The Big 14 Conference

English: Big Ten Conference logo since 2010. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It's time once again for the major powers in college sports to do the conference shuffle.  This time, it's the Big Ten Conference. 

Having just added Nebraska in 2011 and splitting itself into "Leaders" and "Legends" divisions (because "East" and "West" are so 20th century), the conference decided it needed to become more relevant in a world where the best talent is staying in the south and west, and because they have a financially lucrative TV channel to program.

So the Big Ten is looking east, adding Maryland from the Atlantic Coast Conference and Rutgers from the Big East starting in 2014.  This means the conference will soon grow from 12 to 14 schools (the name "Big Ten" long ago lost its meaning when Penn State became the 11th member in the mid-1990s).

If the rumors are true, there may be more members on the way.  Kansas, Georgia Tech, Virginia and North Carolina are being mentioned as possible additions.

Maryland and Rutgers aren't exactly on a par with Michigan and Ohio State as far as athletic prowess goes.  (More like Purdue and Northwestern)  Instead, those schools were chosen for their proximity to major TV markets such as New York, Washington and Baltimore.  Oh, and both Maryland and Rutgers' athletic programs were having financial problems before the Big Ten gravy train came around.

To be brutally honest, the Big Ten is compensating in numbers for what they could not have in prestige.  By that, we mean that they failed to get Notre Dame.  They recently signed on as a member of the ACC in  every sport except football and hockey.  It's the football part Notre Dame wants to keep independent, so they can keep playing what they consider to be "quality" institutions of learning such as the service academies and Southern California, as well as having NBC pay millions to televise the Irish's home games.  It must be working, because Notre Dame is apparently going to play for the BCS national championship in January.

The Big Ten ought to think more about the competitiveness in its own back yard when it comes to football.  It's not as balanced as, let's say, the Southeastern Conference.  Its best team, the Ohio State Buckeyes, just completed an undefeated season.  But they can't go to a bowl because some former players got caught exchanging uniforms for tattoos.

Neither can Penn State, which surprised everyone this season by playing as well as they did under the shadow of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.  They won't be bowl-eligible for five years.

Instead, in the conference championship game at Indianapolis Saturday, we have Legends division winner Nebraska battling for a spot in the Rose Bowl against Wisconsin, who finished behind Ohio State and Penn State in the Leaders division.

Most of all, the more schools the Big Ten keeps adding, the more ridiculous its name sounds.  They should just call themselves The BIG Conference, and be done with it.