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Yep, the Big Ten stands to make a bunch more money serving up games to two of the nation's biggest markets which are overrun with alumni of Big Ten schools. That's great. But after watching what transpired this past weekend, isn't anyone concerned with the product that we're putting on the field?
If this were a TV show, I'd compare it to the first season of Breaking Bad. The Big Ten is Jesse - he has no concern whatsoever for the quality of the product he's making (in this case, meth laced with...chili powder) while Walter cranks out impeccable SEC quality meth knowing full well that his long term success depends on the quality of his product.
Well kids, the two best teams in the Big Ten are on probation. Even after having contributing players defect Penn State, who lost to Ohio University...not THE Ohio State University, still managed to be the second best team in the league behind the probationated (yes, I just made that up) squad from OSU, who managed to squeak by the rest of the duds in this conference to a 12-0 season.
But let's be realistic here, would OSU be favored against any of the other top teams in the country? With the possible exception of Notre Dame, I'd say Alabama, Georgia and Oregon would all be definitive favorites over the best of the Big Ten.
So with the further expansion adding two other miserable teams to a floundering conference, how does this help? Long term, it's going to be hard to sell a further declining product, but whether the powers that be even care is a story for another day I guess.
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