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LGHL LGHL Asks: Ohio State fans want to change the outcome of one specific game
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LGHL Asks: Ohio State fans want to change the outcome of one specific game
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
They also pick which 2022 football player they wish was back on the Buckeyes’ roster this fall.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about players to watch this upcoming season. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”What If?” articles here.
No matter how happy you are in your life, no matter how “alpha” you claim to be, part of being human is having regrets, disappointments, and things that you would go back and change if the universe afforded you the opportunity to do so. While we here at Land-Grant Holy Land do not have the ability to reverse time, as part of our “What If?” Week, we asked you want you would do if you could change a bit of Ohio State football history.
Earlier this week, we asked you to remove the NFL Draft eligibility from a 2022 Buckeye (other than C.J. Stroud) and bring him back to the 2023 team and erase one of OSU’s most painful losses of the 21st Century. So, let’s dive into the results. If you would have gone in a different direction, let us know in the comments below.
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I think that this is absolutely the correct answer to this question. With all due respect to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who should have been the best wide receiver in the country last season, should he not have been injured, adding Paris Johnson Jr. back in at left tackle would have gone a tremendously long way to solidifying what is a shaky offensive line.
Granted, I believe that the addition of Josh Simmons helps sure things up a bit, I would far prefer to have Johnson protecting Kyle McCord (or potentially Devin Brown)’s blind side with Josh Fryar on the right and Matt Jones and Donovan Jackson on the inside (and, I’m guessing Jakob James at center.
To be honest, even if Paris goes — as he should have as the No. 6 overall pick — if Dawand Jones and Luke Wypler had stayed (Jones went in the fourth round and Wypler in the sixth) would have been tremendous bonuses for the 2023 squad.
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Now don’t get me wrong, the pain of the loss to Georgia in the College Football Playoff semifinals last season is real and valid, but I think this question is being impacted by a bit of recency bias. While I have said many times that I think Ohio State was effectively one play away from winning the national title in January (whether that play was Marvin Harrison Jr.’s injury or the missed last-second field goal attempt), in reality, they had a whole other game they would have needed to win to take home the title.
And while. I do believe that they would have done so, that’s a pretty big risk if I am going to be using my one shot at rewriting history on the game. Therefore, I would have gone with one of the national title game losses, so I could have guaranteed another Buckeye national title.
It’s no secret that I have never been the biggest Urban Meyer fan in the world, but I don’t think that I would erase the 2007 Championship Game loss, because the ripple effects of changing that game could lead to Urbz never coming to Columbus, thus erasing the Buckeyes’ 2014 national title.
So, I am left to pick between the 2008 BCS Championship Game and the 2021 College Football Playoff Championship Game. While losing to Alabama in the weird COVID year still sucks, to me, the answer from here is easy, and it’s the loss to LSU. Having lived in the southeast since 2006, I remember the pain and anger of having to deal with back-to-back losses in BCS title games to SEC teams, and if I could, I would change that.
Not only for my own personal mental health but also because of the image and reputation that it begat for the program moving forward; something that I think it still deals with today. Also, bonus points, because it means that Michigan Man Les Miles never would have won a national title.
Continue reading...
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
They also pick which 2022 football player they wish was back on the Buckeyes’ roster this fall.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about players to watch this upcoming season. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”What If?” articles here.
No matter how happy you are in your life, no matter how “alpha” you claim to be, part of being human is having regrets, disappointments, and things that you would go back and change if the universe afforded you the opportunity to do so. While we here at Land-Grant Holy Land do not have the ability to reverse time, as part of our “What If?” Week, we asked you want you would do if you could change a bit of Ohio State football history.
Earlier this week, we asked you to remove the NFL Draft eligibility from a 2022 Buckeye (other than C.J. Stroud) and bring him back to the 2023 team and erase one of OSU’s most painful losses of the 21st Century. So, let’s dive into the results. If you would have gone in a different direction, let us know in the comments below.
