The Big Ten football conference has been in the current format of East and West divisions since 2014. Before that, for three years it was the zany Legends and Leaders divisions. Either way, you know the drill. The winners of each division met and continue to meet in Indianapolis to play for the Big Ten championship annually.
Through that time, we’ve seen just five teams win the conference championship and eight different teams make it to Indy for the shot to hoist a trophy. But the way teams get to Lucas Oil Stadium might be changing soon. According to a report from The Athletic, the Big Ten is considering eliminating the two divisions altogether and going from a nine-game to an eight-game conference schedule. The move would potentially allow Big Ten, Pac-12, and ACC teams to play each other annually as a part of the new alliance they entered together earlier this year.
So, it got us thinking. What if we never had divisions, but still had the Big Ten Championship Game similar to how the Big 12 crowns its champion today. That would mean the top two teams in the conference standings would meet to play for the title. How would those games have looked like compared to what we saw since the conference went to a division format in 2011?
Here is what all the Big Ten Championship Games would have looked like vs. what two teams we saw over the last eleven years. For argument’s sake, we settle tiebreakers by head-to-head matchups and higher national rankings. We also assume the two top finishers in the league would still play in a championship game.