwestern
•    (Notre Dame/Missouri/Syracuse/Rutgers/etc.)

This seems to be the most balanced of the three scenarios so far.  There's easily the most parity in this scenario, and the rivalries haven't been completely compromised (except Northwestern).

In no way am I saying this is the best scenario the Big Ten could possibly come up with, but let's just accept this for the time being and move on.

Now that we have two divisions (finally), we can have a Big Ten Championship game, right?  Not so fast, my friends.  Let's remember who we're dealing with.

Ohio State and Michigan have to be in the same division, there's no debate about that (or is there?)—but how happy would the Big Ten loyalists be seeing Ohio State/Wisconsin or Michigan/Penn State in prime time television, fighting over the Big Ten Championship?

Like it or not, Michigan/Ohio State is THE rivalry of a conference filled with rivalries, and for years it has served as its own Conference Championship game.  Part of the magic of the rivalry is the fact that it is always the last game of the season, and adding an extra, "more important" game would devalue the rivalry.

Also, adding a Big Ten Championship game would sacrifice something everyone in the Big Ten has enjoyed seven times over the BCS era: two BCS teams.  Each BCS bid represents millions of dollars for the conference.  Could an extra game sacrifice this?

The Big Ten Conference has extended its regular season by one week, and while it may be unusual for Ohio State and Michigan fans to wait until after Thanksgiving for The Game, this move has been well received throughout the league.  Some, however, wonder if the Big Ten could do more to play even later in the season.

While the idea of a Big Ten Conference Championship game seems pretty appealing, logistically it is not a move the Big Ten should pursue.  The conference only has 11 teams, and in order to have a Conference Championship game, they would need to add a team.  Who would be the 12th team?

After 12 teams are in place, the even stickier situation of dividing the conference begins—a process that could not be done without controversy.  How would you split the conference, managing parity and respecting the longtime rivalries of the conference?

While it would be nice to see teams other than Michigan and Ohio State in the mix for the title, wouldn't adding an additional game devalue the biggest rivalry in the game?

The Conference Championship game would bring money to the Big Ten through sponsorships, but is that money worth the automatic exposure and instant profit a possible extra BCS bid could bring?

Until something drastic changes, there are too many question marks for the Big Ten to seriously consider a Conference Championship game.

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