Over the past few days, the Big Ten blogosphere has been aflame with rumors about the potential demise of the conference’s greatest rivalry.  “How could it be?” people have been asking… surely the conference higher ups couldn’t be so stupid as to throw away the greatest tradition they had just for the sake of TV money! Sadly, it appears they could.

We’re talking — of course — about the season ending battle for the Land of Lincoln trophy. Who could imagine a season where our beloved Wildcatz didn’t play the scum from Champaign to end the season? Sadly, it seems the Big Ten is imaging just that… transforming the greatest rivalry in all of sports into a meaningless game in the middle of October. This isn’t the Red River Rivalry or the World’s Greatest Outdoor Cocktail Party we’re talking about, this is the Land of Lincoln trophy! This game divides families and splits neighborhoods… it’s not just a football game, it’s a battle for the soul of the state.

Splitting us up just so you can hope and pray that we’ll meet again in the conference championship game is just silly. Sure it would be a massive moneymaker, but it wouldn’t happen nearly often enough to make it worth devaluing the game. Hasn’t anyone learned anything from the ACC’s attempt to artificially force an annual Miami-Florida State title game? And rematches suck anyway, no matter how many weeks apart they are. This is bound to end badly, just like the Big 12′s murder of the Nebraska-Oklahoma rivalry that led to the current situation in our own conference.

To that end, we at the WLA want to send a message to Jim Delany and the Big Ten: Que sera, sera. At the end of the day, we’re just happy to still be here and not hightailing it to the MAC.  Kthxbai.