Big Ten basketball should go really big — with a Super Bowl weekend all-star game

In the realignment circus that has engulfed collegiate athletics the last two decades, college basketball has become the sideshow act while everything football-related takes place in the main tent.

There are tens of millions reasons why, and they’re all green and fairly obvious. Football’s television ratings and revenues dwarf the indoor sport that doesn’t vault into the public consciousness until mid-February, takes center stage in mid-March and ends with “One Shining Moment” in early April. The three-week NCAA Tournament disperses enough revenue to keep most of its Division I schools afloat, but its potential expansion to 96 or more teams could be its undoing — that’s a topic for another day.

But there’s a way for college basketball to elevate and enhance its profile before the stretch run. It’s amazing it hasn’t happened yet, and let’s use the ever-growing Big Ten as an example.

The Big Ten needs to hold a men’s and women’s basketball spectacular on Super Bowl weekend, complete with a pair of all-star games and 3-point shooting displays. Unveil a dunk contest with celebrity and alumni judges. Hold a game of H-O-R-S-E between current and former Big Ten men’s and women’s basketball stars. A lob pass from Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr. to Purdue’s Zach Edey? Sign me up. What about former NBA stars Magic Johnson, Jalen Rose and Carmelo Anthony grading dunks? A game of H-O-R-S-E between Ohio State’s Taylor Mikesell and Jon Diebler against Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and Jordan Bohannon? Clark dishing to Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes on a fast break?

The Big Ten boasts the nation’s best collection of on-campus environments, and that only grows with four new additions in 2023-24. The Big Ten provided 10 of the nation’s top 30 schools in men’s basketball attendance for 2022-23. An event like this would be perfect for Indiana’s Assembly Hall, UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, Purdue’s Mackey Arena or Michigan State’s Breslin Center. Sure, there are great neutral-site arenas scattered throughout the Big Ten’s footprint, but students in attendance breathe life into a basketball atmosphere. It makes college basketball special.

Allow the fans to own a piece of this extravaganza as well. Open up a poll on New Year’s Day with the top five vote-getters automatically earning trips. Allow every school to send at least one player to each of the women’s and men’s all-star games. Have the host school and the defending regular-season champion supply the coaches with an alum or a celebrity sitting on the bench. Maybe even employ some of the league’s current football stars to interview basketball players for Big Ten Network.

For weeks, a Big Ten all-star basketball weekend would generate buzz and excitement. Instead of the season dragging into its fourth month, enthusiasm would skyrocket. It would spotlight the league’s NCAA Tournament contenders and the sport’s best players. The universities could assemble a league-wide recruiting fair for faculty, future students and careers. The NIL opportunities and exposure for the athletes … endless.

I’m merely speculating, but this is the type of event the Big Ten’s media partners should have keen interest in airing. On Super Bowl weekend in February, the three highest-rated college basketball games belonged to Duke–Virginia men (1.75 million viewers), Indiana-Michigan men (1.68 million) and LSU-South Carolina women (1.47 million), per Sports Media Watch. Just a guess, but a pair of Big Ten all-star games either on Saturday or early Sunday afternoon would have a shot at vaulting past those numbers.

So, what is the downside? There would be logistical concerns, of course. Depending on how the event was staggered, it would wipe out regular-season action over probably four days. With the Big Ten’s 20-game men’s basketball season and coast-to-coast representation, it would force another trip for three dozen athletes already in the air probably too often. Perhaps the best remedy to those issues would be to either shift more Big Ten games to December or cut the league slate to 18 games. That would enable every team to play one another once and a rival twice.

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Perhaps this is a good place to stop writing and let you all generate ideas or shoot this topic down. But just remember: If the Big Ten staged a spectacle like this in February, it would include the reigning players of the year in both women’s basketball (Clark) and men’s basketball (Edey). You can’t orchestrate an event like this in college football, and at the Final Four, the contests and all-star games provide just an appetizer to the season’s main course. In early February, this is the main course.

An all-star weekend just might provide both sports a shot of adrenaline — and sizzle —as they ramp up their stretch runs. And, most importantly, it could be fun.

(Photos of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and Purdue’s Zach Edey: Ron Jenkins and Andy Lyons / Getty Images)