Where should the Big Ten Championship game be played?
I would love to see it at Ford Field. But I'm guessing it'll probably be Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. It's a more central location for the conference. I've also heard ideas from the Metrodome (no please), to outdoor venues such as Soldier Field and Cleveland Browns Stadium. My vote is either Ford Field or some sort of rotational location that changes every couple of years. What do you guys think?
It would be fun to play at Lambeau Field, but it will probably be at Lucas Oil or Soldier Field.
There was a serious offer to get Fresno State to give up its half of a home-and-home with the Badgers so that they could stage a game in Lambeau. It would have been an "away" game for Wisconsin, I suppose, and a "home" game for Fresno State.
http://iamabadgerfan.blogspot.com/2008/06/badgers-almost-play-at-lambeau-field.html
Rotated around all 12 (or 14?) campus locations. Hey, I can dream.
If this works like baseball, it'll be in Columbus for the first 5 years in a row, even if OSU isn't in it.
stop crying
http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/championship-game-location
I know it's well back there on the board, but we don't need to discuss this every day.
Let those of us who choose to do so discuss as we please.
in Ann Arbor (odd years) or Columbus (even years).
in space
Can we get Zoltan some extra eligibility if its there?
well as space emperor if it was played in space we would have to play by his rules.....so my guess is yes.
Just imagine how far he could kick it in Space. The Apollo 14 crew and Gemini 4 can get the team there.
Apollo 15 had the all U of M crew.
the biggest problem is that there would be no sound
No Pam Forde or other know-nothing announcer? What's the problem here?
I assume you mean Pam Ward.
Same thing, but without Adrian Brody.
But I would like to see it in Soldier field. Obviously Chicago is a huge market, the Big Ten is centered there, and Big Ten teams take pride in playing in the elements. That's why the Golden Gophers play outside again, and every team in the Big Ten plays outdoors.
I think the elements are part of the game, that's why I like the New York Super Bowl, but I do understand most people want controlled conditions, which is why Indy will probably get it, though Ford Field isn't totally out of the equation.
The Pontiac Silverdome would be the best option
Definitely should play it at the Rose Bowl.
/sarcasm
I don't like conferences that keep the game in the same place every year (I'm looking at you SEC). There are enough good facilities within the footprint to move it every year. Outside would work too. Maybe a Chicago, Detroit, Indy rotation. Keeps the game to the middle of the conference, but still moves it around a little.
I just hope we have to worry about where to go to the game every year. I can't wait to attend the first ever Big 10 Championship Game in 2011 between #1 ranked Michigan and Nebraska with a trip to MNC game on the line for us.
Why that game is never in New Orleans is beyond me.
It probably has something to do with their bowl tie-in being the Sugar Bowl. Gives fans two different cities to travel to.
I wonder if they expand into Texas, there's a movement to bring a western option to the championship games.
I think a rotation between Lucas Oil, Ford Field, Soldier Field and Lambeau Field would be awesome.
Throw in Heinz Field (balances out Lambeau) and that'd be awesome.
Sure. 5 year rotation sound good to me. That would be an awesome collection of stadiums to go to for a championship game.
I wouldn't mind seeing it in any domed stadium. If they played it outdoors that late in the year, it might reinforce the popular national stereotype that Big Ten football is slow, boring, and cold. Besides, the MNC or NC game will be contested in warm weather, so I wouldn't mind seeing any Big Ten team that advances doing so in a warm stadium.
The classic nightmare scenario would be to have a team advance solely because they played better in zero degree weather only to have their hats handed to them in January. Dome, sweet dome, please.
we could have the National Championship game played in the cold. The way it should be.
a few weeks ago (after the NYC Superbowl announcement) they started throwing this idea out there. The obvious negative is that teams like USC, Florida, and Texas never play in the cold, well screw them if they would schedule a B10 team in November then they would know what playing in the cold is all about.
I am all for it, i would love to see Michigan Stadium host the NC. #1 Michigan vs #2 USC on January 7 only 22 degrees, it would be perfect.
People who live in the north see their bodies change in preparation for winter. The few days a northern team has in a southern clime in preparation for a bowl game are not enough to offset this.
Also, playing closer to home is another big advantage. When USC and UCLA get to play in the Rose Bowl they get a big undeserved edge. Having some games in the north would help even things out.
The southern schools do better in the bowl games, but I am unconvinced that it is because they have better teams. If they could come up north and do just as well, that would get my attention.
I agree with what you are saying, and in addition if bowl games were all over the country, teams from the north would not have to (still think they would choose to) invest in multi-million dollar practice facilities.
But that's the beauty of outdoor football in the later months of the year in the north. The Big Ten is proud of offering that type of football to its fans, so it would make sense that they look to keep their championship outdoors. In my opinion, it's one of the things that makes the Big Ten what it is.
I just don't see Delaney letting this game be outdoors.
Plus the fact that Chicago (where the league hq is) doesn't have one makes it just as viable for Ford as it is for LucasOil Field.
Frankly, if we expand east, Detroit is more centrally located within the league than Indianapolis is.
like how the SEC always plays it in the Georgia Dome.
I'm not a fan of the rotating site like the B12 uses.
Ford Field would be a nice home for the game.
You you really want to travel to the same location for the next twenty years of Michigan winning the B10 Title (2011-2030), i would like to see different venues.
If we are winning the Big 10 Championship every year, then Hell Yes!
Would be so sweet if it was a night game at Lambeau. My guess is though it will be at the Colts new stadium.
why not just play it in Switzerland somewhere?
Indy. So, as SEC and ACC fans can speak of the road "to Atlanta" for their conference championships, the Big 10 can turn its eyes towards getting to Indy at the seasons end.
Man, can you imagine the classic struggles this new championship game is sure to spawn? Can you imagine Michigan playing Notre Dame at night in just a couple seasons and finishing the season in Indy?
Lambeau field would be awesome. Imagine if Texas joins and has to play at Lambeau in December.
I remember some of the B12 championships at Arrowhead... money lost... That wasn't too nice. Not Lambeau, but not nice. Damn Power Cats.
Somewhere it couldn't be a virtual "home game" for any of the likely participants. East Lansing would be ideal.
But then we'd have an unfair disadvantage cause our players would be attacked in the middle of the night. And couches would burn from having so many Wolverines there.
as other posters have mentioned I like the idea of having it on a neutral field. I know that the legistics of it would be a nightmare but I would like to see the location be announced after the end of the regular season. Perhaps you could have a few places and whichever is the most neutral and yet still regionally acceptable gets the bid. Or perhaps the team with the better confrence record gets the home game. I would even like to extend this to the NC game. Can you imagine how nice it would be to have #2 ranked Florida come to the Big House to play #1 ranked Michigan. I say make it truly neutral or give the team that earned it the home field advantage.
Can you imagine how nice it would be to have #2 ranked Florida come to the Big House to play #1 ranked Michigan.
Yes, but when did Florida join the Big10?
dude, read the previous sentence
I would even like to extend this to the NC game.
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dude, read the title of the thread
Where should the Big Ten Championship game be played?
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ummm ok
he explained how he would like the B10 championship game to be at home for whoever had the best conference record, and then said it would be cool if the same was true for the NC game.
You called him out for taking his idea for the conference championship and applying it to the nat'l championship, what exactly is wrong with that?
Soldier Field every year. It's about as central as you can get. And the elements are part of the experience in the north; play it outdoors.