Question 1: If you could have brought back one player from last year’s football team other than C.J. Stroud, who would it be?
I think that this is absolutely the correct answer to this question. With all due respect to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who should have been the best wide receiver in the country last season, should he not have been injured, adding Paris Johnson Jr. back in at left tackle would have gone a tremendously long way to solidifying what is a shaky offensive line.
Granted, I believe that the addition of Josh Simmons helps sure things up a bit, I would far prefer to have Johnson protecting Kyle McCord (or potentially Devin Brown)’s blind side with Josh Fryar on the right and Matt Jones and Donovan Jackson on the inside (and, I’m guessing Jakob James at center.
To be honest, even if Paris goes — as he should have as the No. 6 overall pick — if Dawand Jones and Luke Wypler had stayed (Jones went in the fourth round and Wypler in the sixth) would have been tremendous bonuses for the 2023 squad.
Question 2: If you could change the outcome of one Ohio State football game from this century, what would it be?
Now don’t get me wrong, the pain of the loss to Georgia in the College Football Playoff semifinals last season is real and valid, but I think this question is being impacted by a bit of recency bias. While I have said many times that I think Ohio State was effectively one play away from winning the national title in January (whether that play was Marvin Harrison Jr.’s injury or the missed last-second field goal attempt), in reality, they had a whole other game they would have needed to win to take home the title.
And while. I do believe that they would have done so, that’s a pretty big risk if I am going to be using my one shot at rewriting history on the game. Therefore, I would have gone with one of the national title game losses, so I could have guaranteed another Buckeye national title.
It’s no secret that I have never been the biggest Urban Meyer fan in the world, but I don’t think that I would erase the 2007 Championship Game loss, because the ripple effects of changing that game could lead to Urbz never coming to Columbus, thus erasing the Buckeyes’ 2014 national title.
So, I am left to pick between the 2008 BCS Championship Game and the 2021 College Football Playoff Championship Game. While losing to Alabama in the weird COVID year still sucks, to me, the answer from here is easy, and it’s the loss to LSU. Having lived in the southeast since 2006, I remember the pain and anger of having to deal with back-to-back losses in BCS title games to SEC teams, and if I could, I would change that.
Not only for my own personal mental health but also because of the image and reputation that it begat for the program moving forward; something that I think it still deals with today. Also, bonus points, because it means that Michigan Man Les Miles never would have won a national title.
Continue reading...
LGHL You’re Nuts: What if Ohio State could bring back any alum for this year’s Michigan game?
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You’re Nuts: What if Ohio State could bring back any alum for this year’s Michigan game?
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about players to watch this upcoming season. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”What If?” articles here.
Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
By all measures, Ohio State football is stacked at defensive end this season, with juniors J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer projected to start, supported by a treasure trove of backups including sophomores Caden Curry, Kenyatta Jackson, and Omari Abor.
So why on earth would I worry about this position when there are so many other brilliant positions I could fill with alums?
Because the biggest issue we have on defense is consistency. The talent is there, but the execution changes day to day.
Tuimoloau, for example, shone bright in the Penn State game, logging six tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, one forced fumble and fumble recovery (pauses to take a deep breath), and a touchdown. In one game. I mean, these are absolutely lights-out numbers in every column. It was one of the greatest defensive performances ever by a defensive lineman.
Now, I’m not worried about Tuimoloau, even in the Michigan game. I trust the consistency is something that’s been worked on in the off-season, and he’s someone I want on the field as a leader in the Michigan game.
But for the Michigan game — and the Michigan game ONLY — I’d bring in Nick Bosa to start alongside Tuimoloau.
Sawyer, for his part, spent much of last season adjusting. When Mitchell Melton suffered a season-ending injury, Sawyer stepped in to fill the “Jack” position, a hybrid role between defensive end and linebacker, more than any other player on the team. While it wasn’t used all the time, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has said this shift prevented Sawyer from really improving last season.
