Big Ten football misery can neither be created nor destroyed; It can only change forms – or allegiances, depending on how well your school is playing.
This is the first law of Big Ten-modynamics. (Ok, so we’re borrowing a bit from our pal Albert Einstein and the laws of thermodynamics here, but stick with us.)
The second law, of course, is that the misery of any isolated system always increases, which we guess explains why the Big Ten championship game is always indoors in Indianapolis. (Sure, they could play it indoors at Detroit’s Ford Field, but that place has seen enough misery to last a lifetime, and we’re not talking about the Quick Lane Bowl.