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Big Ten Conference Divisions

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My thoughts, short and to the point

#1 tOSU and Michigan have to be in the same division

#2 There can never be 9 conference games, Tressel took the words right out of my mouth but he said them in a more politically correct fashion. It would be a disadvantage bordering on stupidity to have teams play an unequal amount of home and away games in conference. You could sell me on playing 10 (goodbye quality ooc matchups) before you sold me on playing 9

#3 The Big Ten should move its schedule back to having the last regular season game the 3rd week of November, instead of having games over thanksgiving like this year. They should then have a bye week over thanksgiving and then have your conference title game the same weekend as the rest of them. (If you have it indoors weather is no issue)

The reason I would want it this way: tOSU-scUM is a notoriously physical game, if you hear former players who went on to NFL careers calling it the "most physical game they've ever played in" and describing how they could barely walk the next week you could see why these 2 schools might have a rough time if their forced to play the very next week. Imagine if Nebraska started Big Ten play this year and we had to play the gauntlet of PSU/Iowa/Michigan then Nebraska the very next week? In my eyes we were already showing signs of being beaten up pretty bad during last years Michigan game.

The ways to sell it to the rest of the Big Ten that might not have that same problem":

A) Try to appeal to schools that also have a tough game in that last regular season slot or that could potentially have a rough stretch of games

B) It would give an extra week for fans to make travel arrangements=$$$

C) Having 2 weeks can make it like a little mini bowl preparation that favors teams that prepare well in that way when it comes to deciding who we're sending to the Rose Bowl. Kind of like in basketball how the conference tournaments are like a mini prep for the NCAA tournament
 
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buckeyesin07;1742445; said:
I guess I don't hold Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin in as high esteem as you. To me, the top 7 teams in the Big Ten are as follows, in terms of performance in the past 25 or so years, etc.:

1. OSU
2. UM
3. Nebraska
4. PSU
5. Wisconsin
6. Iowa
7. MSU
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If we're going back 25 years Nebraska is easily at #2 over Michigan and could make a very good arguement for #1 with their 3 national titles and off the top of my head at least two other national title game appearances.
I don't understand the complaining over being in the same division with Michigan and Penn State. Have we not had to play both of them every year since PSU entered in '93 anyway?
 
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SloopyHangOn;1742631; said:
Really?
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The fact someone can find an obscure reference on Wikipedia isn't evidence of any true "rivalry." This thing sounds like an award cooked up by a couple of service clubs on-campus with very little student awareness or support. Nothing special was ever made of the Purdue-UI game when I was a student.

Of course, when I was there the Purdue team blew chunks, so nothing special was made of any games other than Notre Dame, IU and (oddly) Michigan State. I spent most football weekends finding ways to go to Buckeye games.
 
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JBaney45;1742527; said:
My thoughts, short and to the point

#1 tOSU and Michigan have to be in the same division
Click to expand...

Why? And why does it have to be the last game of the season? Tressel has already said as much, he just wants to make sure the game is a permanent fixture.
#2 There can never be 9 conference games, Tressel took the words right out of my mouth but he said them in a more politically correct fashion. It would be a disadvantage bordering on stupidity to have teams play an unequal amount of home and away games in conference. You could sell me on playing 10 (goodbye quality ooc matchups) before you sold me on playing 9
Click to expand...
I think, as some have suggested, that Delaney's nine game statement had more to do with a shot across ND's bow than necessarily how the 2012 season will round out. From a revenue point of view I can see where the six biggest stadiums were the ones that got the 5th game. Think NW - OSU in Cleveland municipal a few years back. NW accepted losing the home site advantage for the $$$ and from the looks and sounds the last two times I saw the bucks at IU the Hoosiers don't have home games, just games in Bloomington.

#3 The Big Ten should move its schedule back to having the last regular season game the 3rd week of November, instead of having games over thanksgiving like this year. They should then have a bye week over thanksgiving and then have your conference title game the same weekend as the rest of them. (If you have it indoors weather is no issue)
Click to expand...

Please, let's rule out arena ball. This is football not baseball or basketball. It's played in all kinds of weather.

The reason I would want it this way: tOSU-scUM is a notoriously physical game, if you hear former players who went on to NFL careers calling it the "most physical game they've ever played in" and describing how they could barely walk the next week you could see why these 2 schools might have a rough time if their forced to play the very next week. Imagine if Nebraska started Big Ten play this year and we had to play the gauntlet of PSU/Iowa/Michigan then Nebraska the very next week? In my eyes we were already showing signs of being beaten up pretty bad during last years Michigan game.
Click to expand...
Back to Tressel stating that The Game doesn't have to be the last game of the year, just has to be on the schedule.

Finally, I'll go along to get along with points A & B, but this:
C) Having 2 weeks can make it like a little mini bowl preparation that favors teams that prepare well in that way when it comes to deciding who we're sending to the Rose Bowl. Kind of like in basketball how the conference tournaments are like a mini prep for the NCAA tournament
Click to expand...

Any CCG that creates the opportunity for an less deserving team, or a team that has already lost a regular season game to the other team, to bump off a more deserving team is an accident waiting to happen. Why play the regular season if the results can be nullified in one trumped up game?
 
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cincibuck;1742716; said:
Why? And why does it have to be the last game of the season? Tressel has already said as much, he just wants to make sure the game is a permanent fixture.
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In this regard, I don't give a rat's ass what Tressel says. I will be livid if The Game does not remain the last game of the season. In that same vein, I will be livid if OSU and scUM are in separate divisions.

There is only one way to do this. OSU and scUM HAVE to be in the same division.
 
