Big Ten Conference Divisions

[Piney]

I still haven't really figured out why they did the divisions this way. I saw an article that said that the fans weighed heavily into the dicision but best I can tell yall think its dumb? Could make for some very interesting situations (or some very pointless ones)....what rational are they giving this?

The only thing the fans weighed heavily into the decision was making sure The Game was played the last week of the regular season. Besides that... not so much.

 

[zwem]

Sorry, Ohio State and Michigan being in separate divisions is still stupid. Correct me if I'm wrong but I feel like 90% of the "this will be great" talk came out of the Michigan camp. I know I'm bias due to my scarlet glasses but a part of me really feels like those basterds are ducking Ohio State and Penn State because they don't want to become the third best team in their division even when they make it back. They drove the bus on this because they're scared.

They wanted out of the east, not only did they get what that but they got the second best team in the west moved to the east. Seriously do you think Wisco got what they wanted? They are with Ohio State and Penn State, they lost out on being in a division with Iowa and Minnesota. Sure they will get Minny back due to crossover but they don't get Nebraska every year either.

Penn State and Nebraska? Are they great teams? Yes. Are they natural rivals? No. So you take out the Big Red game brought to you by Wrigley's for this? A game played against two very good teams most years but teams that are on the opposite side of the conference? So what are we eventually going to get Iowa/Rutgers Ohio State/Missouri and Wisconsin/Syracuse?

Iowa/Purdue? What the [censored] is this, as a Big Ten fan have you ever looked at this game and gone, whoa, I don't care that one of those teams is down I must watch that game for the rivalry. Pathetic, this is bull [censored]. Lose Wisconsin vs Iowa for Iowa vs Purdue kiss my ass Delany. This isn't just about Ohio State for me, don't get me wrong I love my University and I am proud to be a Buckeye but the entire Big Ten Just got [censored]ed up.

Michigan State/Indiana? who gives a [censored] a bout that? Well I guess Michigan State is probably fine, FREE WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[censored] YOU JIM DELANY AND [censored] YOU MICHIGAN, I DON"T CARE WHAT YOU SAY YOU WANTED THIS JUST AS MUCH AS THAT [censored] ASS DID.

I must say this really gave me a good laugh. First of all I wanted both teams in the same division. So I guess I'm in the 10%......not sure where you got 90% but whatever. So we drove the bus on this and this is our fault.....oooohhhh so fucking typical.

Let me ask you a question even though you probably won't answer it. Let's assume for a second that you are right about Michigan fans wanting this bs and trying to duck Penn St. and Ohio St (check Michigan's record against Penn St before that clown of a coach we have at the moment). Are they any different than Ohio St. fans that want Michigan down forever? You know another easy cake walk win over Michigan, the big ten championship will be alot easier to win (mostly in the past). We want more 42-7 games because gee golly, that is alot easier than playing a Michigan team that actually has a chance to knock us off. Plus if Michigan is down forever, they can't play OSU in back to back weeks. Just pray for that.

Nice dissing the Iowa and Purdue game. I'm sure their great fans care. Also nice to see you saying that Michigan will be 3rd best even when they make it back. I guess the way OSU is going it's going to last forever right? I thought the Michigan fans were suppose to be the arrogant ones.

 

[High Lonesome]

The only thing the fans weighed heavily into the decision was making sure The Game was played the last week of the regular season. Besides that... not so much.

I will say that I think its smart to have the cross division rivals. The big 12 would have been a better league if Neb and OU played every year. I don't really care that they would have had to invent rivalrys for most of us. that one game would have been worth it.

That said, The Game should have been treated like atm vs tex....last game of the reg season...tons on the line, no chance for a rematch

 

[Basebuck]

Pulled from another forum; but, some pretty decent research (possibly someone cross-posting from research someone put in on BP?):

Edit: tOSU in the CCG 13 out of 17 years ain't bad

I may have read that wrong but it doesn't make any sense to me. You can't have a conference championship game between 2 teams from the same division. I dont have time to do the research right now but I have to believe that The Game would have had a rematch in more years than that. 8 out of 17 of those scenario's cannot happen under the new breakdown

 

[Buckeye86]

That said, The Game should have been treated like atm vs tex....last game of the reg season...tons on the line, no chance for a rematch

soo, not to be a dick or anything, but when was the last time there was "tons on the line" when atm played tex? in state bragging rights don't count, even if everything is bigger in Texas

 

[High Lonesome]

soo, not to be a dick or anything, but when was the last time there was "tons on the line" when atm played tex? in state bragging rights don't count, even if everything is bigger in Texas

Its been a LONG time since there was tons on the line for both teams but there have been many times when that game has been HUGE for one team.

