Big Ten should have stuck to east-west

As the college football season unfolds, I think about the Big Ten's decision to give the two divisions' the names Legends and Leaders. The Big Ten wanted names that were unique, wouldn't separate the divisions into eastern and western, would promote a higher-level competition and would conserve the conference rivalries. A simpler solution would have been to name the divisions by geographic location.

East and west divisions with the dividing line running between Illinois and Indiana seems more practical. Penn State, Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State and Michigan would make up eastern division, and Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Northwestern, Minnesota and Nebraska the western division. I do not understand why the Big Ten thought eastern/western divisions would cause them to be unbalanced. As for keeping rivalries alive, did the Big Ten forget about the Iowa-Wisconsin game, one of the greatest and most exciting rivalries in college football?

East-west divisions also would save transportation costs, as schools in the same division would be closer to each other.

Steven Hartzler

Hiawatha