APFor those wishing Jim Delany‘s 2013 New Year’s resolution included changing the names of the Big Ten’s divisions from “Leaders” and “Legends” to something a little less Leader-y and Legend-y, you may be in luck.
In an interview with ESPN.com, Delany said that a name change for the divisions is “on the table” for when Maryland and Rutgers join the league in 2014.
“We have the opportunity to look at the divisional structure, branding, rivalries and geography all again,” Delany said. “Depending on what we do, we’ll probably influence exactly how we brand it.
“Whether or not we change division [names], I don’t know. If [the divisions] are not geographic, we are not going to have geographic names.”
The Big Ten revealed the “Leaders” and “Legends” divisional names in late 2010 after the announcement that Nebraska would be the conference’s 12th member. The titles were generally met with laughter followed by the shocking realization that, in fact, they were very much real and weren’t going anywhere.
The brouhaha over “Leaders” and “Legends” has died down significantly since then, though the divisions are still the subject of an occasional joke or chuckle.
Would a simple East/West (geography permitting) be easier? Sure, but if the Big Ten has gone this long sticking by Legends and Leaders, I say keep rockin’ it.
HA! Left and right would be good.
If [the divisions] are not geographic, we are not going to have geographic names.
They’ll be a 14 team conference with the name Big Ten, yet the divisions can’t have geographic names if they aren’t divided geographically?
How about American and National? MLB and NFL both use that for non-geographic divisions.
Red Grange Division and Bronko Nagurski Division.
How about “Bad” and “Awful”.
I like the “Woody” and “Bo” divisions. Obviously, the other teams wouldn’t like it so why not just go with the Lakes and Plains divisions?
The SEC uses East and West, so the Big Ten should too.
Thank you!!
Delany must’ve watched the episode from season 2 of “The Wire” where Stringer realizes the product will still be crap, but if they change the name it might fool some people.
If not legends and leaders, how about losers and lemon partiers?
Beavis and Butthead is already taken.
They should change the conference name to The Big Tenish.
Delany really wanted to name them “Money” and “Power,” but the McKinsey consultants suggested against it.
Call them SEC wanna-b`s.
Why would anyone want their COLLEGE football team to be associated with the SEC, along with its pathetic graduation statistics and questionable over signing practices? The Big 10 might not be the best right now, but at least we turn out graduates.
How about “Cheaters and Chokers”?
“Slow” and “Slower”
@dhlions …
Thank you. No day is complete without a Big 10 fan (pity you don’t turn out people who can count) whining over football losses to the SEC and trying to pretend an intellectual superiority by region that simply doesn’t exist.
They are still just the Big 10. After all, they are the 10 almost decent teams with purdue, Indiana, Northwestern, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, wait… That makes them the Big 8 with some also rans. maybe they should just add Ohio U, Kent State, Bowling Green, Miami (Ohio) WMU, EMU and just become the Big 20. Adding Maryland and Rutgers didn’t help them get more competitive either. Who cares what they call the divisions? East-West, North-South, Lakes-Plains, Cheaters-Non Cheaters, etc. All or any of those would work just as Leaders-Legends. It just doesn’t make any difference. They’re still the same.
Bad and Really Bad
How about “The overrated” and “The underachievers” ? Anything but Leaders and Legends please. Even if the geography was a bit off, East and West is always nice.
Delaney will name the divisions after the 2 commissioners that he admires most: Selig & Bettman.
How about “Scholars” and “Graduates”? Those are two names the SEC would never be associated with.
thefiesty1 says:
They are still just the Big 10. After all, they are the 10 almost decent teams with purdue, Indiana, Northwestern, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, wait…
Since you feel Northwestern is just decent, might I remind you that they crushed Miss. ST.? However you are right-
Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Auburn, Ole Miss, Miss St. and Arkansas were highly competitive this year, in the tough from top to bottom SEC.
Not to mention a Big 12 team also came in with a Freshman quarterback and took down almost your entire conference included the biggest baddest of them all.
