Big Ten Conference Divisions

[zincfinger]

Downgraded by fans, maybe. But I don't think for a second that OSU players and coaches will not be up for the Michigan game whenever it's played. I wish the game will continue to be the last game of the season. If it's not, this fan will still take a win over Michigan even it was our only win of the season. Moving the game will not downgrade my hate for everything dealing with the University of Michigan.

It would objectively downgrade the rivalry because it would decrease the extent to which OSU and UM are in direct competition with one another for a conference championship.

 

[JBaney45]

Post 223 of this thread has the email addresses for Delany, Gee, and Smith.

Thanks, sent it out.

 

[Piney]

Until they come to associate the end of the season game with PSU as the battle for the right to appear in the CCG in about 10 years.

And THAT is the biggest fear. Over the first 4-5 years (and while Tressel is here) the players won't downgrade the rivalry. But the high school students that spent the next 4-5 years (ie 2011-2015) watching the year end game between Penn St v Ohio State with the winner going to the CCG the shift will start thinking THAT is the biggest rivalry.

You know that Penn State will treat it as such as they have been searching for a true Big 10 rival and already view us as their biggest rival.

While the coaches and fans will try to remind these new players, if Michigan is still in a bad period and haven't reached a CCG in 10+ years the rivalry will have changed. Heck, throw in the liklihood that in those 10 years Ohio St v Nebraska in the CCG might have happened 6-7 times can turn that into an even higher rivalry than Michigan too.

Of course the only way the split would work is if Michigan gets it's act in gear and gets back to winning and every 3 years we have a rematch in the CCG the rivalry probably won't suffer as much as many fear.

 

[CHU]

Gene Smith's response on OhioStateBuckeyes.com around (or after) Noon.

Do not believe a word he, President Gee or Jim Delany says on the entire situation. This is politicking and playing both sides. This is a mere PR campaign.

If they say your hair is on fire, check in a mirror.

Talking Points (probably for both Gee and Smith)
1) Decision has not been made.
2) We are looking at every possible scenario still.
3) We are hearing your voices, reading your e-mails and care about your opinions (and are taking them in consideration).
4) The Ohio State-Michigan game will be big no matter when it is played.
5) Television has not been discussed yet and has not been factored in.

Benefit of the doubt?

"This is a one-time thing." - Gene Smith (on the Nike Pro Combat uniforms, Nov. 2009)

 

[Buckeye86]

Thanks, sent it out.

I sent an email as well. Short and sweet.

I imagine it will do zero good, but it would really break my heart to see Ohio State and Michigan in separate divisions.

 

[WhoDeyForever]

I sent an email as well. Short and sweet.

I imagine it will do zero good, but it would really break my heart to see Ohio State and Michigan in separate divisions.

Same here. It's going to take a lot away from the rivalry I expect. It can't be that hard to put Ohio State and Michigan in the same divison. I don't see it happening.

 

[DallasHusker]

Ohio State doesn't currently have any problems funding our athletic department, the largest in the country.

Iisn't the Big Ten network giving us that tv revenue advantage even without a conference title game? The game becoming diminished is not going to be good for revenue imo anyway

Gotta call BS on that one. If I"m not mistaken, OSU and UM sell out almost every game, don't they? Are you trying to argue that if the game is moved to a different date or something, that it won't continue to sell out, when the lesser games currently have no trouble selling out? There are lots of great reasons to not move it, and I'm on your side, but revenue loss isn't one of them.

 

[JBaney45]

Gotta call BS on that one. If I"m not mistaken, OSU and UM sell out almost every game, don't they? Are you trying to argue that if the game is moved to a different date or something, that it won't continue to sell out, when the lesser games currently have no trouble selling out? There are lots of great reasons to not move it, and I'm on your side, but revenue loss isn't one of them.

No doubt the game would still sell out, I was actually referencing potential tv revenue decline though from the game becoming less attractive from a national perspective although I'm far from an expert about how that sort of stuff works out.

 

[SloopyHangOn]

That's crazy. The only reason that the Red Sox and The Yankees are rivals is because they play in the same division and they compete for a playoff spot. Especially before the wild card came into existence. They also have the ability to ruin each other's season in head to head play. You might make a case for the Yankees and Mets being rivals, but NYC is so crazy about baseball, that it is really an outlier. I can't for the life of me think of any rivalries in baseball between teams in the same league, national or american, but different divisions. Or in pro football. Or even in Basketball.

You're right.

