It shouldn’t surprise us that Bret Bielema still follows Big Ten football.

He played at Iowa, coached at Iowa and later led Wisconsin to three consecutive Rose Bowl appearances as the ‘face of the franchise’ in Madison.

Arkansas’ coach proposed an idea Wednesday to incorporate more SEC vs. Big Ten games outside of bowl season, a ‘SEC vs. Big Ten Challenge’ so to speak, much like the ACC and Big Ten’s head-to-head deal on the hardwood.

Our friends over at Saturday Tradition have an idea about how Bielema’s suggestion might work:

Instead of just one game between the two conferences during the regular season, every school from both 14-team conferences would be involved. It would force the two conferences to have a built-in Power-Five matchup on a yearly basis.

In the College Football Playoff era, scheduling competitively in the non-conference is essential according to the selection committee. This would ensure at least one respectable matchup on every team’s schedule in both leagues.