Now Sawyer — and the backups — are all players I trust to get the job done this Fall, and I do think Sawyer will make up for lost time on the improvement front in the games leading up to Michigan. Certainly, the gap is not due to lack of talent.
But as Tuimoloau himself said after OSU’s loss to Michigan last season, “In big games like this, it’s the little things.”
And since I cannot physically stomach another loss to Michigan, I’m calling in Nick Bosa to make sure he and Tuimoloau can take care of the big things.
During Bosa’s time as a Buckeye, he secured his spot as one of the all-time great defensive linemen. Accolades and honors rolled in — and so much of it was due to Bosa’s execution. By the 2018 season, he was considered by some to be the best player in all of college football before a core muscle injury in the TCU game (just the third game of the year) ended his season.
Now about to enter his fifth season with the San Francisco 49ers, Bosa is still in playing shape — so much so that he was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year at the end of last season.
Keep in mind, if we were adding one alumnus back in for the entire season, this is not the choice I would make. But because it is only for this one very high-stakes game — a game the Buckeyes have to travel to Ann Arbor for — I want the reassurance that we’ve got an extra playmaker on defense.
It wasn’t that the defensive ends were the big defensive gap in last year’s Game. Michigan’s usually exceptional rush game limped into the Shoe, with standout rusher Blake Corum (who I still maintain should have been a Heisman finalist) playing only a few snaps and Donovan Edwards donning a cast on his arm. Still, the Wolverines rattled our defense, particularly in the second half.
Bosa would bring an added dose of leadership to help keep the defense focused on the details and the execution, and he’d likely toss in a few key plays while he was at it.
His presence could be that not-so-small detail that bridges the gap the Buckeyes have failed to fill for the last two years and FINALLY brings a victory back to Columbus.
Would I like Justin Fields or C.J. Stroud back for another full season at quarterback for Ohio State? You’re damn right, I would. Would I like Maurice Clarett or Ezekiel Elliott lined up in the backfield for 12 to 15 games? Of course. Would I want either Bosa or Chase Young coming off of the edge for an entire fall? Duh.
But that’s not the question that we are wrestling with today. Instead, we are talking about who we would want to add to the team in order to beat Michigan. And for that, there is truly only one answer: Joe Thomas Barrett IV.
Is J.T. Barrett the best quarterback in Ohio State history? Of course not; although you could argue that he had the greatest career. Would he stack up well against Fields, Stroud, Dwayne Haskins, Terrelle Pryor, Troy Smith, et al. in terms of talent? No.
But you know one category that no OSU QB can match him in? His record against TTUN. J.T. Barrett holds a career record against the Maize and Blue of 117-0; that’s true, look it up. Ok, all kidding aside, Barrett started four games against the Wolverines and won all four of them. Granted, he went a combined 40 for 76 (52.6%) in those games for 443 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception thanks in part to a handful of injuries in 2014 and 2017.
While those stats aren’t exactly mind-blowingly impressive, the fact that he has four pairs of gold pants from games he started is. You know who doesn’t have that? LITERALLY ANY OTHER QUARTERBACK IN OHIO STATE HISTORY!
So, would J.T. Barrett being added to the 2023 Ohio State football team dramatically increase the talent level on the roster? No. Would he be the best person to throw the ball to Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Ebguka, Julian Fleming, and the rest of the wide receivers? Probably not. But if you want to break the two-year drought of rivalry wins, I’m going with the man who’s never lost to the Mitten Men.
Continue reading...
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about players to watch this upcoming season. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”What If?” articles here.
Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
Today’s Question: What if Ohio State could bring back any alum for this year’s Michigan game?
Jami’s Take: Nick Bosa
By all measures, Ohio State football is stacked at defensive end this season, with juniors J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer projected to start, supported by a treasure trove of backups including sophomores Caden Curry, Kenyatta Jackson, and Omari Abor.
