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What about an SEC-Big Ten football challenge?
Jul. 12, 2010 4:50 pm
The college football bowl season has turned into a virtual Big Ten-Southeastern challenge with three guaranteed head-to-head match-ups and possibly two more in BCS competition.
But what if the leagues played an annual football challenge, similar to the ACC-Big Ten Challenge for basketball? It could be arranged with comparable schools competing against one another on an early-season weekend (of course Big Ten fans would want this held in late November, but there's not a chance of that happening).
In a hypothetical world, let's say the leagues held a challenge in 2011 (when Nebraska joins the league), scheduled the second week of September. Here's what I think it could look like:
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[naviga:li]Ohio State at Alabama -- Why not get the top two BCS contenders in the ring right off the bat?[/naviga:li]
[naviga:li]Florida at Nebraska -- No Tommie Frazier to tackle this time for the Gators.[/naviga:li]
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[naviga:ul]
[naviga:li]Iowa at LSU -- The last time these schools met, Drew Tate and JaMarcus Russell each threw late touchdowns. Oh, an Warren Holloway caught a late touchdown for Iowa.[/naviga:li]
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[naviga:li]Georgia at Penn State -- The teams played in 1983 Sugar Bowl for national title. Joe Paterno was about halfway into his current tenure back then.[/naviga:li]
[naviga:li]Wisconsin at Auburn -- Play a little separation game here. Auburn Coach Gene Chizik coached at Iowa State under athletics director Jamie Pollard, who served as Wisconsin's deputy athletics director until 2005.[/naviga:li]
[naviga:li]Tennessee at Michigan -- Once proud programs now struggling to find their footing. Remember Wolverines CB Charles Woodson beat out Tennessee QB Peyton Manning for the 1997 Heisman Trophy.[/naviga:li]
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[naviga:li]Michigan State at South Carolina -- Comparable programs with big budgets and big stadiums but always fall short of expectations.[/naviga:li]
[naviga:li]Arkansas at Illinois -- Illinois might agree -- as long as the game's not held in St. Louis.[/naviga:li]
[naviga:li]Indiana at Kentucky -- If shirts and skins were held afterward, it might draw a bigger crowd.[/naviga:li]
[naviga:li]Mississippi State at Purdue-- Well, Mississippi State alum Antonio Johnson (defensive tackle, Indianapolis) tried to sack Purdue alum Drew Brees (quarterback, New Orleans) in February's Super Bowl.[/naviga:li]
[naviga:li]Northwestern at Vanderbilt-- Hey, we've got this game this year. SEC bloggers say Vandy "will shock the world" with an upset.[/naviga:li]
[naviga:li]Ole Miss at Minnesota -- I can't think of a bigger culture shock for any group of fans than watching Gopher fans tailgate at The Grove or watching Rebel fans in Minneapolis if the game is in November. At least they share a river and academic issues.[/naviga:li]
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I think the series would be fairly even. Comment below on your thoughts.
Iowa's Warren Holloway breaks away from LSU's Travis Daniels pulling in the game-winning touchdown pass in the final seconds of the Capital One Bowl at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2005, in Orlando, Fla. Iowa won, 30-25. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)