Well, that didn't last long.
The Big Ten might officially say that their new realignment is due to the fact that they just added Rutgers and Maryland to the conference, but no one can convince me that this isn't just a teensy bit of an acknowledgement that "Legends" and "Leaders" was a dumb idea in both concept and execution.
The proposed Big Ten West includes the six teams located in the Central time zone -- Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern and Wisconsin -- plus Purdue, sources said.
The proposed Big Ten East includes Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers.
"Just take a ruler and a map [and split the 14 teams]," a source said.
East looks a great deal stronger than West on paper, but I do like the idea of Northwestern having a legit shot at the B1G title game on a regular basis. Also of note is that this doesn't allow for an Ohio State/Michigan rematch in the title game (which might be of some significance if you're all about keeping it as the last game of the season). The new alignment takes effect in 2014.
"We weren't going to go with 'Bo or Woody,' 'Black or Blue,' or 'Plains or Lakes,' " Delany said. "Obviously we got some acceptance [with Legends and Leaders], but not as much as we would have liked."
Well duh.
