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Ohio State’s Ascent Reinvigorates the Big Ten

CHICAGO — In January, the Big Ten felt united as perhaps never before. After years of perceived decline in its signature sport, football, the conference had seen its champion — Ohio State — become the first league team to play for the national title since the 2007 season, and the first to win it since 2002.

“We want to play in big games,” Commissioner Jim Delany said immediately after the Buckeyes’ victory over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. “Sometimes you win them, and maybe that starts to change the trajectory of the narrative a little bit.