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Indiana Hoosiers: Building a perfect Big Ten conference

By Adam Childs

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 11: Trainers wear rubber gloves as they work in the bench area during the first round of the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament game between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Indiana Hoosiers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 11, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Big Ten Conference announced that fans would not be allowed to attend the remainder of the tournament due to concerns over the COVID-19 virus. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 11: Trainers wear rubber gloves as they work in the bench area during the first round of the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament game between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Indiana Hoosiers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 11, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Big Ten Conference announced that fans would not be allowed to attend the remainder of the tournament due to concerns over the COVID-19 virus. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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The Indiana Hoosiers are in one of the best conferences in the country, but could it be better?

The Big Ten is recognized as one of the best conferences in the country in almost every sport. They may not be the top, but they are right there. It is a well-rounded conference that can compete with just about anyone else in the country.

But for as good as it is, could it be better? We believe it can be. Some teams will have to go and others will have to join, but we think we can make a better Big Ten.

In order to do this, we had to set up some rules for making the conference. First, geography has a lot to do with it. A perfect conference would be really easy to make if we could pick from any school in the country, but that just wouldn’t make sense. We wanted to stick with the midwest or as close to it as possible.

Adding Florida or Florida State would be great but we are dipping our toes in the South. Also adding Oregon or Washington would be nice also, but that just doesn’t make logistical sense.

Second, we wanted to make sure they brought something to the table. If they aren’t a football power then they could be very good in basketball. We also wanted them to bring more than just their football program. Conferences are usually judged by football and basketball but there is more to it than that.

Lastly, we didn’t want to just “invite” anyone but we took the AAU requirement off the table. We love that the Big Ten wants to have some academic standards and we don’t just want any team in there but if you take that off the table we can add some schools we wouldn’t be able to normally.

The toughest decision was how many teams to include. We think a 10 or 12 team conference would work the best. So we broke it down to those, and then listed the teams that just missed the cut. Honestly, 16 would only happen if the conference decided to all go to mega conferences and split away from the NCAA.

We start with the schools that the Big Ten would have to have.

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