One of the gravest tragedies occurred on Nov. 22 after Penn State beat Michigan State to clinch a spot in the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl.

Sure, Penn State players had accomplished much. They walked off the Beaver Stadium grass with loads of loot, including handfuls of roses, student-made banners, giant numbers -- a 2, two 0's and an 8 to honor the senior class -- the Land Grant Trophy and the Big Ten Championship Trophy.

For the second time in four seasons, the Penn State Nittany Lions are the Big Ten football champions.

But the Buckeyes have two-upped the Lions. With their victory over Michigan three hours before Penn State's over the Spartans, the Buckeyes tied the Lions' 7-1 Big Ten record and in doing so, won their fourth Big Ten title in as many years.

Too bad the last trophy Derrick Williams pumped toward the sky that night in Beaver Stadium also belongs to the Ohio State Buckeyes -- technically.

And that is the travesty -- that the Buckeyes were able to call themselves champs before the rightful champions, the Lions, could hoist the trophy the same night.

Remember when Penn State beat Ohio State in Columbus on Oct. 25?

Yeah? Well, that monumental win didn't count for much in the hunt for the conference title.

You'll probably also remember the 2005 season, when Penn State beat Ohio State in Beaver Stadium. Both teams went on to finish with a 7-1 conference mark. That's all the Big Ten cares about, though. It didn't matter that the two best teams in the conference faced off and the better team, Penn State won.

The Bucks were co-champions that year too.

Baloney!

"We never looked at it like we shared it since we beat Ohio State head to head," former Penn State wide receiver Ethan Kilmer said last night.

Multiple players said after the Michigan State game two weeks ago that they weren't sharing anything with the Buckeyes, but they are.

The Ohio State Student Bookstore is selling Big Ten Championship T-shirts.

Take a look on eBay or eBuckeye.com and you can find red shirts that proudly proclaim the Ohio State Buckeyes as four-time Big Ten champs.

It's almost disgusting to think of, so ponder this. An example and an obvious solution.

Next weekend No. 4 Florida will do battle against No. 1 Alabama. Both schools play in the SEC.

The game will decide the undisputed SEC champion. There will be no ties, no sharing. There shouldn't be either in any sport and the SEC gets it right.

Maybe the Big Ten will take notice? Maybe get another team to join up?

Cough. Notre Dame. Cough.

Then there would be twelve teams, enough to divide the conference in half and stage a conference title game.

Kilmer said he and his '05 teammates felt they should have been undefeated.

Only a controversial last second loss to Michigan kept them out of the national title hunt. Kilmer said this season, the same motivation should be there for Penn State.

"Ultimately in my mind I think it would be a motivator for the guys to want to win a national title. And that way they would solidify a Big Ten title regardless and there wouldn't be this controversy."

Penn State will have one more chance to solidify their right to be called undisputed Big Ten champions. Jan. 1 the Lions could meet USC in the Rose Bowl.

Remember that? When USC humiliated Ohio State by 32 points on Sept. 19?

If the Lions put the hurt on the Trojans, Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney should declare Penn State the undisputed champs.

And it should be illegal to buy, sell or wear any of those four-time champion Buckeye shirts.