So why on earth would I worry about this position when there are so many other brilliant positions I could fill with alums?
Because the biggest issue we have on defense is consistency. The talent is there, but the execution changes day to day.
Tuimoloau, for example, shone bright in the Penn State game, logging six tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, one forced fumble and fumble recovery (pauses to take a deep breath), and a touchdown. In one game. I mean, these are absolutely lights-out numbers in every column. It was one of the greatest defensive performances ever by a defensive lineman.
Now, I’m not worried about Tuimoloau, even in the Michigan game. I trust the consistency is something that’s been worked on in the off-season, and he’s someone I want on the field as a leader in the Michigan game.
But for the Michigan game — and the Michigan game ONLY — I’d bring in Nick Bosa to start alongside Tuimoloau.
Sawyer, for his part, spent much of last season adjusting. When Mitchell Melton suffered a season-ending injury, Sawyer stepped in to fill the “Jack” position, a hybrid role between defensive end and linebacker, more than any other player on the team. While it wasn’t used all the time, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has said this shift prevented Sawyer from really improving last season.
Now Sawyer — and the backups — are all players I trust to get the job done this Fall, and I do think Sawyer will make up for lost time on the improvement front in the games leading up to Michigan. Certainly, the gap is not due to lack of talent.
But as Tuimoloau himself said after OSU’s loss to Michigan last season, “In big games like this, it’s the little things.”
And since I cannot physically stomach another loss to Michigan, I’m calling in Nick Bosa to make sure he and Tuimoloau can take care of the big things.
During Bosa’s time as a Buckeye, he secured his spot as one of the all-time great defensive linemen. Accolades and honors rolled in — and so much of it was due to Bosa’s execution. By the 2018 season, he was considered by some to be the best player in all of college football before a core muscle injury in the TCU game (just the third game of the year) ended his season.
Now about to enter his fifth season with the San Francisco 49ers, Bosa is still in playing shape — so much so that he was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year at the end of last season.
Keep in mind, if we were adding one alumnus back in for the entire season, this is not the choice I would make. But because it is only for this one very high-stakes game — a game the Buckeyes have to travel to Ann Arbor for — I want the reassurance that we’ve got an extra playmaker on defense.
It wasn’t that the defensive ends were the big defensive gap in last year’s Game. Michigan’s usually exceptional rush game limped into the Shoe, with standout rusher Blake Corum (who I still maintain should have been a Heisman finalist) playing only a few snaps and Donovan Edwards donning a cast on his arm. Still, the Wolverines rattled our defense, particularly in the second half.
Bosa would bring an added dose of leadership to help keep the defense focused on the details and the execution, and he’d likely toss in a few key plays while he was at it.
His presence could be that not-so-small detail that bridges the gap the Buckeyes have failed to fill for the last two years and FINALLY brings a victory back to Columbus.
Matt’s Take: Joe Thomas Barrett IV
Would I like Justin Fields or C.J. Stroud back for another full season at quarterback for Ohio State? You’re damn right, I would. Would I like Maurice Clarett or Ezekiel Elliott lined up in the backfield for 12 to 15 games? Of course. Would I want either Bosa or Chase Young coming off of the edge for an entire fall? Duh.
But that’s not the question that we are wrestling with today. Instead, we are talking about who we would want to add to the team in order to beat Michigan. And for that, there is truly only one answer: Joe Thomas Barrett IV.
Is J.T. Barrett the best quarterback in Ohio State history? Of course not; although you could argue that he had the greatest career. Would he stack up well against Fields, Stroud, Dwayne Haskins, Terrelle Pryor, Troy Smith, et al. in terms of talent? No.
But you know one category that no OSU QB can match him in? His record against TTUN. J.T. Barrett holds a career record against the Maize and Blue of 117-0; that’s true, look it up. Ok, all kidding aside, Barrett started four games against the Wolverines and won all four of them. Granted, he went a combined 40 for 76 (52.6%) in those games for 443 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception thanks in part to a handful of injuries in 2014 and 2017.
