Big 10 expansion revisited

Nothing against New Braska, which I think is one of the fly-over states out there beyond West Consin, but the Big Ten Conference is being way too conservative in its bold restructuring plan. I like the fact that the Cornhuskers are joining the oldest, most stable, classiest, old-school college league in the country. I liked it when they added Penn State, which fits like a glove, with their plain blue uniforms and flagship state university status. Let's take a moment to feel just a little bit superior.

With the rest of the NCAA in disarray, this is an opportune time to move decisively to outflank the other, lesser conferences. While the PAC 10-12 adds teams a thousand miles from the Pacific, the ACC adds teams a thousand miles from the Atlantic, and educators bemoan the geographic ignorance of kids nowadays, let's consolidate our midwestern base around the economic and cultural hub that is Chicago.

To wit: Don't just add Nebraska from the old Big 12 (formerly Big 8), add Kansas and Missouri, solidifying the heartland fan base and absorbing the St. Louis-Kansas City TV markets. While we're at it, consider Oklahoma and - gasp - Texas. NOT Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Texas Tech, etc. This is an exclusive Old Boys (and Old Girls) Club called the Big 10, and while we believe in the land-grant college ag-and-tech concept in the abstract, we're not in that business - except when it's Ohio State and Michigan State. You gotta draw the line somewhere.

What do KS, OK, MO, and TX bring to the table? Huge TV audiences, of course, historic football traditions, excellence in many other sports (Kansas basketball), academic respectability, and a warm-water port for international commerce. It might be argued that inviting Oklahoma to join the Big 10 is like inviting Turkey to join the European Union. The suits in Ann Arbor and Evanston (Paris and Bonn) will gag on their white wine at first, then they'll get over it when they see the national rankings, the TV revenue, and the bowl revenue. I picture the folks in Austin, Norman, Lawrence, and Columbia, like the folks in Lincoln, will walk a little taller.

Divisional alignment of the 16 teams in the Big 10 - I'm keeping the name because you don't mess with the brand - should be along geographical lines, simply because people relate to neighborly rivalries. You wouldn't want to separate UM and MSU, for gosh sakes, or IU and PU. The obvious divisions are:

EAST
Penn State
Ohio State
Michigan
Michigan State
Indiana
Purdue
Northwestern
Illinois

WEST
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Iowa
Missouri
Nebraska
Kansas
Oklahoma
Texas

If this alignment creates a competitive imbalance, so be it. Power will shift before you know it, and before long the Michigans and Penn States will return with a vengeance to challenge the Sooners and Longhorns. And what a conference playoff that would be!