Yes
No
Same could be said for USC and all the other powerhouses. You are a god if you play basketball at UK all throughout the state. In some powerhouse states (Tennessee and Florida), college football is more prevalent than the NFL.
No surprise, as Ohio is a hotbed of football talent. With Tressel, its a matter of keeping that talent in-state.That goes a long way, as does the fact that most of OSU's players grow up wearing OSU gear from the crib onward
Hugs, smiling, and interactive Twitter accounts, don't mean winning baseball. Until this community understands that we are cursed to relive the madness.
Columbus is a beautiful city. You have your opinion, and that's fine. I realize it supports your general argument. But I don't see the point in making it seem like a bum city. Ann Arbor and Columbus are different. They both are unique, and they both have a charm about them.
It appears they are going to a 9 game schedule and Iowa and Wisconsin will be in different divisions,
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5498692
If Michigan and OSU are split up I foresee it working out just as well as the ACC's foolish idea of splitting Miami South and fsu up in an attempt to have them meet every year in their title game.
Go Gators!
I imagine they'd still find a way to protect that rivalry, but as you said the championship game cheapens it a bit.
A good comparison is the Texas-Oklahoma game, they're in the same division, which means that only one will get to play for the Big 12 championship, and it's usually decided by the middle of October who that south champion will be.
The Ohio State-Michigan rivalry would be even better because it would be the last game of the "regular" season. Even in years where one is down, the chance to play spoiler would be huge.
In my opinion I could live with these divisions;
West
Nebraska
Wisconsin
Iowa
Minnesota
Northwestern
Illinois
East
tOSU
tPSU
Michigan
tMSU
Indiana
Purdue
While it's true the Big 3 are bigger names in the East than in the West, the only time East vs. West really matters is in the Championship game, and Nebraska(most likely) or Iowa or Wisconsin would be no pushover.
If OSU and Mich meet a second time in championship game I only see problems coming out of that. What if the losing team (in their first meeting) wins the championship game? How will that play?
If you put them in the same division and play their last game in late Nov it makes that one game huge. What can be better than that?
Hence the problem.
If - like a few years ago - both are top rated teams, the loser gets screwed. Maybe a last second FG turns the tide or someone sprained an ankle. The losing team can say that if that player was healthy they would have won.If you put them in the same division and play their last game in late Nov it makes that one game huge. What can be better than that?
We have to remember that there is no law that says UM and OSU are always going to be the best two teams in the Big T(welv)en. It doesn't diminish the rivalry any when either or both teams have fallen on tough times. You think Florida kids (and fans) don't have the same intensity for the Georgia game if Georgia isn't a top 25 team? The OSU-UM rivalry will survive whether they are in different divisions or not.
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