While those stats aren’t exactly mind-blowingly impressive, the fact that he has four pairs of gold pants from games he started is. You know who doesn’t have that? LITERALLY ANY OTHER QUARTERBACK IN OHIO STATE HISTORY!
So, would J.T. Barrett being added to the 2023 Ohio State football team dramatically increase the talent level on the roster? No. Would he be the best person to throw the ball to Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Ebguka, Julian Fleming, and the rest of the wide receivers? Probably not. But if you want to break the two-year drought of rivalry wins, I’m going with the man who’s never lost to the Mitten Men.
Ok, now it’s time to have your say. Who are you agreeing with this week?
Continue reading...
LGHL B1G Thoughts: Breaking down Flex Protect Plus, the new B1G scheduling model
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B1G Thoughts: Breaking down Flex Protect Plus, the new B1G scheduling model
JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
After a years worth of debates, the Big Ten finally announced its new scheduling model called Flex Protect Plus. So what is it and why should you care?
Every week after the Big Ten slate of games, I will bring you some B1G thoughts on everything that happened! This will include analysis, stats, key players, moments, and maybe a joke. Check out the I-70 Football Show in the Land-Grant Holy Land podcast feed for more in-depth analysis and to preview the next week of B1G games.
On Thursday, June 8, new Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti joined “Big Ten Live” on the Big Ten Network to announce the conference’s new scheduling model and protected rivalries.
For the past year, we’ve known that the conference would almost certainly get rid of divisions and that it would continue a nine-game conference schedule in 2024 after becoming a 16-team league with the additions of USC and UCLA. We did not know, however, which scheduling model the league would choose and which of the various historic rivalries would be protected.
After Thursday’s announcement, we are no longer in the dark. The conference announced a flexible mode called Flex Protect Plus, where each team was able to protect whichever rivalries — up to three — that they valued the most.
So what is the flex-protect model, and what does it mean for fans?
The Who is simple — the Big Ten is now a 16-team conference that spans from New Jersey to California. As of next fall, the conference will consist of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, and Wisconsin.
The Flex Protect Plus is a scheduling model that allows ultimate flexibility... look, no one ever said the name was clever.
Instead of forcing each team to have three protected rivals, the league decided to respect its history and only protect the most important and historical rivalries. The conference has tried to force rivalries before with Maryland, Rutgers, and Penn State, but fans never bought in. They tried again with Nebraska and Wisconsin, but instead, a more natural rivalry formed between Nebraska and Iowa.
The conference decided, even though it makes the scheduling tougher, to make everyone happy and essentially let each school determine which rivalries matter to them and their fanbase. By going this route, the conference trimmed the fat and only put out the best spread it could while taking into account team preferences and traveling for the new West Coast schools.
Ultimately, the Flex Protect Plus model ended with 11 protected rivalries, with every team besides Penn State having at least one protected rival and Iowa with three.
The 11 protected rivalries:
It may be surprising that Penn State and Ohio State weren’t protected, but if you listened to the noise coming out of Penn State, they wanted it to be known that they do not have any rivals in the conference and would be fine with any scheduling model as long as they were not in the East division with Ohio State and Michigan. Fans may consider OSU and PSU a rivalry, but clearly, the two schools do not.
For programs without three protected rivals, the Big Ten will select one to three teams that will play each other in home and homes for a two-year cycle, creating a 3-6-6 scheduling arrangement where each program will play three opponents twice and rotate the other 12 teams during the two-year cycle.
The Flex Protect Plus model will start next year for the 2024 football season, coinciding with the arrival of USC and UCLA and the full commitment of the new television media deal. The media deal technically starts this July, but CBS still has the SEC for the 2023 season and is not a full participant until 2024.
The where is complicated. The Big Ten stretches from New Jersey to California and the conference and teams will have to be mindful of who is playing where and how that will affect their players.
