Big Ten Title Game at Lambeau Field Would Be Awesome. Make It Happen.

The Green Bay Packers are holding their annual shareholders meeting today (online, obviously), and this interesting nugget from team president Mark Murphy crossed my timeline via Packers blogger Aaron Nagler:

This is a phenomenal idea and it needs to happen. I've been arguing for years now that the Big Ten championship game should be played outside. I get why it's in Indianapolis. The city does a great job hosting big events. That's why you see it get the Combine, the Super Bowl, the Final Four. Everything is conveniently located within a few blocks of each other. The stadium is new and nice. There are modern hotels. Conference and corporate bigwigs don't have to brave the midwestern elements in December. I understand all that.

But Big Ten football is played outside the rest of the season. Early December is not mid February. There are still nearly two months of NFL football to be played outdoors in the Big Ten region at the time of the conference championship game. Let's not act like fans in attendance would be the frozen logger.

I'll acknowledge here that this opinion is partly self-serving. I'm a Wisconsin alum and a Packer fan so I love Lambeau Field and feel a special spirituality there. Furthermore, the Badgers, built on plodding strength but not so much speed, would have a better chance to defeat the far faster Ohio State athletes in the colder elements than inside a dome -- not to mention being much closer to home.

Nonetheless, there's no reason why the Big Ten championship game must be in Indianapolis every year. Do a rotation between Indianapolis, Green Bay, Chicago, and maybe Cleveland, Detroit, and Minneapolis. Come on Big Ten, get it done.