[NU Sports] The Big Ten's delusion of self-importance

[Tom Maycock]

> What's to  guarantee that all of the teams in one division of the Big Ten
> don't have  down cycles at the same time, which is what happened in the
> Big XII?  


Or like what happened in the SEC this year, where one side was far weaker than 
the other. 

We're all going to be unhappy someday if NU goes undefeated through the regular 
season and then loses by 1 point to a second-rate "Leaders" division team who 
limped into the championship game with 2 or 3 conference losses. 

I think it was Teddy Greenstein who pointed out that the lack of a playoff game 
is one of the things that made the last week of the regular season so 
interesting. With a playoff system, teams like Oregon and Auburn would have been 
"in" even if they lost that last week. As it was, they *had* to win. 

By the way, I thought the "Legends and Leaders" thing sucked pretty bad 
yesterday. Now, after having to use it in a sentence above, I think it sucks 
really, really, really badly. 

Tom