Currently, Big Ten teams leave immediately following games to head home. A team traveling to California or vice versa may have to deal with return trips that don’t see them get home until the early morning. Teams will have to figure out the best schedule to travel home, and how to get their equipment back to campus as well. Generally, a team’s equipment is driven by a semi-truck to away games, but a semi from State College to Los Angeles may not be feasible.
This is something that the conference will constantly have to take into consideration and is another reason for the added flexibility.
So after a year of discussion, why did the conference come up with this model? If you ask them they’ll say a few things.
One is that they wanted to preserve the historic rivalries of the conference. Eight conference rivalries have been played over 100 times, and six of them were kept in this model — only sacrificing Illinois-Ohio State — who will play in 2024 and 2025 — and Michigan-Minnesota.
Illinois-Purdue, Iowa-Wisconsin, and USC-UCLA have all been played over 90 times and were also protected. Even Iowa-Nebraska have played 53 times, making Rutgers-Maryland the only protected rivalry without a real history.
Secondly, they did not want to box USC and UCLA in by forcing them to have rivals across the country. While it makes scheduling more difficult, this model allows them to be intentional with who plays who, when, and where. USC and UCLA knew what they were getting into by joining the conference, but it was still important to support them and ease their travel.
Lastly, the conference wanted to find the balance between scheduling great games for the three media partners — CBS, Fox, and NBC — while also creating a competitive balance that gives the conference the best chance to get multiple teams in the new 12-team playoff that also starts in 2024. While maybe creating more work on the back end, this model is the best chance at making everyone happy — all 16 teams, including their coaches, players, and administration as well as the television partners.
So you may be wondering, how is the conference going to maintain this schedule and pick the “two-play opponents” for each team.
We may never know exactly how they choose the two-play opponents or why, but I expect them to be teams that either have rivalries that weren’t protected — i.e. Ohio State and Illinois in ‘24 and ‘25 — as well as a combination of the best games. It may not have been fair to make USC or UCLA come into the conference and play Ohio State or Michigan in back-to-back years, but you can be sure they will be two-play opponents eventually, maybe as soon as the next schedule release.
We will get Ohio State-Penn State, Michigan-Minnesota, and other games of importance, but by only committing to two years the conference can closely monitor teams and create the best matchups. Think of it like the NFL. The reason the NFL schedules one year at a time is so that the league can create the best matchups from Super Bowl rematches to rematches of amazing in-season games. They also routinely make the best teams play the hardest schedules, which allows for competitive balance.
The Big Ten should model its scheduling off of that; while not a replica, it would be beneficial. I expect to see the Big Ten announce its schedule around this time every two years, building excitement for future matchups and allowing for teams to plan travel to and from the West Coast.
Continue reading...
JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
After a years worth of debates, the Big Ten finally announced its new scheduling model called Flex Protect Plus. So what is it and why should you care?
Every week after the Big Ten slate of games, I will bring you some B1G thoughts on everything that happened! This will include analysis, stats, key players, moments, and maybe a joke. Check out the I-70 Football Show in the Land-Grant Holy Land podcast feed for more in-depth analysis and to preview the next week of B1G games.
On Thursday, June 8, new Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti joined “Big Ten Live” on the Big Ten Network to announce the conference’s new scheduling model and protected rivalries.
For the past year, we’ve known that the conference would almost certainly get rid of divisions and that it would continue a nine-game conference schedule in 2024 after becoming a 16-team league with the additions of USC and UCLA. We did not know, however, which scheduling model the league would choose and which of the various historic rivalries would be protected.
After Thursday’s announcement, we are no longer in the dark. The conference announced a flexible mode called Flex Protect Plus, where each team was able to protect whichever rivalries — up to three — that they valued the most.
So what is the flex-protect model, and what does it mean for fans?
The Who:
The Who is simple — the Big Ten is now a 16-team conference that spans from New Jersey to California. As of next fall, the conference will consist of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, and Wisconsin.
