The Big Ten didn't ask for it, but it got a new, improved logo (that it won't use)

MycroBurst.com had a recent contest to select a new Big Ten logo. Newer than the new Big Ten logo, I should say.

The contest lasted four weeks. Graphic designers and rank amateurs submitted their concepts. The Website posted the five logos it liked best and also included the Big Ten's logo in the final voting.

Not very many people (3 percent) chose the new Big Ten logo, which is this:

Not very many people like Legends and Leaders as the league's division names for football, either. The league is using those handles, anyhow.

So, MycroBurst asked for logo submissions, then had the public vote. I knew nothing about this until after the fact or I'd have helped promote it. Because anarchy that doesn't hurt anyone is a great thing.

You can see all the submissions -- and some are pretty ... unique ... by clicking here. All the entrants gave it a good try.  Possibly as good a try as the outfit that sold the conference on the logo it chose. But here's an example of an entry that didn't do well in the balloting:

Hey, the person tried.

Now, for the winner. It was submitted by Alan Tuohey, a graphic designer from Wheeling, Ill. It got 1,900 votes, good for 34 percent.

It is the Big Ten logo that should be the Big Ten logo but won't be the Big Ten logo.

Just like the football divisions should be North and South or East and West instead of Legends and Leaders.

It's simple. It's streamlined. It's sleek. And it doesn't have a "12" in it. Wait, yes it does. Tilt your head and look at the "N." Very clever. So much so that I missed it until a reader pointed it out to me.

Good choice, voters. Too bad your voices won't be heard in the Big Ten office.

Here is the design that got second-place in the voting:

Not bad, either. It's the work of University of Michigan fan Anthony Tscherne.

This is all it takes, Big Ten. Don't give tens of thousands of dollars to some cronies only to wind up with junk. Open it up to the people, put a prize on the line, and then you get flooded with good choices.

And the occasional ones like these:

Nice job with the contest, MycroBurst.com. Seriously. Even the least-popular of the dozens of entries are fun and interesting to check out.