Celtics/Lakers & Colts/Patriots are pretty weak rivalries.

 

[zincfinger]

Until they come to associate the end of the season game with PSU as the battle for the right to appear in the CCG in about 10 years.

And THAT is the biggest fear.

Not to me. While I think OSU-UM should be the last game, I also think the divisional relationship is more important than the timing of the game. As it is now, OSU needs to beat Michigan for multiple reasons, not least of which is that the two team's relative conference records matters. OSU has to have a conference record as-good-as-or-better-than Michigan's to win a conference championship. That obviously hasn't been an issue the past two years, but most of the time it is. If there's divisional separation, Michigan's conference record will never again objectively matter to OSU, and vice versa. Regardless of when The Game is played, a loss to Michigan would hurt OSU's chances of winning a conference title less than a loss to an intra-divisional contender would. That's the principle diminishment of the rivalry, in my opinion.

 

[Yertle]

After all, new fans are made every season and some will have known nothing different than watching Ohio State/Michigan on the first Saturday of October.

This would be a sad outcome.

It has not only been the biggest rivalry in sports, but it has capped the regular season EVERY YEAR SINCE 1935 (with some small exceptions due to non-conference games fitting in). The CCG is not regular season. Bowl games are not regular season. Moving the game earlier in the season takes away from the impact on the off-season and the importance to the current season. I refuse to believe that the Big 10 is stupid enough to think that "the first Saturday of October" is acceptable. Where would the Big 10 be if it wasn't for Ohio State and Michigan? Without the ten year war? They'd be another Midwest MAC conference AND THEY KNOW IT!!! They owe the Ohio State and Michigan rivalry, AND THEY KNOW IT! To disrespect the rivalry in this way would be to disrespect the two schools that made the Big 10 conference the football tradition that it is today.

This is all smoke and mirrors to give us some drama.

 

[CHU]

Both stadiums hold over 100,000 seats.

I don't think 1,000 - 5,000 e-mails (and there probably won't be 5,000) make a difference to people who only look at balance sheets. That's not even 10 percent of the stadium.

The threat of a lawsuit or loss of money seems to be the only way to get through to Ohio State or the Big Ten. That's why I'll continue to say Gene Smith, Gordon Gee and Delany will just ignore public reaction currently and believe people will just move on and adjust.

A sustained effort to hit OSU and the Big Ten financially would seem to be a stronger approach, not bad press. This is a conference that has dealt with bad press since maybe 2006.

 

[DallasHusker]

No doubt the game would still sell out, I was actually referencing potential tv revenue decline though from the game becoming less attractive from a national perspective although I'm far from an expert about how that sort of stuff works out.

Well, I don't claim to be an expert either, but consider this. OSU fans/alums and MU fans/alums know and can speak forcefully about the "final game of the season" tradition. But to the rest of the country, I think the attractiveness of the game from a national perspective has far more to do with whether or not both teams come into it nationally ranked and with great teams, rather than the date its played. Trust me on this, the attractiveness from a national perspective - and the TV ratings - have been down the last couple years during Michigan's "suckiness." I'd be willing to bet pretty big bucks that if it were to happen this year, that a OSU-Nebraska game would draw better TV ratings than the OSU-Michigan game does, whenever it was played.

 

[OSUScoonie12]

Honestly i cannot imagine The Game on any other day besides in mid/end of Nov. This is the greatest, and one of the longest, traditions and rivalries in any sport. OSU-Michigan was named the top rivalry of the 20th century. The Big Ten owes it to Woody, Bo, The 10 Years War, all the Heisman trophy winners from each school, the golden pants holders, and every former player of each team to keep this tradition and hold it on the same weekend as it has always been. This could be from the same division or different divisions...but it would obviously mean more if they were in the same division.

The OSU-Michigan game is one of the most important (not so much recently) college football games of a season. How many times was the a Rose Bowl bid won with this game? How many Big Ten championships were decided with this one game? How many national championship dreams have been granted or lost because of this one game? How many Heisman trophy winners have sealed their trophy with this game? This game means more then just a win or a loss. It has, and will continue, to impact parts of college football. The tradition needs to stand firm.

 

[Woody1968]

You're right.

Celtics/Lakers & Colts/Patriots are pretty weak rivalries.

The Colts and Patriots are considered rivals? Really? Because they have both been good this decade?

Celtics and Lakers are not in the same conference. They're whole rivalry is based on appearing in the NBA finals. Not the same thing at all. People don't sit around thinking about those great regular season matchups between them.