Big Ten Changes: The Good, The Bad and the Huh?

An article by BK    7 Comments

So, the time finally came yesterday. The Big Ten released it’s new logo and division names among other things. Seeing as we are all sports nerds and constantly need something to talk about, this was a big deal. Let’s break it down.

First, the logo.

This was perhaps the biggest change fans were anticipating. It did not go over well. I understand what the design firm (Pentagram) was thinking, but it doesn’t work. It’s just a white box on top of a teal box with the words Big and Ten on top of each other. I get that the “1″ is the “I” and the “G” is supposed to look like a “0″, but it’s not very clear. It’s only clear when they show the examples of the “B” in B1G being a different color than the other letters.

I’m glad they got rid of the embedded numbers in Big Ten, but this might be worse. It’s like Pentagram forgot they had this project due and slapped it together and used fancy words to make the Big Ten think it was great. They basically took the colors of the NCAA midcourt logos used for Tournament games and applied it to this. Very little thinking. Poor job.

Second, the division names. Legends and Leaders?

Those names do not correlate to the teams in the divisions. If you were going to just come up with a random name that has nothing to do with the teams in each division, why didn’t you just keep it simple with East and West or North and South or Ketchup and Mustard? That’s all I have to say about that.

The one thing I do like about yesterdays announcement are the trophies and trophy names. The Big Ten decided to give more post season awards geared towards each division winner and individual players at each position. The trophies are named after past legendary players and coaches in the Big Ten. Finally they got something right!

All in all I guess these changes were necessary with the addition of Nebraska next year. Clearly the Big Ten is STILL trying to not be fancy.

The Big Ten: Where Boring Happens.