As you surely know by now, the New England Patriots edged the Seattle Seahawks in yesterday’s Super Bowl. A lot of you watched the game, and my bosses at NBC thank you for that. Perhaps the Big Ten will find a way to stake one more claim to fame in the most recent season of football.
For the first time in Big Ten history, Big Ten quarterback won college football’s national championship and the Super Bowl. Ohio State won the first College Football Playoff with third-string quarterback Cardale Jones finishing the job started by backup J.T. Barrett after starter Braxton Miller underwent shoulder surgery just before the start of the 2014 season. Then, yesterday, former Michigan Wolverine quarterback Tom Brady led the Patriots to a Super Bowl victory.
Never before in the Super Bowl Era of the NFL has a Big Ten quarterback won the big game in the same season a Big Ten team won the national championship, either split or outright.
This is all a coincidence and stretching to find any real connection, but in an age where schools claim national titles left and right based on the smallest details in the record books, why not have the Big Ten pump their chests one more time this season?