I assure you if Texas loses that game last year it would have been of great significance

 

[BB73]

soo, not to be a dick or anything, but when was the last time there was "tons on the line" when atm played tex? in state bragging rights don't count, even if everything is bigger in Texas

aTm knocked Texas out of the CCG in '06 (by upsetting a team that had a frosh Colt McCoy not back to 100% after a concussion), and a very entertaining 49-39 win in College Station last year kept Texas on track for the CCG and eventually the BCS Title Game.

 

[Buckeye86]

Its been a LONG time since there was tons on the line for both teams but there have been many times when that game has been HUGE for one team.

I assure you if Texas loses that game last year it would have been of great significance

good point, I forgot about the whole "ruining the other teams season" aspect of it

 

[DallasHusker]

FWIW after that game they reviewed the call and said that the correct call was made. I'll just leave it at that though as I didn't come over here to bicker

You're absolutely correct, and to my previous point. They did review it and said the correct call was made - and the head of the Big XII officiating who was responsible for the review is a Texas alum and active supporter. And I'll just leave it at that too.

 

[woofermazing]

I love how the OSU Athletics site has the big 10 championship listed as the final game of our schedule.

Football - Schedule - The Ohio State Buckeyes Official Athletics Site - OhioStateBuckeyes.com

 

[BB73]

Small point maybe, but did anyone catch that Delaney made several mistakes during the time he was talking out of his ass, er, assessing the situation, including saying the wrong score from the 2006 game? Dude, you're the commissioner of the fucking league, your job is to go out and know shit like this, and you've had months to know you'd be on TV talking about it, getting questions softer than the average dick in the presence of a Roseanne Barr/Rosie O'Donnell threesome. Get it fucking right.

Oh, and his smug-assed assertion that they "never considered a date in October for the OSU/Michigan game"? BULL_FUCKING_TWAT. You considered everything, including making it the conference opener, if you thought it was going to make you more money. Instead you come out with that smug smile and that fucking stupid-assed combover and expect everyone to believe you "never" considered something? And this right after your not-so-artful dodge of the "toughest" question of the night, the one about whether THE GAME would end EVERY season going forward? You are fucking coward, and you can wipe that rosey red fucking smile off your face anytime.

I don't think Delany has a combover - it's more of a Dilbert's boss look.

 

[CalvinistBuck]

I must say this really gave me a good laugh. First of all I wanted both teams in the same division. So I guess I'm in the 10%......not sure where you got 90% but whatever. So we drove the bus on this and this is our fault.....oooohhhh so [censored]ing typical.

Let me ask you a question even though you probably won't answer it. Let's assume for a second that you are right about Michigan fans wanting this bs and trying to duck Penn St. and Ohio St (check Michigan's record against Penn St before that clown of a coach we have at the moment). Are they any different than Ohio St. fans that want Michigan down forever? You know another easy cake walk win over Michigan, the big ten championship will be alot easier to win (mostly in the past). We want more 42-7 games because gee golly, that is alot easier than playing a Michigan team that actually has a chance to knock us off. Plus if Michigan is down forever, they can't play OSU in back to back weeks. Just pray for that.

Nice dissing the Iowa and Purdue game. I'm sure their great fans care. Also nice to see you saying that Michigan will be 3rd best even when they make it back. I guess the way OSU is going it's going to last forever right? I thought the Michigan fans were suppose to be the arrogant ones.

No one commented, but your analysis is fair. While I still have great disdain for that team up north, I have to think there are (some) rational fans on both sides of this Rivalry who understand its rightful place.

I don't want to be an elitist prick, I just want to beat the shit out of tsun every season, on the last game of the regular season.

 

[CalvinistBuck]

Tom Dienhart and other tools who think a mid-October meeting between tOSU and tsun is fine can kiss my hairy butt.


The jackass opines:

Honestly, would the world have stopped spinning if Michigan-Ohio State had been moved to, say, early October? Too much was made of preserving this rivalry for late November.

http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1120761

No, too much was not made of preserving this Rivalry.

And, what about the timing of this anouncement? We should be focusing on beating the Herd, and instead are dealing with this nonsense. Nice move, Delaney.

If The Game is not so important to the rest of the world, then why is this issue now the lead story on many national sports information services?

