Fortuna Files: The Notorious B1G
More Money, More Championships for the Big Ten
The Big Ten owns college sports, on and off the field. Some thoughts on how we got here and what comes next.
1. It’s not just that the Big Ten has won the last three national titles in football … with three different schools. It’s not just that the Big Ten has won this season’s national title in football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball … also with three different schools, the first conference to ever do just that. (The SEC won all three in 2007, but Florida was responsible for two of those titles.) And it’s not just the fact that both Michigan and Wisconsin are in the men’s Frozen Four, which starts Thursday night. (OK, OK, the SEC doesn’t sponsor hockey. But to be fair, we didn’t count Wisconsin’s women’s team’s second-straight NCAA title, since the Big Ten doesn’t sponsor women’s hockey.)
2. No, look at the lead-up to the NFL Draft. Specifically, The Beast. Everyone has his or her favorite draftnik out there, but for my money, no one does it better than The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, who released his draft bible on Wednesday.
3. Of Brugler’s top-10 players, six are from the Big Ten or Notre Dame. Just one — LSU corner Mansoor Delane — is from the SEC. One!