The What:
The Flex Protect Plus is a scheduling model that allows ultimate flexibility... look, no one ever said the name was clever.
Instead of forcing each team to have three protected rivals, the league decided to respect its history and only protect the most important and historical rivalries. The conference has tried to force rivalries before with Maryland, Rutgers, and Penn State, but fans never bought in. They tried again with Nebraska and Wisconsin, but instead, a more natural rivalry formed between Nebraska and Iowa.
The conference decided, even though it makes the scheduling tougher, to make everyone happy and essentially let each school determine which rivalries matter to them and their fanbase. By going this route, the conference trimmed the fat and only put out the best spread it could while taking into account team preferences and traveling for the new West Coast schools.
Ultimately, the Flex Protect Plus model ended with 11 protected rivalries, with every team besides Penn State having at least one protected rival and Iowa with three.
The 11 protected rivalries:
- Illinois-Northwestern
- Illinois-Purdue
- Indiana-Purdue
- Iowa-Minnesota
- Iowa-Nebraska
- Iowa-Wisconsin
- Maryland-Rutgers
- Michigan-Michigan State
- Minnesota-Wisconsin
- Ohio State-Michigan
- USC-UCLA
It may be surprising that Penn State and Ohio State weren’t protected, but if you listened to the noise coming out of Penn State, they wanted it to be known that they do not have any rivals in the conference and would be fine with any scheduling model as long as they were not in the East division with Ohio State and Michigan. Fans may consider OSU and PSU a rivalry, but clearly, the two schools do not.
For programs without three protected rivals, the Big Ten will select one to three teams that will play each other in home and homes for a two-year cycle, creating a 3-6-6 scheduling arrangement where each program will play three opponents twice and rotate the other 12 teams during the two-year cycle.
The When:
The Flex Protect Plus model will start next year for the 2024 football season, coinciding with the arrival of USC and UCLA and the full commitment of the new television media deal. The media deal technically starts this July, but CBS still has the SEC for the 2023 season and is not a full participant until 2024.
The Where:
The where is complicated. The Big Ten stretches from New Jersey to California and the conference and teams will have to be mindful of who is playing where and how that will affect their players.
Currently, Big Ten teams leave immediately following games to head home. A team traveling to California or vice versa may have to deal with return trips that don’t see them get home until the early morning. Teams will have to figure out the best schedule to travel home, and how to get their equipment back to campus as well. Generally, a team’s equipment is driven by a semi-truck to away games, but a semi from State College to Los Angeles may not be feasible.
This is something that the conference will constantly have to take into consideration and is another reason for the added flexibility.
The Why:
So after a year of discussion, why did the conference come up with this model? If you ask them they’ll say a few things.
One is that they wanted to preserve the historic rivalries of the conference. Eight conference rivalries have been played over 100 times, and six of them were kept in this model — only sacrificing Illinois-Ohio State — who will play in 2024 and 2025 — and Michigan-Minnesota.
Illinois-Purdue, Iowa-Wisconsin, and USC-UCLA have all been played over 90 times and were also protected. Even Iowa-Nebraska have played 53 times, making Rutgers-Maryland the only protected rivalry without a real history.
Secondly, they did not want to box USC and UCLA in by forcing them to have rivals across the country. While it makes scheduling more difficult, this model allows them to be intentional with who plays who, when, and where. USC and UCLA knew what they were getting into by joining the conference, but it was still important to support them and ease their travel.
Lastly, the conference wanted to find the balance between scheduling great games for the three media partners — CBS, Fox, and NBC — while also creating a competitive balance that gives the conference the best chance to get multiple teams in the new 12-team playoff that also starts in 2024. While maybe creating more work on the back end, this model is the best chance at making everyone happy — all 16 teams, including their coaches, players, and administration as well as the television partners.
The How:
So you may be wondering, how is the conference going to maintain this schedule and pick the “two-play opponents” for each team.