You have 5 True, Strong, SEC teams. Bama, LSU, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
And the rest of those mediocre teams live off the fact that having 5 losses a year is good because of who those 5 teams are. You don’t ever see a Michigan fan cheering for Ohio st. But you sure do see an Arkansas or Mississippi St fan drooling over a Bama victory.
You sure about that DEB?
How about east and west? North and South? or NE and Sw division. Or the Slow and the slower. Or we messed up in the bowl and we also messed up in a bowl divisions.
@madtownthrowdown …
Yes, I’m sure. We have graduates and scholars in the South and in the SEC just as they do in the Midwest and the Big 10. And we don’t arbitrarily shout people’s names in all caps just to make our points
Someone from Penn State suggested “Tickles” and “Monsters”.
My bad thought people from SEC schools only learned to right in all Capitol letters. Glad you were able to learn both. We all know you like to say your schools have graduates and scholars, its just that the standards have to be lower. Watch an interview of a player after a game and count how many words you understand. (I.E. Terrence Cody)
How about just going with “On Probation” and “The Rest”.
Deb, if you believe that there is no intellectual difference between the south and the mid-west/northeast, you are sadly mistaken and almost as ignorant as that flag you fly down there!
I do know normtide has some smarts so perhaps you also have some Deb. Sorry to generalize but two in a million isnt exactly great odds.
How about “Lose to SEC” and “Lose to Pac-12″? Or for something shorter, Greed and Avarice.
@Deb,
No use trying to have any kind of intelligent discussion with all these Big 10 paper fans. They don’t even understand what NCAA means.
Madtownthrowdown, the South is changing… a lot. I don’t think the stereotypes are accurate anymore. (Maybe they never were accurate). There are many, many people who now live south of the Mason-Dixon Line who were born in the north or who’s parents were born in the north. I am one of them (born in Buffalo). In some ways we become more “Southern” (I don’t swear nearly as much as I used to nor do I use the Lord’s name in vain (much)…it’s just not as socially acceptable down here). I vote conservative, as does much of the south. But I have not adopted much of their weird food (i.e. collard greens). C’mon down for a regular season SEC or ACC football game You just might like it…and stay awhile. By the way, it was 80 degrees and sunny here today in central Florida. Not bad for mid January.
@madtownthrowdown
It’s WRITE….not RIGHT
It’s CAPITAL….not CAPITOL
I guess “if” you had gone to an SEC school you would have learned how to spell.
How about “Delusional” and “Overrated”
I did go to an SEC school.
Tampabayirish-
I live in Clearwater. Over by the bayside bridge. It’s great!
Thanks for the invite!
Most of Florida is hardly the south though. We are all from NY, Mass., or the Midwest. Unless you go to Gainesville. That and Yankeetown I would consider the south.
I don’t know about shouting people’ s names in all caps, but u guys sure do chant them a whole lot.
What kills me about this B1G v SEC is that it’s really more SEC v tOSU. I mean besides some flukey sports thing that rarely happens (a BCS team consistently losing to the same conference), the SEC has not “dominated” the B1G. Look at all time head/head bowl match- ups. The margin of winning is not that wide. It’s certainly not the definition of domination. Remove the outlier (tOSU) and it’s about even.
I am from Tampa and there are a lot more rednecks, uneducated people and trailer parks in Florida than anywhere in the deep south.
It will end up being “Ohio State” and “everyone else”. But, for fun we could contemplate: brauts & sturgeons, parkas & mittens, rust & population shifts. The B1G schools have a number of issues to become competitive, but by all means, waste your time on giving yourselves nicknames.
As for your turn of the twentieth century views of the south, I find if you look down on one set of people, you do so with all groups beside your own.
Well if you mean me normtide, I literally mean nothing I say on here. I just enjoy getting you southern folks worked up. I like trailer parks! I met my first few ex girlfriends in them. I also like all NCAA football and I like arguing with the SEC folks. I think I literally watched every bowl game I could. So please no one take to heart and get sensitive over anything I say. Unless you are an Ohio St. Fan. I do mean the trash I talk about you.
