Big Ten Future Riding on Jim Harbaugh and Urban Meyer Rivalry

If you want to know why the Big Ten is really "back," don't look at January 12.

That, of course, is when Ohio State capped an unimaginable run to win the first College Football Playoff National Championship. Rather, look ahead to 10 months from now on November 28. That's when Michigan and Ohio State will meet for the 112th time. But it's when Jim Harbaugh and Urban Meyer will meet for the first time as head coaches on opposing sidelines. 

The future of the Big Ten doesn't ride on bowl results; those change every year and are hard to predict. Certainly, the Big Ten sought and ultimately received vindication. After being college football's favorite punchline, the conference went 3-1 on New Year's Day bowls and 2-1 against the SEC in the sport's best unofficial rivalry.

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

It was a great moment for a league previously pronounced dead and then revived in front of our very eyes. But far too much is made about the long-term ramifications of bowl season. You'd think we would have learned this by now, but alas, amnesia tends to run rampant in sports. 

Rather, the future of the Big Ten lies in its new coaching star power: Harbaugh, Meyer and even Mark Dantonio at Michigan State. They're all in the same division, too: the Big Ten East. 

Specifically, the rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State has been given new life. This has Bo Schembechler, Woody Hayes and the "10-Year War" Part II written all over it. On each sideline stands a coach with a track record of success. On each headset is someone who commands everyone's attention every time he walks into a room and speaks.  

These are coaches that the masses care about. They're praised, criticized, revered and hated. Most importantly, they're relevant—just like the programs they represent.  

As a side note, Big Ten Media Day should be fun. 

Michigan-Ohio State remains one of the best rivalries in any sport, but it has lacked real national significance lately. In the Big 12's best years, Texas-Oklahoma meant something. The Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn has had national championship implications a few times in the past several seasons. 

Even in an unofficial capacity, Harbaugh had meaningful rivalries with Chip Kelly (Oregon) and Pete Carroll (USC) when he was at Stanford. 

The Wolverines have defeated Ohio State just twice since 2001. The Buckeyes' dominance will probably continue for at least one more year. Even with a "throw out the record books" mentality, Michigan is rebuilding, and Ohio State is cruising along. 

Eventually, though, the belief is that Harbaugh can get Michigan turned around. He did it at the University of San Diego, Stanford and then with the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL. 

"I hope that he can bring them back to (being) a really prominent program," Buckeyes lineman Taylor Decker told Nicole Auerbach of USA Today. "That's just good for our conference, and that's fun for our rivalry. I hope he does end up going there and making them a good team again because that's a fun finale to play in."

Another way to describe what Harbaugh means to the Big Ten came from Dan Wolken of USA Today when Michigan hired Harbaugh in December: 

"

But this stuff is pretty simple. Always has been and always will be.

For all the administrative failures, booster agendas, laments about how many players grow up in the Rust Belt these days as opposed to the Deep South, never, ever forget that college football is about one thing.

When you combine a great brand name with a great coach, everything else follows and nothing else matters. With one well-timed and perfectly orchestrated push for Jim Harbaugh, Michigan is back and so is the Big Ten.

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The Big Ten is back because its two blue-blood programs having coaching firepower. Realistically, few will care if the rest of the Big Ten is average because few actually judge a conference by the fifth or sixth-best teams. 

As long as Michigan and Ohio State are led by Harbaugh and Meyer, respectively, that's going to garner the most focus. That's a lot of stock to put on two individuals, but there's no doubt they're up to the challenge. 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football.