[NU Sports] Grandpa's angry ...

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-paterno-bigtenexpansion&prov=ap&type=lgns

JoePa's on another rant for a 12-team Big Ten ... but I do absolutely LOVE his final line about why that team should NOT be the Evil Empire.

"They had their chance."

Amen! Now if the Big Ten would only take that approach further and stop giving the Irish 2 or 3 of their only TV-worthy opponents each year outside of SC.

As for the 12-team drama, I don't often disagree with JoePa, but he's got it all wrong there.

I will keep repeating this - UNTIL THE SEC (OR BIG XII) CAN GET THEIR TWO BEST TEAMS TO PLAY IN THEIR "CHAMPIONSHIP" EACH YEAR, THEN THERE'S NO NEED FOR A TITLE GAME IN THE BIG TEN.

The SEC has gotten it wrong more often than not in recent years and the Big XII's two best teams always play in the Cotton Bowl in mid-October, NEVER in the so-called title game.

It's not what's keeping Big Ten teams from winning bowl games - poor matchups, six weeks off and playing on other teams' home field are much more responsible, and still we've overcome that for three perfect seasons by three different schools for MNCs in the past 15 years.

A far more workable and helpful solution would be to do what the Big Least and Pac 10 do in spreading out their games to offer more bye weeks and keep the league playing until that first week in December.

A Big Ten title game would be cool for fans, but it's not a cure-all for a small streak of bowl woes. I think that much like basketball last year, we'll see Big Ten football underrated much of next year but start to prove ourselves better than expected. And then in 2010, I expect Big Ten basketball and football to be back at full-strength.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!