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No Obvious Answer For 12th Big Ten Team
I have long been on the record wanting the Big Ten to add a 12th team and hold a conference championship football game - hopefully at Ford Field.
What is admittedly perplexing, though, is pondering which school should be added, and how the divisions should be set.
Can't be East and West - at least based on geography - because all the power would be in the East. Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan State would all have to be in the same division - if for no other reason than to protect rivalries. Not having those teams play the Minnesotas, Iowas and Wisconsins on an annual basis could hurt those schools in regard to attendance and prestige. There would be obvious balance of power issues.
And what school do you invite in? Notre Dame isn't going to share, so the Fighting Irish don't fit. Missouri? Pitt? Syracuse? Cincinnati? West Virginia? None are obvious choices, that's for sure.
Random Thoughts
- Just my opinion, but the Lions chances to beat the Cardinals Sunday - slim regardless - go down much further if Matthew Stafford doesn't play. And it is unlikely he will play.
- The offensive line position is particularly thin in this upcoming NFL Draft.
- When you watched Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones this season, did you think you were watching a first-team All-American? Me neither. Not that he isn't a solid player, but...
What is admittedly perplexing, though, is pondering which school should be added, and how the divisions should be set.
Can't be East and West - at least based on geography - because all the power would be in the East. Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan State would all have to be in the same division - if for no other reason than to protect rivalries. Not having those teams play the Minnesotas, Iowas and Wisconsins on an annual basis could hurt those schools in regard to attendance and prestige. There would be obvious balance of power issues.
And what school do you invite in? Notre Dame isn't going to share, so the Fighting Irish don't fit. Missouri? Pitt? Syracuse? Cincinnati? West Virginia? None are obvious choices, that's for sure.
Random Thoughts
- Just my opinion, but the Lions chances to beat the Cardinals Sunday - slim regardless - go down much further if Matthew Stafford doesn't play. And it is unlikely he will play.
- The offensive line position is particularly thin in this upcoming NFL Draft.
- When you watched Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones this season, did you think you were watching a first-team All-American? Me neither. Not that he isn't a solid player, but...
posted by Pat Caputo at
1:47 PM
5 Comments:
Pat, Lions are better off to throw in the towel again this year draft and draft Okung. I know Suh would probably help more but he probably will not be there. At least Okung will improve the offensive line and move Backus over to Guard.
Pat,
The Big Ten would be best off by cutting a team rather than grabbing a new team. I do like the idea of a conference championship, but would much rather see each team play every team in the conference than only half of them. Then at the end of the season, you could play the top two teams if there was a tie for #1. I think it is stupid that they don't play all teams in the conference. If you have too many teams in a conference to play all of them, that is a sign your conference is too big.
I think it is funny that people really take credence to the results of bowl games. To me they are more like exhibition games than real games. I will never feel that games played in bowl games tell me anything about which team is better. The games have too many strange circumstances for any outcome to have true meaning.
-Marty
Barry,
Suh isn't the only Defensive player available in the draft. Okung is far from a sure thing, and there are probably a half dozen defensive players that are more NFL ready than he is. In fact, there are many that think Suh isn't the best DT available, let alone best player available in the draft. The Lions have set themselves up to get some good defensive help in this draft, so they should draft accordingly. If they wanted OT help, they should have done so last year as that was the draft that had a lot of top OT talent available.
-Marty
Barry,
I don't think OKung is as good at his position as Suh and McCoy at theirs - and defensive line is a much greater need for the Lions.
Caputo
Marty,
I do agree with you about every team playing each other - especially now with a 12-game schedule. Cupcake non-conference games are mostly dull.
Caputo
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