When the Big Ten decided to forsake a geographic split for "competitive balance" this summer, it left the conference with another dilemma: What are the new, six-team divisions forged by Nebraska's addition to the conference next year going to be called? They're not aligned North-South or East-West. They're not aligned along the Great Lakes or Great Plains or any other topographical lines. They're certainly not going to call them the "Rust" and "Belt" divisions. No, the conference instead wanted division names that really embody what the Big Ten stands for, what it's all about: It's old, it has an amazing lineup of old (and often dead) heroes and it's committed to conveying its deep respect for the good old days. With that in mind, the conference on Monday introduced America to … drumroll, please … the Legends Division and the Leaders Division.
Obviously, you need a moment to let this milestone in branding brilliance sink in. Take your time while commissioner Jim Delany hunts down that annoying cricket.
OK, so, are we talking about any specific "leaders" or "legends" here? Not really. They're more focused on the broader concepts of a person or persons who wields influence or power (especially of a political nature) and romanticized or popularized myths of modern times, respectively. The former will feature Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin. The latter groups Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern. The Leaders Champion and the Legends Champion end the regular season head-to-head in the Big Ten Championship Game, the inaugural edition of which is set for next December in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, on FOX. It will be brand-tastic.
Yes, they realize that Michigan, noted home to the "leaders and best," is in the Legends Division. (The Wolverines also miss their opportunity, at long last, to be the actual "Champions of the West.") No, they didn't just crib these names from Road & Travel Magazine or Jim Delany's bottom-dwelling fantasy football teams. Highly trained professionals spent many months, many hundreds of man-hours and many thousands of dollars to get exactly what they wanted: Division names they can share with South Dakota State University's Distinguished Alumni Awards Banquet.
The specific names of the conference's most revered "leaders" and "legends" were reserved instead for 18 new postseason trophies, bearing names such as the Stagg-Paterno Championship Trophy (presented to the winner of the championship game), the Grange-Griffin MVP Award (presented to the MVP of the championship game), the Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year Award, the Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year Award, the Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year Award, etc.
Here, there's a sense of the actual tradition established over more than a century of Big Ten (née Big Six, née Western Conference) competition. But I'm sure the vague conceptual approach will catch on eventually.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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