Say hello to the 'Legends' and 'Leaders'

Here's all the Big Ten newness.

Trophy Names Final

Football Bios Final

The Big Ten Conference introduced 18 new postseason awards along with a new logo and names for the two divisions in football.

The names of everything are careful not to align with any particular school or player. The 18 trophies, covering every major positional award, have 36 names attached to them. Each award is named after a pair of Big Ten icons or former stars on the field.

It's almost as though Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany tried to keep everyone happy.

"I don't know, I don't know about keeping too many people happy," Delany said Monday. "I would say everybody who was honored was deserving in a very significant way."

The names of the divisions are the "Legends" and "Leaders." When Big Ten football kicks off next fall, the Iowa Hawkeyes will reside in the Legends division along with Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern and Nebraska. The Leaders division will include Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue and Indiana.

The winner of the first Big Ten title game (which takes place Dec. 3 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.) will take home the Stagg-Paterno Championship Trophy, named in honor of Amos Alonzo Stagg (University of Chicago) and Joe Paterno (Penn State). The game's MVP earns the Grange-Griffin Championship Game MVP, honoring Harold Edward “Red” Grange (Illinois) and Archie Griffin (Ohio State).

The two trophies with Iowa names include the Ford-Kinnick Leadership Award, of course honoring Iowa Heisman winner Nile Kinnick and President Gerald R. Ford (former Michigan player), and the Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year, which honors former Hawkeye Dallas Clark and Ted Kwalick (Penn State).

Everybody got a little something, including Nebraska, which begins Big Ten play next fall. The offensive lineman of the year is named called the Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year in honor of former Huskers center Dave Rimington and Ohio State's Orlando Pace.

The Big Ten didn't want to leave anyone out, basically.

"We do have a treasure trove of legends and mythical figures and leaders," Delany said. ". . . Anytime you looked at it, it just seemed to be too exclusive and not inclusive enough. At that juncture, you're looking at a variety of ideas and concepts."

The logo didn't make use of white space to fudge in the "12" as the last logo did with 11, when Penn State joined the Big Ten. This one says, flatly, "Big Ten."

First question during a news conference Monday, Delay was asked if the logo sort of included a "16," you know, just in case conference expanions frenzy kicks in as it did last summer.

"Now that you mentioned it, I guess it's possible," Delany said. "We were thinking 10 and not 6. It's like looking into a fire."

The decision to emphasize competitive balance over geography took "east" and "west" or "north" and "south" out of consideration when it came to "Legends" and "Leaders" for the divisions.

The call to arms to be "inclusive" kept the divisions from simply being named "Bo" and "Woody," which would pretty much say everything you need to know about the Big Ten in one fell swoop.

"What we've tried to do here is not get stuck in the past," Delany said, "but to build off the past and pivot off the past and to recognize the past. We also wanted to think in new ways and innovative ways and move forward. Going forward is really about the 9,000 athletes we serve today."