Welcome New B1G Overlord Kevin Warren

It is a new day in the Big Ten. After 30 years the Big Ten will have a new commissioner in 2020. How long has it been or Jim Delaney? Well, when he started the Big Ten had only ten teams, if you can imagine something as wild and crazy as that. During his tenure Penn State, Nebraska, Maryland, and Rutgers joined the league. He helped create the Bowl Championship Series, making the league a ton of money. He created the Big Ten Network, an idea that was laughed at in 2006, but 13 years later is a license to print money for the 14 conference schools. He also brought instant replay to college football.

There is little question that Delaney has had a huge impact on college sports, and because Purdue is a founding member of the Big Ten we have been along for the gravy train from day 1. He is retiring next year, and today it is expected that Kevin Warren will be announced as the new commissioner.

Warren is currently the COO of the Minnesota Vikings and will be the first African American to be the commissioner of a power five conference. He is a former college basketball player at Penn and Grand Canyon and was even an NAIA All-American at Grand Canyon back in the early 80s. Professionally, he has been involved with the Rams, Lions, and Vikings before coming to Rosemont. He also helped to get US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis built.

It is hard to say what this change will mean for the league. The Big Ten (and college sports in general) was vastly different the last time the conference needed a commish. It will take some time for him to truly make his mark not he league, but I welcome our new overlord.