The ACC has been here. Clemson, especially. Add in former rival Georgia Tech and Maryland. So has the Southwest Conference/Big 8/Big 12, with Texas and Kansas State walking into the hallowed grounds.
Even the PAC-12 has come to the Plains, including college royalty in USC and Washington "we will drink all your beer in town" State. The defunct Big East? They've also stepped on the field in Auburn, Alabama. Now, for the first time, a Big Ten team is coming to Jordan-Hare Stadium, and the question has to be asked: what took so long?
That's a question that is full of mystery. The Big Ten, long the competitor to the SEC for conference supremacy in college football, has a lot of history. In fact, it has more than likely any other conference when you include Michigan, Ohio State and this week's opponent, Penn State. So it would seem natural that regular matchups between the Tigers and members of this conference would exist.
Did Auburn reject the chance to host these games? If so, why? Both fan bases are hyping this weekend's game between the Tigers and Nittany Lions for the same reason. The Big Ten wants to beat the SEC and vice versa. Penn State fans will arrive in droves, much like Auburn fans did in State College last September, and the atmosphere will be everything we love about this fantastic sport. Both teams will come out ready for a battle, preparing to prove that they, and their conference, are the alpha in college football.
Until last year, these two teams had met just twice in their long histories, and both of those came in bowl games. That could be one of the problems. The bowl tie-ins have so many matchups between these two proud conferences that it sometimes gets tiresome. Another game against Wisconsin? Boring. Is Auburn facing another Big Ten team in Tampa? I'll pass.
Maybe that is an excuse, but other teams in the SEC – Alabama included – have hosted and made the visit to Big Ten teams. Auburn can't be afraid, right? Bringing in the Trojans and those other orange Tigers is a sign of the negative. So why is this the first time a Big Ten team will step on the soil of one of the top 15 programs in college football history?
I don't have the answer. Seriously, I'm looking around and have no idea. Auburn has hosted many teams from around the nation and different conferences, but never that one from predominantly the Midwest. Some may point out that Ohio State played the Tigers "at home" in Montgomery in 1917, but the Buckeyes never stepped foot in Lee County.
It's a game between two powers in the sport that shouldn't happen every blue moon and definitely shouldn't happen at a neutral site. Neutral sites are the bane of this sport, giving NFL owners even more money and providing an atmosphere and wallet-deducing event that college football doesn't deserve.
With the introduction of the 12-team playoff arriving soon, hopefully, Auburn administrators will approve of more games like this. Who wouldn't want to host a home-and-home with Michigan? Or Ohio State? Or, and I know they are awful right now, but Nebraska?
It's been too long of a wait for a Big Ten team to visit Auburn. Penn State fans will arrive in the next several hours, take in the tradition, passion, and, not to mention, incredible food and drink scene in Auburn, tailgate on Saturday and go back to their friends wherever they reside and talk about the great experience.
This is a weekend we will never forget, regardless of whether Auburn wins or loses. This is the type of weekend we need more.
