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Big Ten Conference Divisions

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Best Pod setup to date - credit to Winchesterbuck on scout:


East - PSU, Maryland, UVA, UNC
Central - OSU, Rutgers, Illinois, Northwestern
North - Michigan, MSU, Indiana, Purdue
West - Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa

Make every team have protected rival (OSU's would be Michigan obviously)... And play 9 in conference games: 3 against your pod, 4 against the pod you're paired against, and 1 from each of the other two pods (think you're protected rival).

OSU would play Michigan every year... And every third year they would be in the same division (when their pods aligned).

MOST traditional rivalries could be maintained... And it prevents a team like UNC from playing a many of their games west of Indiana.
 
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MU-Buck;2262519; said:
Best Pod setup to date - credit to Winchesterbuck on scout:


East - PSU, Maryland, UVA, UNC
Central - OSU, Rutgers, Illinois, Northwestern
North - Michigan, MSU, Indiana, Purdue
West - Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa
Click to expand...

The 3 ACC teams in the same pod with a decimated PSU? Only if the Pedsters have a majority say in this thing.
 
Upvote 0
MU-Buck;2262519; said:
Best Pod setup to date - credit to Winchesterbuck on scout:


East - PSU, Maryland, UVA, UNC
Central - OSU, Rutgers, Illinois, Northwestern
North - Michigan, MSU, Indiana, Purdue
West - Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa

Make every team have protected rival (OSU's would be Michigan obviously)... And play 9 in conference games: 3 against your pod, 4 against the pod you're paired against, and 1 from each of the other two pods (think you're protected rival).

OSU would play Michigan every year... And every third year they would be in the same division (when their pods aligned).

MOST traditional rivalries could be maintained... And it prevents a team like UNC from playing a many of their games west of Indiana.
Click to expand...

Switch Indiana and Purdue with Northwestern and Illinois, and I think you nailed it.
 
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heisman;2262533; said:
Switch Indiana and Purdue with Northwestern and Illinois, and I think you nailed it.
Click to expand...

Disagree... Indiana and Purdue need to go with Michigan and Michigan State in order to not make OSU's pod a complete joke! Rutgers, Northwestern and Illinois are by no means world beaters... But they are better than Indiana and Purdue, and historically OSU vs Illinois is better than OSU vs Indiana/Purdue.
 
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Why are we calling them pods now instead of divisions? Do divisions imply only 2 within a conference? Do the Browns play in the AFC North Pod?

Actually, in all seriousness, does the word "pod" imply something else?
 
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MUBuck;2262531; said:
The 3 ACC teams in the same pod with a decimated PSU? Only if the Pedsters have a majority say in this thing.
Click to expand...

""I look at Penn State, Maryland and Rutgers, and I look at them together and how each can enhance the other" - Jim Delany

Sounds like a PSU pod to me. Throw in UVA and it looks familiar.
 
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I believe NCAA rules state that a conference championship is allowed in conferences with 12 or more teams pairing together the "division" winners.... So, within the Big Ten Conference, you need 2 divisions, but every one feels that 4 groups of teams really helps to limit long periods of teams not playing each other... So what do you call these groups of 4 if NCAA rules state conference championships can only occur between "division" winners? Thus the term Pods.

In the NFL, the Browns play in the National Football League, in the American Football Conference, in the North Division... So no need for the term Pod to show up. The Buckeyes play in the NCAA, in the Big Ten Conference, in the Leaders Division, in the ???? with Rutgers, Illinois and Northwestern... Thus the term Pod.

We call the group of 4 a different name, I like "region."
 
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Yertle;2262732; said:
Why are we calling them pods now instead of divisions? Do divisions imply only 2 within a conference? Do the Browns play in the AFC North Pod?

Actually, in all seriousness, does the word "pod" imply something else?
Click to expand...

I not sure why others call them PODs, but for me divisions imply permanent associations. In this set up each Pod will be pared with another Pod to form a division. The difference is every 2 years the pod you are paired with changes so you get the opportunity to play all your conference opponents at least twice every 6 years.
 
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sflbuck;2262769; said:
I not sure why others call them PODs, but for me divisions imply permanent associations. In this set up each Pod will be pared with another Pod to form a division. The difference is every 2 years the pod you are paired with changes so you get the opportunity to play all your conference opponents at least twice every 6 years.
Click to expand...

I actually prefer pod re-alignment every year... Decreasing it to once every three seasons. And MOST teams would play at least every other year if the conference bumped to 9 in conference games!!!
 
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Yertle;2262732; said:
Why are we calling them pods now instead of divisions? Do divisions imply only 2 within a conference? Do the Browns play in the AFC North Pod?

Actually, in all seriousness, does the word "pod" imply something else?
Click to expand...

MU-Buck;2262761; said:
I believe NCAA rules state that a conference championship is allowed in conferences with 12 or more teams pairing together the "division" winners.... So, within the Big Ten Conference, you need 2 divisions, but every one feels that 4 groups of teams really helps to limit long periods of teams not playing each other... So what do you call these groups of 4 if NCAA rules state conference championships can only occur between "division" winners? Thus the term Pods.

In the NFL, the Browns play in the National Football League, in the American Football Conference, in the North Division... So no need for the term Pod to show up. The Buckeyes play in the NCAA, in the Big Ten Conference, in the Leaders Division, in the ???? with Rutgers, Illinois and Northwestern... Thus the term Pod.

We call the group of 4 a different name, I like "region."
Click to expand...

MU-Buck;2264582; said:
I actually prefer pod re-alignment every year... Decreasing it to once every three seasons. And MOST teams would play at least every other year if the conference bumped to 9 in conference games!!!
Click to expand...

The WAC originally used the term quadrants/quads.
 
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Abenaki;2262284; said:
What if they did something like this:

"Leaders":

Ohio State
Michigan
Michigan State
Indiana
Purdue
Illinois
Northwestern

"Legends":

Penn State
Maryland
Rutgers
Nebraska
Iowa
Wisconsin
Minnesota

Splits up the "kings", fairly evenly balanced keeps all the important matchups on a yearly basis and it would piss off the Pedsters because they have to travel more.
Click to expand...

Muck;2262326; said:
Forcing the farthest west & farthest east schools together is likely a non-starter because of the reasons you mentioned (not just PSU but other schools wouldn't like it either).

Regardless of how you divide 2 seven team divisions you are setting up a situation where some teams will very rarely see each other. That is the advantage that pods give it allows all the teams in the league to play one another more often. The disadvantage of course is that it is confusing to casual fans.
Click to expand...

Purely regional divisions:

WEST
Illinois
Iowa
Minnesota
Nebraska
Northwestern
Purdue
Wisconsin

EAST
Indiana
Maryland
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Penn State
Rutgers

--------------------------------

NORTH
Iowa
Minnesota
Nebraska
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Michigan
Michigan State

SOUTH
Illinois
Indiana
Maryland
Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue
Rutgers

I prefer the East-West set up myself...
 
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smithlabs;2262755; said:
""I look at Penn State, Maryland and Rutgers, and I look at them together and how each can enhance the other" - Jim Delany

Sounds like a PSU pod to me. Throw in UVA and it looks familiar.
Click to expand...
Personally, I think we can do better than UVA. I would prefer Va Tech or North Carolina (though I highly doubt UNC would come)
 
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