Madtown–
I’ve been to every state except North Dakota, and none has any room to either brag about their own erudition or be smug toward anyone else’s perceived lack thereof.
However, I had to laugh at the Yankeetown mention. My hometown is Crystal River, and I doubt there are many outside of Citrus or Levy Counties who know where Yankeetown is.
Ofc not you madtown, your my northern escape route if things go bad…
Raysfan1-
All I’ve heard from my wife all night is how we should go to Cristal River to some hot springs. See what happens once football seasons ends. Only like 77 days until Rays vs Orioles. Yeahhh buddy
I got your back normtide. Gotta keep ya with me for when Deb and maybe this Timh1955 guy start getting attitude and spouting off with there elder wisdom.
Last thing I’ll say is this. Legends-Leaders…..? Who cares is it September yet?
Brother, your on your own when it comes to butting heads with a southern woman, they will throw hot grits in you while you sleep. Plus, like grits, they stick together. I got my own, and don’t need that trouble.
Hahahaha good point man! I dated one when I was stationed in New Orleans for about year. Couldn’t handle it!
Elder wisdom, madtown? So you are in junior high. Well, that explains a lot.
normtide, I have never thrown hot grits on a sleeping man in my life. Whatever I did, I’d make sure he saw it coming
raysfan1 says:
Madtown–
I’ve been to every state except North Dakota, and none has any room to either brag about their own erudition or be smug toward anyone else’s perceived lack thereof.
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Now that is the truth.
@floridacock …
dhlions makes your point. Sad, isn’t it?
@dhlions …
Are you really fool enough to believe IQ is determined by the region in which sperm meets egg … or the region in which the water breaks? My my … you must have been a whiz in your science courses.
The only flag I fly is the American flag. But your ignorance and bigotry were already noted. As I said before, thank you.
Madtown–
Crystal River has beautiful, deep fresh water springs. You can see all the way to the bottom, hence the name of the river and town. They are not hot springs though. It is a fine way to spend a day to go boating there, watching the manatees, otters, and bald eagles. You can also scuba dive into large under water caverns.
Any conference name with a number in it would be silly… with teams coming and going rather quickly now, they need to come up with a new name that represents the conference without numbers.
Of course, that is kinda what B1G did… can’t they just officially change the name to it? I’m already used to that one…
Just my .02
~Jim
Nah – those conferences should be “NCAA Probation” and “Self Imposed Bowl Ban.”
Or maybe “Headed for PAC 12″ and “ACC Bound”.
ESPN would approve, eh?
^ conferences = divisions!
Who cares?
The conference sucks.
Good point.
“Irrelevant” and “Mediocre” it is!
How about division names “Relevant” and “Irrelevant”.
Problem is, there are only about 5 nationally relevant programs in the big ten these days.
Madtownthrowdown, the South is changing… a lot.
————————
Ever been to the rural south? They still think that replacement refs caused the Confederacy to lose the civil war.
You remember the civil war, don’t you? It’s in all the history books. Ever hear of books?
@deb
No, I never said that. I implied that there is a difference between academic performances and standards of SEC schools and Big 10 schools.
1. Consider the AAU. Every Big 10 school, save for Nebraska (the AAU doesn’t consider agricultural programs, an area where Nebraska is a clear leader), is part of the AAU. The SEC has… 2? Just as many as Canada!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_American_Universities
2. This guy averaged out US News college rankings by conference, and surprise surprise, the rankings put the SEC third (which the Vandy outlier helping out quite a bit).
http://outkickthecoverage.com/us-news-rankings-of-top-six-football-conferences.php
Now, I’m not saying everyone from the south is a moron, but I think the proof is in the pudding on this one. But please, feel free to twist my words however you need to in order to better support your argument.
Missouri in the SEC East – we can all see that the SEC needs to take Remedial Geography.
Hopefully the B1G comes to it’s senses and redoes the divisions by geography first. Over the long haul Mich / OSU / PSU in one division and Nebraska / Wisky in the other will work out OK.
