The Big Ten has announced that Lucas Oil Stadium will be the proposed site for the 2011 Big Ten Championship. Now that the proposed site has been chosen, the conference office will start a 30-day negotiation period with Indiana Sports Corp and Lucas Oil Stadium to come to an agreement. Once the conference has come to an agreement with the host stadium for the 2011 game they will begin the process for the 2012 game. 

Lucas Oil Stadium was host to last year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and the NFL Combine, while the old RCA Dome in Indianapolis has played host to several Big Ten Basketball Tournaments in the past.

This may come as disappointing news to many people in Chicago who were hoping that Soldier Field would be chosen as the inaugural host. Despite Chicago being the head quarters for the conference, there was much opposition to playing a championship game outdoors in the Midwest.  However, if the Big Ten is adamant about keeping its championship game out of the elements that are such an important part of Big Ten football, their only real options are Lucas Oil Stadium and Ford Field in Detroit.