Ever since Nebraska was added as the 12th member of the Big Ten last month, it’s been assumed that the newly-expanded conference would split into two divisions and hold a title game beginning in 2011.
Another assumption is that, if/when the title game is created, it would go to domed stadiums in the Midwest such as Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis or Detroit’s Ford Field, with Minneapolis’ Metrodome also figuring into the fringe of the very early discussion.
There are two cities, however, who say damn the weather, damn the sterile conditions and play the game the way The Big Fan Upstairs intended it: outside with the potential for frostbite and hypothermia.
According to the Chicago Tribune, both Chicago and Cleveland have expressed an interest in holding the soon-to-be-created title game, the former at Soldier Field and the latter at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Tim LeFevour, second cousin of former Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour and general manager of Soldier Field, tells the Chicago Tribune that his stadium group will “take a very strong look at it and put together a proposal” and that they absolutely have an interesting in hosting such a game.
Now, for the weather part of the equation. A Big Ten championship game would probably be held in early December. For those of you unfamiliar with the Midwest and the weather that time of the year in cities like Chicago and Cleveland, it’s not exactly what some people would classify as “warm”. Or “not snowing”.
The president of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission has a response to that concern, and takes a shot at a certain conference in the southern part of the country in the process.
“This is not SEC football,” David Gilbert told the Lake County News-Herald. “This is Big Ten football. The weather is part of the game.”
LeFevour, while not as “feisty” as Gilbert, also downplayed the weather aspect of an open-air title game.
“My answer is that you have to look at Chicago as a whole, the entertainment aspect of bringing a big-time game to city. Chicago is one of the finest cities out there.”
That said, there seems to be little chance that, at least early on, the Big Ten would stage their title game in the great outdoors with no control over the environment and conditions. With that said, here’s to hoping that the idea is not completely dismissed and will come to fruition at some point in the future because a title game in the elements would be freaking awesome.