Yes
No
I vote for same division. Seriously. Just go geographic, and have:
NE, MN, IA, WI, IL, NW in the west
OSU, UM, MSU, PSU, Pur, IN in the east.
Have one set non-division game every year if necessary to preserve rivalries that may be broken.
NE needs a rival, and IA seems like a likely choice.
I wasn't crazy about the idea of a championship game when the SEC started theirs, but it's kind of grown on me. And I don't think any rivalries have broken down because of it.
Here is the issue I see with your breakdown. Starting next season the Big Ten will have 4 program schools. Schools that will always be relevant regardless of their record. Teams that have larger athletic budgets, have a history of winning, and really will be cash cows for the Big Ten. Those schools are OSU, UM, PSU, and now Nebraska. After that you have some nice schools in MSU, Wisconsin, Iowa, maybe Purdue. Then you have the bottom feeders, teams that every once in a while while will surprise but aren't to be counted upon to do much. And then you have Indiana.Originally Posted by SandyD
The problem I see, and I think the problem the new alignment has, is you have three of your top four programs in the same division. And I do think the Big 10 would love to see OSU play UM in the Big Ten championship. How many times have we see the Big 12 title pretty much declared by the OU Texas game mid season? I don't have an issue with OSU and UM being in different divisions if they play every year and it isn't the first game of the season.
I agree w/the East-West split. I also think the Big 10 should have "rivalry week" to end the season. That week the 6 games should be OH St v Mich, MSU v PSU, IU v. PU, Ill v NW, MN v WI and Iowa V Neb. That, my friends, is a fun day of football. You could schdule 2 games each at noon, 3:30, and 8:00.
What if this is as good as it gets?
Looks like tOSU president Gordon Gee is OK with UM and tOSU not only being in different divisions but playing earlier in the season.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5501871
It will be officially announced tonight but it looks like they are putting Ohio State and Michigan in seperate divisions. This will almost surely result in that game being moved up earlier in the year in future years because otherwise the possibility would exist of having to play each other in back to back weeks if they met in the championship game.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5519832
Ugh, *sigh*.
Yeah not real happy about this.
The divisions are reported to be:
OSU
Penn St
Wisky
IU
PU
Illinois
Mich
Nebraska
Iowa
NW
MSU
Minnesota
Can't imagine Wisconsin fans are real happy with that breakdown either.
Looks like the game will still be the last of the regular season. Best option under the circumstances, IMO. Sure, it's not the same as before, but that was going to happen regardless. And the risk of a rematch in the championship game? What's the problem with that? That would only add more intrigue and heat to the rivalry, and IMO is the ideal situation for the league and the rivalry.
It's a tough game for both teams. If you know that you're going to play the same team twice in 2 weeks, which game do you put more emphasis on?
I'd rather see the Big Ten skip the Championship game than replicate the rivalry game a week later. Just award the league championship to the division winner with the higher BCS ranking.
/r/reds
If you aren't going to have a championship game, just skip the divisions and determine the winner the same way they have done.
But let's not pretend this is about determining a champion and the conference's BCS representative. It's about money and - to a lesser extent - keeping the Big T(welv)en relevant from the end of the regular season to the start of the bowl games. And, possibly, to avoid such a lengthy layoff for the conference champions if they make the BCS championship game.
Sad to see the Big 10 + 2 blow this.
Go Gators!
As much as I love the tradition of OSU Michigan being the last game of the year if you are going to put them in seperate divisions I would think you have to move the game up. It makes no sense as intense as that game is every year to leave a possibility of having to come back and play the team you just beat again the next week. The conferences that have champtionship games do not schedule teams from opposite divisions to play right at the end of the year. I don't ever remember seeing an SEC or Big 12 matchup one week and then they turn around and do it again the next week for the championship.
Yeah it doesn't make any sense to have it be the last game. Too many variables that could make the game meaningless. If those are infact the divisions I guess I would like to see Penn State become the last game and have Michigan be two weeks before that with IU or PU between.
I'd be OK with no divisions, too. It'd be interesting to hear from BCS championship game coaches whether they think a championship helped/hindered their path to and preparation for the title game.
There aren't enough indoor football venues in the midwest to play a title game. The weather could be really ugly in Chicago in the late November/early December!
Last edited by Unassisted; 09-01-2010 at 06:10 PM.
/r/reds
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