We may never know exactly how they choose the two-play opponents or why, but I expect them to be teams that either have rivalries that weren’t protected — i.e. Ohio State and Illinois in ‘24 and ‘25 — as well as a combination of the best games. It may not have been fair to make USC or UCLA come into the conference and play Ohio State or Michigan in back-to-back years, but you can be sure they will be two-play opponents eventually, maybe as soon as the next schedule release.
We will get Ohio State-Penn State, Michigan-Minnesota, and other games of importance, but by only committing to two years the conference can closely monitor teams and create the best matchups. Think of it like the NFL. The reason the NFL schedules one year at a time is so that the league can create the best matchups from Super Bowl rematches to rematches of amazing in-season games. They also routinely make the best teams play the hardest schedules, which allows for competitive balance.
The Big Ten should model its scheduling off of that; while not a replica, it would be beneficial. I expect to see the Big Ten announce its schedule around this time every two years, building excitement for future matchups and allowing for teams to plan travel to and from the West Coast.
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LGHL Buck Off Podcast: Big Ten TV’s deal, Ohio State ‘What Ifs,’ brutally honest recruiting roundup
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Buck Off Podcast: Big Ten TV’s deal, Ohio State ‘What Ifs,’ brutally honest recruiting roundup
Chris Renne via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
The guys are back to discuss some major sports stories and their biggest ‘What ifs’ in Ohio State history
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about asking “What If?”. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”What If?” articles here.
Listen to the episode and subscribe:
On today’s episode of “Buck Off with Christopher Renne,” I’m joined by Jordan Williams to discuss all the news surrounding Ohio State football, the Big Ten, and the wide world of sports.
To get the show started, we get into two of the biggest stories in the sports world. Lionel Messi is coming to America and this is a generational story that changes American sports. Then we talk about the LIV/PGA merger, and how the overarching story is indicative of all the decisions made in the sports world.
After that, we turn our attention to some Ohio State football news. We talk about the five best offensive linemen, who they might be, and why there is a history of the best five not actually working. We then turn to predicting the Big Ten TV schedule – sorry about the time traveling on this one.
We return from the break with a discussion about the biggest ‘What ifs’ in regard to Ohio State. This talk gets into Troy Smith in a modern offense, the potential replacements of Urban Meyer, and more fun looks back at Ohio State.
To close out the show, we finish with a brutally honest recruiting round-up.
Connect with the Show:
Twitter: @BuckOffPod
Connect with Chris Renne:
Twitter: @ChrisRenneCFB
Connect with Jordan Williams
Twitter: @JordanW330
Continue reading...
Chris Renne via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
The guys are back to discuss some major sports stories and their biggest ‘What ifs’ in Ohio State history
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about asking “What If?”. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”What If?” articles here.
Listen to the episode and subscribe:
Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio
On today’s episode of “Buck Off with Christopher Renne,” I’m joined by Jordan Williams to discuss all the news surrounding Ohio State football, the Big Ten, and the wide world of sports.
To get the show started, we get into two of the biggest stories in the sports world. Lionel Messi is coming to America and this is a generational story that changes American sports. Then we talk about the LIV/PGA merger, and how the overarching story is indicative of all the decisions made in the sports world.
After that, we turn our attention to some Ohio State football news. We talk about the five best offensive linemen, who they might be, and why there is a history of the best five not actually working. We then turn to predicting the Big Ten TV schedule – sorry about the time traveling on this one.
We return from the break with a discussion about the biggest ‘What ifs’ in regard to Ohio State. This talk gets into Troy Smith in a modern offense, the potential replacements of Urban Meyer, and more fun looks back at Ohio State.
To close out the show, we finish with a brutally honest recruiting round-up.
Connect with the Show:
Twitter: @BuckOffPod
Connect with Chris Renne:
Twitter: @ChrisRenneCFB
Connect with Jordan Williams
Twitter: @JordanW330
Continue reading...