@jrbdmb …
I suppose you think it would have been better to put Texas A&M in the SEC East
dhlions says:
Deb, if you believe that there is no intellectual difference between the south and the mid-west/northeast, you are sadly mistaken and almost as ignorant as that flag you fly down there!
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The above is a bigoted comment about a region of the country, not a commentary on the academics at any university. And yes, it is the comment of an ignorant fool. It speaks for itself. Nice try, though.
@Deb
I totally agree with you! I have lived in the Atlanta…and in Washington, DC….in San Francisco …and in Chicago and I can tell you there are both ignorant and very intelligent people in all of those regions. For someone like dhlions to say something as stupid as his comment I can only assume he is uneducated and/or not travel out of the area he/she lives in.
@timh1955 …
It’s incredible that people actually believe intelligence is determined by skin color, religious affiliation, geographic region, or any other arbitrary external factor. That says nothing about anyone else’s intelligence but everything about theirs. But that some of these sad people actually persist in posting it on a football blog is unreal. If I were that bent out of shape about an opposing conference’s success in football, I certainly wouldn’t let their fans know it by making such obviously bitter posts. I was taught to just say congrats and bide my time until the pendulum swings the other way
How about the “Perps” division headed by Ohio State
and the “Pervs” division headed by Penn State?
It is a joke.
How about Division IIa and Division IIb?
@ dhlions
Please God tell me you’re kidding. If not, please tell me you have no children and the madness stops with you.
“The flag you fly down there”…you may as well have given us the results of your IQ test.
One thing’s for sure – if you move down here the average drops.
dhlions wrote on: Jan 15, 2013 10:10 AM
@deb
No, I never said that. I implied that there is a difference between academic performances and standards of SEC schools and Big 10 schools.
1. Consider the AAU. Every Big 10 school, save for Nebraska (the AAU doesn’t consider agricultural programs, an area where Nebraska is a clear leader), is part of the AAU. The SEC has… 2? Just as many as Canada!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_American_Universities
2. This guy averaged out US News college rankings by conference, and surprise surprise, the rankings put the SEC third (which the Vandy outlier helping out quite a bit).
http://outkickthecoverage.com/us-news-rankings-of-top-six-football-conferences.php
Now, I’m not saying everyone from the south is a moron, but I think the proof is in the pudding on this one. But please, feel free to twist my words however you need to in order to better support your argument.
dhlions,
Evidently you never read your sources or lack base reading comprehension.
The SEC has four schools, Vanderbilt, Florida, Texas A&M and Missouri as AAU
institutions.
Nebraska was kicked out of the AAU by evil Texas when they joined the B1G. (At least that is what some Husker supporters claim.) Nebraska had been a member since 1906. Nebraska had a full decade to address AAU concerns and they evidently
thought that since they had been a member since 1906, actual standards didn’t
matter.
Oh, BTW Texas A&M has agricultural programs on the undergrad and post graduate level that are recognized world wide and they are an AAU member, Same with Iowa, Iowa State, and Kansas, all
AAU members. So to infer that Nebraska is not an AAU because of agricultural programs belies a willful ignorance on your part at best. Nebraska chose not to meet AAU standards and are now proving the point that the N on the side of Nebraska helmets does stand for knowledge. Husker
rebuttals in 4, 3, 2, 1………
Leaders and Legends,got to be kidding me,only time they were legends were in their minds.Leaders not quiet imo they were always followers.Now here i have the best names for those northern teams as they should receive – Dumb and Dumber..
Having watched “Big 10″ football nearly all my life, the current array is neither “Big” nor “10″.
A couple of options would be “Mediocre” and “Failed Again”.
Another option is “Can’t Win” and “Big Games”.
How about “Media Hype” and “Lesser Athletes”?
As faithful as I am to the “Little 14″, I have to admit Bielema hit the right chord when he said he went to Arkansas for a shot at winning the national title. He’s right. Urban Meyer has a shot from Ohio State, and maybe, maybe, Michigan. After that it’s the charge of the lessors to nowhere in particular.