Ohio State will be fine under Big Ten expansion; others not so much
Believe it or not, there was a time before this era of conference expansion when the Big Ten consisted of two teams. Ohio State and Michigan.
It was called the 1970s. Over the entire decade, no Big Ten team besides OSU and UM represented the conference in the Rose Bowl.
Big Two. Little Eight. It was a thing. Purdue, Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, which all played in at least one Rose Bowl during the 1960s, spent the ’70s with their noses against the glass hoping to someday get back in.
In the 1970s I was covering my zits, not the Buckeyes, so to gain insight into what the Big Ten was like back then I turned to former Dispatch sports columnist Bob Hunter. Hunts is not old, but he’s, er, older.
“Ohio State and Michigan played the whole season and it always came down to the last game. The other games were mostly just like warm-ups,” Hunter said. “There was no mystery to those games in the ’70s. I remember covering those games, and Ohio State would beat Illinois like 42-0. And it was like that one game after another.”
Blowouts were great for the Buckeyes and Wolverines, not so much for their Big Ten opponents.
Things changed a bit in the 1980s, when interlopers like Iowa and Illinois entered the competitive picture. Wisconsin made its move in the 1990s and even Northwestern snuck in there a few times.
But now, with the Big Ten adding perennial power Southern California, national contenders Oregon and Washington and semi-dangerous UCLA? If you’re Purdue or Minnesota, it feels like the 1970s all over again. With one exception: TV money.
The muckety-mucks in the college administrative buildings at Illinois, Maryland and Nebraska obviously love the $70 million each are getting from TV contracts and are laughing all the way to the bank that they don’t yet have to share that money with the two latest Pac-12 teams to climb aboard. (Note: The networks are ponying up the $35-40 million to Oregon and Washington so the other Big Ten teams don’t have to go hungry.)
But what about fans of the Little Leftovers, aka schools not named Ohio State, Michigan, USC, Oregon and Penn State? What hope do they have of sniffing a Big Ten title, much less the 12-team playoff?
“One thing that has surprised me is I haven’t seen much reaction from that perspective from those (less competitive) schools,” Hunter said of the Big Ten expanding from 14 to 16 and then 18 teams over the past year. “If you’re Ohio State or Michigan or Penn State it’s ‘Oh, great. We’re going to have USC in the Big Ten. We’re going to have Oregon.’ Because they know when the playoff expands (to 12 teams in 2024) the Big Ten will get three or four teams in. But the chances of those middle-to-lower schools? They have less and less of a chance of doing anything.”
Some will argue those teams just need to get better. Others may think adding USC and Oregon will lift all boats by forcing Rutgers and Illinois to improve.
Nah. Adding the Trojans and Ducks, combined with the elimination of East-West divisions, just makes it more difficult for the Minnesotas and Purdues to earn their way into the Big Ten championship game.
“Before expansion, if you were Minnesota you were thinking, ‘If we have a good season we can get into the Big Ten championship game, pull an upset and maybe get into the playoffs some way,” Hunter said. “Now? Realistically, if you’re Minnesota, you really think you’re going to leapfrog all those teams? You’re talking six legitimate powers.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of money involved, but if I’m a fan at one of those schools that is getting pushed down farther and farther among these major powers? I mean, you didn’t have a lot of hope before this.”
Exactly. It’s back to the 1970s future.
Keep beating that Guardians drum
A deserved tip of the cap to the Cleveland Guardians, who beginning on opening day 2024 will name the Progressive Field bleachers after John Adams, who for nearly half a century faithfully banged the drum during games.
Adams’ drum also will be sent to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.
Listening in
“A lot of you might bet that’s not a true story. Now, I’m not a betting man, so I’m not going to take (the bet) because … it’s a true story.” – Phil Mickelson on a social media video, cautioning followers not to gamble against him having stolen a sign during the Masters that read “East practice range for short game only.”
Off-topic
I recently was part of a conversation about classic toys, which dredged up old wounds of bitterness and resentment. Yes, over toys. But not just any toy. Those of a certain age will recall when the Big Wheel was the hottest toy in the universe. Everyone had one. Except me, because when the red, blue and yellow plastic three-wheel pedal pusher became super popular in the early 1970s I was too old to ride it and still maintain my cool kid dignity. By then, I was already riding a banana-seat bike with monkey bar handlebars. Still, I wanted a Big Wheel badly. But, alas, was born a few years too soon.
