College football analyst removes 130-year-old Big Ten team from hypothetical realignment
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
College football analyst removes 130-year-old Big Ten team from hypothetical realignment originally appeared on The Sporting News.
Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Big Ten made a drastic change to its conference landscape ahead of the 2024 season when it added the USC Trojans, UCLA Bruins, Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies to an already top-heavy league.
So far, it has paid off in a major way, as the Ducks won the conference championship in 2024 and have knocked on the doorstep of a national title in recent years. Even blue blood teams like the Ohio State Buckeyes, Michigan Wolverines and Penn State Nittany Lions have found success, while the Illinois Fighting Illini and Indiana Hoosiers have broken through as contenders.
Of course, the Hoosiers took it a step further by winning the national championship this past season, completing a remarkable, undefeated comeback story.
If Josh Pate were in charge, though, the league would look different. In a now-viral tweet with over a million views, Pate suggested an alternative format that would simplify college football for years to come.
The Big Ten would return to its old-school roots. Old-fashioned, Midwest football. Some argue it's the way it was meant to be. Others like his supposed format, as there would be 10 teams with no divisions.
MORE: CBS Sports brutally ranks $54 million Big Ten coach as seat gets warmer after 4-8 season
Although there is a slight issue: based on Big Ten East and Big Ten West standards, the new-look conference at first glance seems — in so many words — incomplete.
The most surprising removal: the Northwestern Wildcats. The Wildcats have been part of the league for over 130 years, and although they may have the most losses in college football history, they were instead placed in a small, three-team independent conference with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Vanderbilt Commodores.
While it's fine on the surface, it eliminates annual meetings with the likes of the Illini for the Land of Lincoln Trophy game. It would also eliminate games against the Wisconsin Badgers and the Iowa Hawkeyes, two programs Northwestern constantly plays nearly every season, among others.
There's a good chance his scenario will never happen, but it's interesting to think about how different college football could be if it were structured around geographic footprint rather than realignment, TV contracts, and other factors that make up the current landscape.
For the most part, though, it's pretty accurate to say the Big Ten should be treated mostly as a Midwest conference without any of the West Coast fluff, as the travel barriers and the ability to lose the luster of rivalries have begun to show over the last several years.
Whether it remains the same or drastically improves is up for debate, but for now, it seems college football is heading toward super conferences if it stays as it is now.
Pat Fitzgerald uncovers massive Michigan State football rebuild task he had to adjust to
For now, we will see what happens next.
More Big Ten news
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos