How to Fix the Big Ten!

Everyone can breathe a big sigh of relief—there will be no Big Ten representative in this year's National Championship game.

The Big Ten needs to gain some respect back before they will get another shot at the title game. They will probably be given a chance to earn a little bit back this year. There is a pretty good chance the conference will receive two BCS berths—Ohio State and Penn State (Penn State going to the Rose Bowl and OSU to the Fiesta).

The Big Ten, at the very least, must win their bowls. That is the first step to gaining the national respect it once held. The second step the Big Ten needs to make—and they are going to need help from the BCS and the NCAA—is to gain another team.

The best scenario for this would be for Notre Dame to be forced into either the Big Ten or the Big East. Let’s say Notre Dame joins the Big Ten (the most likely possibility). The conference would then have 12 teams—setting up two “divisions.”

This would provide schools like Penn State and Ohio State a brand new rival and immediately make the conference stronger. In one division you could have Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Notre Dame, with Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Penn State in another.

If Notre Dame joins the Big East, the Big Ten can pick up the team the Big East drops (a la Cincinnati or West Virginia). You would keep your “classic” rivalries and yet make the conference tougher because you would have to play a championship game.

The next step the Big Ten has to make is let go of some of their strong traditionalist feelings. Instead of hiring coaches that have ties to the program or coach that old school, smashmouth Big Ten football, they need to hire some of the “outsider” coaches from the Big 12, SEC, or the Pac-10.

These coaches would not only bring a new perspective, but would also bring the spread offense alongside a defense that, at the very least, could contain the spread.

The final step, and arguably the easiest to accomplish, is to cut the fluff out of their schedules. We need more great games and matchups like Ohio State-Texas or Ohio State-USC.

These games come with a certain prestige and aura around them. It causes the national media to focus on the Big Ten, and it showcases a team in front of the entire country.

The other perk of this comes when the BCS standings are figured out. If Big Ten teams have games against top tier opponents and no games against the likes of Youngstown State or Ohio University, their strength of schedule will not only be higher, but it will also look better when compared to an LSU win over LA-Monroe or Alabama over Alcorn St.

In the end, it will take several years to rebuild a reputation that has pretty much been destroyed, and it will be nearly impossible to convince Notre Dame to give up its Independent status. However, if these things are done, the Big Ten will be able to regain its reputation.