[NU Sports] Big 10 Championship Game--Possible Venues

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

The guy from IU may sound arrogant, but he has a point - it really has to be Indianapolis - maybe they can leave the roof open to appease the outdoor contingent? :)

I don't think a rotating title game is wise, especially if you're just starting the game up. You need a consistent location like the SEC has with Atlanta that's central and knows how to host big events.

Soldier Field would be nice, but the hoops tourney never really took root in Chicago and the title game wouldn't either -- too spread out. And as much as I thought Ford Field was a nice place, it just doesn't have everything Indy does.

Indianapolis is built to host events like this better than any other city. There's a reason they get the Final Four every few years - and it's not just because the NCAA moved their headquarters there. They have location, location location! All the hotels and restaurants are within a nice walking distance of the stadium. The venue is great and they have loads of volunteers who know the drill and do the best at making events like this work. San Antonio and Atlanta come close, but Indy is king.

It's centrally located, has all the facilities, will do a great job hosting and everything else. It's Indy. Chicago might swing some pull wih the BTN HQ and get a back-and-forth deal like the hoops tourney, but it won't last.

I'm more intrigued that they haven't announced divisions yet. I really don't see a logical way around the east/west (and that works out well also) -- if they try to tinker and put UNL and PSU in the same division, that would be a disaster for fans and team travel. It breaks up so nicely into the rivalry triplets of Wisky/Minny, NU/Ill and UNL/Iowa on one side and MSU/PSU, OSU/Mich and IU/PU on the other. Well balanced for football. A bit imbalanced for hoops and some rivalries like the brown jug kick the bucket, but c'mon Delaney, whatchya waiting for???

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!
Super Bowl XLIV Champions!
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