 

[Emperor Brutus]

I must say this really gave me a good laugh. First of all I wanted both teams in the same division. So I guess I'm in the 10%......not sure where you got 90% but whatever. So we drove the bus on this and this is our fault.....oooohhhh so fucking typical.

Camp was meant to be read as the Athletic Directors and former players. For the record I am pissed off hearing Gene Smith's comments after the fact that he was for this thing from "jump street" if that's true that's pretty bad. However the Michigan camp has been all over this since it first came out, from interviews that Dave Brandon has done, to the UM vs OSU player debate on college football live. The thing that most befuddles me is that you have an actual former Michigan player as your AD right now. If we had a former Ohio State player as AD right now I'd be even more angry. I'm sure you're aware Gene is a Notre Dame guy and I hate to say it but as an Ohio State AD he isn't showing me that he gets "it" I would think the nike pro combat uniforms were a gimmick we had no use for no matter when we wore them but I for one could stomach it much better for any other game. One of the absolute coolest things about the Ohio State Michigan game is watching those helmets hit each other. Maybe the two most iconic helmets in college football wings vs buckeye leaves.

Let me ask you a question even though you probably won't answer it. Let's assume for a second that you are right about Michigan fans wanting this bs and trying to duck Penn St. and Ohio St (check Michigan's record against Penn St before that clown of a coach we have at the moment). Are they any different than Ohio St. fans that want Michigan down forever? You know another easy cake walk win over Michigan, the big ten championship will be alot easier to win (mostly in the past). We want more 42-7 games because gee golly, that is alot easier than playing a Michigan team that actually has a chance to knock us off. Plus if Michigan is down forever, they can't play OSU in back to back weeks. Just pray for that.

Again I never said the fans wanted it this way and I never meant it to be read that way, sorry you did. I don't know who those Ohio State fans are but they can fuck off too. I don't want Michigan down forever. That's not me saying that I ever want to lose to a good Michigan team, but like i said in another post if any Michigan fan didn't enjoy beating us during the Cooper years that's not our fault. We were good, you beat us, you should have reveled in that not spouted off how Michigan State was your real rival. I'm not saying you specifically did that but I listened to it so many times it might as well have permeated your entire fan base.

Nice dissing the Iowa and Purdue game. I'm sure their great fans care. Also nice to see you saying that Michigan will be 3rd best even when they make it back. I guess the way OSU is going it's going to last forever right? I thought the Michigan fans were suppose to be the arrogant ones.

What the hell are you talking about? When did I diss their fan bases? I feel bad for them, I think they got screwed. So you're telling me that in a year when Purdue or Iowa sucked and they played each other and there was another good game on you watched it because it is such a great Big Ten rivalry?

Here are some quotes from Iowa fans:

Not sure what the Big 10 was thinking on this one? It should have been Wisky.

I thought it would of been Minny, but honestly I didn't realize that Iowa and Purdue was a rivalry

IMO, just another reason to HATE nebraska............they stole what SHOULD HAVE BEEN our protected rival.

I believe Iowa/Purdue were likely the proverbial "last kids picked on the playground" when it came to selecting the protected rivals.

Is Purdue, still in the Big Ten ???

The ones that are in favor of the game aren't even because they like the rivalry aspect, they just think it will be easy:

I am think it's great that it's Purdue. It makes our schedule much more manageable.

In case you haven't noticed ,but not having PSU as a protected game is in our favor. It makes Nebraska's schedule tougher ever other year.

Iowa playing Purdue & Indiana while Nebraska plays Ohio State & Wisconsin is an enormous advantage.

This is the best thing that could have happened to Iowa. We get Nebraska in our division,and a great game at the end of the year. Nebraska gets PSU every year which makes there chances of winning the dvision less then ours.

So:

A. That's weak from Iowa fans but...
B. You want to try that one again?

 

[JBaney45]

Pulled from another forum; but, some pretty decent research (possibly someone cross-posting from research someone put in on BP?):

Edit: tOSU in the CCG 13 out of 17 years ain't bad

I posted a similar set of statistics in terms of the rematches but I was looking at all rematches not just specific rivalry games (Didn't see what being rivals had anything to do with having a rematch). The results still make it a pretty unlikely scenario though.


The OSU in the championship game 13 of 17 years isn't really going to be completely accurate in terms of what we can expect, because that list didn't account for how the divisions actually laid out and how the schedule would have varied in terms of the games that we play every year now.