"Fraternization"

Post by Dom Tiberi.

WBNS TV sports anchor Dom Tiberi makes a great point.

When bowl season comes around, I always root for all the Big Ten teams. As a fan, I'm loyal to the conference in which my alma mater plays. That's an unnecessary thing for an alum and a fan, I know.

But no Big Ten coach should ever help a bowl opponent of one of the conference schools to prepare for games.

It's not good for the conference as a whole or for the recruiting efforts of individual schools for any of our teams to lose post-season bowl games.

And the stakes are even higher when one member of the conference is in the running for the national championship.

A win by Ohio State over Alabama (an admittedly tall order) will only make teams like Indiana, Michigan, and Penn State, Big Ten teams with whom the Buckeyes struggled perhaps more than they should have this season, look better.

A win will add a gleam to the conference and enhance the entire conference's ability to convince the best players in the country to put Big Ten schools at the tops of their lists.

If Big Ten coaches actually gave Alabama advice on how to beat the Buckeyes, it speaks ill of those coaches. But beyond that, it makes them seem less than smart, failing to see how in the bowl season, conference competitors need to stick together. Maybe there should be a conference policy on such "fraternization."

On the other hand, given the "success" of Big Ten coaches against Ohio State this past season, maybe Buckeye fans should encourage the coaches to keep dishing.