Doing Away with the Leaders and Legends Divisions: A Solution to a Presumptuous Proposition

Today Big Ten Commisioner Jim Delaney announced that the Big Ten would keep the original football division names decided on December 16th: The Leaders Division and the Legends Division.  Seriously? How arrogant and pompous can you be Mr. Delany?  Keep in mind the Big Ten has not won a National Title since Ohio State did so in 2002, and that traditional powers such as Michigan and Penn St have struggled as of late.  Although the name accounts for the many iconic coaches and athletes that played in the Big Ten, it is far too broad and could be used for many conferences. 

Besides the distasteful name, I see one other glaring flaw in the division scheduling: the rivalries!  Below is a chart, courtesy of Wikipedia that displays the rivalries scheduled to be played each year:

Legends Division        Leaders Division 


Minnesota - Wisconsin 59–52–8       Michigan - Ohio State 57–44–6

Northwestern - Illinois 46–52–5        Iowa - Purdue 33–45–3

Michigan State - Indiana 41–15–2     Nebraska - Penn State 6–7–0

              Overall Inter-Divisional Record 242–214–24

A glaring problem is the rivalries "established" between Michigan St and Indiana, Iowa and Purdue, and Penn St and Nebraska.  Iowa's main rivals seem to be Wisconsin and Illinois, although Northwestern has had their number lately and lies in the same state as Illinois.  In my opinion,  Iowa-Nebraska, Michigan St-Penn St, and Indiana-Purdue would make much more sense.  Iowa and Nebraska are regional rivals considering the large border they share, Michigan St and Penn St have been playing on the last Saturday of the year since Penn St joined the Big Ten, and is always a competitive football game.  Indiana and Purdue are in the same state, yet neither has been historically good at football.  Both lack a strong rival so pairing these two together seems necessary.  Would this mean a division realignment? Yes, as Nebraska and Iowa are currently in the same division, as well as Indiana and Purdue.  Lets take a look at the Brereton Proviso, which includes renaming both divisions.

Ford Division             Owens Division
Michigan                                          Ohio St
Minnesota                                        Wisconsin
Northwestern                                   Illinois
Nebraska                                         Iowa
Michigan St                                      Penn St
Indiana                                             Purdue

Improvements from the previous model include:
(1) Better regional rivalries
(2) Better division names, Why not honor two of the most influential people of the 20th century, Gerald Ford and Jesse Owens, as opposed to looking like a conference full of arrogance? 
(3) Fair scheduling.  Although the Owens division may be a little bit stronger, the traditional power of Michigan, Ohio St, Nebraska, and Penn St are spread out evenly among the two divisions.

Lets be honest. The Big Ten is all about upholding tradition and excellence.  Lets not let our division names do the talking.  These improvements would honor our predecessors, allow for better rivalries, and let the Big Ten focus on what it does best, playing great football!