With the announcement that Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis will host the first ever Big Ten football championship game in December of 2011, the first stone has been set in what I hope is a football foundation in Indy as it relates to this game.

I have written about this before and feel that both the facility and the city are a perfect fit for the league.

LOS (that’s what some of the locals call it and you can type that faster) just held the Final Four.  It will host the Superbowl in February of 2012, just two months after the Big Ten Championship game helps put it through the paces.  Due to the Super Bowl and the bustling convention business, brand new hotels have opened downtown within a three wood of LOS, in addition to the perfect accommodations that were there before.  Plus, you can get the world’s best shrimp cocktail at St. Elmo’s.

Seating capacity for Indianapolis Colts football games is 63,000, but they get get it to 70,000, and will, for Superbowls.  I am not certain as to what configuration they might use for the Big Ten title game.  Muy hunch would be to go with the 63k set up and worst case is you create some demand for folks that wanted to get in but couldn’t get the ticket.  A lot of that will depend on which teams are playing for the title. If you have Ohio State as a part of the matchup, you are looking at less than three hours of driving distance from Columbus, so you would certainly get a sellout.  I have a hard time believing this game wouldn’t be a sellout each and every year at 63,000.

I believe there would be strong local support of the game as well, to the tune of 10,000 fans, given how Indianapolis is become the second largest Big Ten melting pot in the Midwest behind Chicago.

Ah yes, Chicago.  Soldier Field.  Having driven by that facility recenlty, I was reminded of the question many folks have had since the place was remodeled; why?  Why did they insert a spaceship inside a national monument?  Why didn’t they go for something like LOS, with a retractable roof and window walls, so they could play indoors or outdoors, and then host all kinds of competitions?  If a facility like LOS were in Chicago, Indy would never sniff this event, nor would any other city other than the Windy City.  However, that didn’t happen and I doubt the Big Ten title game will be played in Chicago more than once, if ever.  Same goes for Cleveland and Green Bay.  Detroit?  Perhaps, as Ford Field is fantastic, but Indianapolis and its downtown is about as good as it gets in the Big Ten footprint.

After the league performs its due diligence this fall, winter and spring, I suspect Lucas Oil Stadium will get the game for at least two more years after the first, with Ford Field getting a shot at it once…maybe.

Tags: Big Ten, Big Ten Football, hawkeye football, Hawkeye Nation, hawkeyenation.com, Iowa football