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SloopyHangOn;1742514; said:
I don't think anyone can really assume balance in terms of success over the course of a decade or so because as others have mentioned there are only a few programs that truly control their destiny year in and year out. However, this division seems like it would be conducive (in the long run) to OSU and UM grappling for the Eastern Division each year while 4 maybe 5 teams have a pretty legitimate shot at taking the Western Division each year.

Think about what the Big XII has been like over the past 10 years and imagine trading Texas and OU for Nebraska and Kansas State. That's what this division seems like to me. Also, I don't know much about the renovations in Ann Arbor, but isn't their max capacity 110+ now?
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Huh? I respect OSU a lot, and think you're correct about them likely grappling UM for the Eastern Division most years in the long run (as you say.) But you're a bit (make that way) off in your second paragraph. If 50 years is a reasonable rendition of your "in the long run" then based on win/loss percentages, Nebraska has been more dominant then OSU, and PSU has been more dominant then UM. If you shorten that time frame to 25 years, Nebraska is still ahead of OSU, while PSU slips a bit behind UM. So the odds in the long run of Nebraska and PSU battling for the Western Division each year are actually at least as good and likely slightly greater than the odds of OSU battling UM for the Eastern Division.
 
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cincibuck;1742716; said:
Why? And why does it have to be the last game of the season? Tressel has already said as much, he just wants to make sure the game is a permanent fixture.
Click to expand...

They need to be in the same division because rematches the very next game are a little anticlimactic. Imagine the #1 Vs #2 game in 2006 if there was a conference title game the week after? I mean beating Michigan twice a year would be satisfying but

Having the game the last week of the regular season IS important and part of the tradition, no it hasn't ALWAYS been the last week of the season but it also hasn't ALWAYS been as big of a rivalry as it is now. I want to see the 2 play in the last week so we can see what is basically the final product for both teams squaring off. Not in week 6 when we still don't even know what the teams are going to be like because they've been munching on cupcakes the past 5 weeks and still have half the season afterwards to do whatever.

I mean nothing is going to kill the rivalry, you could play THE game in the middle of June in some cornfield outside of Toledo and it would still be huge, however there is no better slot for it then the slot it currently occupies and since we're screwing up enough with having this conference title game I see no reason why we should concede anything more

I think, as some have suggested, that Delaney's nine game statement had more to do with a shot across ND's bow than necessarily how the 2012 season will round out. From a revenue point of view I can see where the six biggest stadiums were the ones that got the 5th game. Think NW - OSU in Cleveland municipal a few years back. NW accepted losing the home site advantage for the $$$ and from the looks and sounds the last two times I saw the bucks at IU the Hoosiers don't have home games, just games in Bloomington.
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The key with the games that Indiana has in Bloomington is that the Indiana athletic department is keeping the revenue from having that home game. Obviously you can't control what teams fans are going to show up, but it's still easier for Indiana to play in Bloomington then it would be for them to travel to the Shoe so while it might not be a home field advantage in the sense we think about it, it is still easier to play at home.

If your talking about having the 9th game at a "neutral" site that would be more fair from a competitive standpoint. The problems would be with the scheduling itself. Sure every once in awhile we go up to Cincy or Cleveland and play but we're talking about 6 games that have to find homes every year. Also if you think Bloomington is empty, how empty do you think a neutral site game between Northwestern and Indiana would be? These stadiums don't typically let you play there for free.


Any CCG that creates the opprtunity for an less deserving team, or a team that has already lost a regular season game to the other team, to bump off a more deserving team is an accident waiting to happen. Why play the regular season if the results can be nullified in one trumped up game?
Click to expand...

I don't particularly like the idea of having a championship game either, we've just sort of resigned ourselves to it now that we've expanded. I personally am not insisting that we have it indoors either, but from a revenue standpoint it would probably be smarter, especially if we want it to be played at night.
 
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DallasHusker;1743424; said:
Huh? I respect OSU a lot, and think you're correct about them likely grappling UM for the Eastern Division most years in the long run (as you say.) But you're a bit (make that way) off in your second paragraph. If 50 years is a reasonable rendition of your "in the long run" then based on win/loss percentages, Nebraska has been more dominant then OSU, and PSU has been more dominant then UM. If you shorten that time frame to 25 years, Nebraska is still ahead of OSU, while PSU slips a bit behind UM. So the odds in the long run of Nebraska and PSU battling for the Western Division each year are actually at least as good and likely slightly greater than the odds of OSU battling UM for the Eastern Division.
Click to expand...


I agree.

Best year in/year out competitive balance = OSU/scUM on one side and UN/PSU on the other. Let the other chips fall where they may.

  • Give the UN division Iowa for a rivalry
  • Keep MSU with OSU and scUM for their rivalry
  • Fuck Wisconsin right in the ass. I don't care what division they are in, I hope it hurts the program and they hate it.
  • Illinois, two Indiana's, Northwestern, Minny...does it really matter?
Also, if OSU/scUM isn't the last game of the year and the two teams aren't in the same division I may not be responsible for my actions.
 
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OSU/UM-Group A

PSU/UN-Group B

Then the next in line to be split up are Iowa/Wisconsin

Then Illinois/MSU

Minnesota/Northwestern

Indiana/Purdue

I think the teams I just bundled together are almost equal and you just split them up into seperate divisions. If I had my way I'd be this

Division A
OSU
UM
Iowa
MSU
Northwestern
Indiana

Division B
PSU
UN
Wisconsin
Illinois
Minnesota
Purdue

Although I BET they make it East/West alignment.
 
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