Big Ten Conference Divisions

[BuckeyeTillIDie]

Next year's schedule is freaking brutal.

 

[Bucklion]

Small point maybe, but did anyone catch that Delaney made several mistakes during the time he was talking out of his ass, er, assessing the situation, including saying the wrong score from the 2006 game? Dude, you're the commissioner of the fucking league, your job is to go out and know shit like this, and you've had months to know you'd be on TV talking about it, getting questions softer than the average dick in the presence of a Roseanne Barr/Rosie O'Donnell threesome. Get it fucking right.

Oh, and his smug-assed assertion that they "never considered a date in October for the OSU/Michigan game"? BULL_FUCKING_TWAT. You considered everything, including making it the conference opener, if you thought it was going to make you more money. Instead you come out with that smug smile and that fucking stupid-assed combover and expect everyone to believe you "never" considered something? And this right after your not-so-artful dodge of the "toughest" question of the night, the one about whether THE GAME would end EVERY season going forward? You are fucking coward, and you can wipe that rosey red fucking smile off your face anytime.

 

[Saw31]

You are making the incorrect assertion that if there were a playoffs, the other teams seeding would be set in stone and that we would react to that. This is clearly incorrect because the other teams would still be in the same fluid situation of playing their last game or two of the season plus their possible CCG, all of which would affect a hypothetical(all it is at this point) playoff seeding. So under no scenario would either participants of The Game be sandbagging it just to jostle for playoff seeding w ideal matchups, as none of that seeding would be anywhere near set in stone.

You're kidding right? You think playoffs in college football is "hypothetical" at this point? Well I hope to god you're right.

As for not knowing seedings with just a few remaining games left around the country; I think you could have a very good idea who and where you're going to be playing by running a few simple mathematical equations with all the possible outcomes of those 2 or 3 important games that are left, once you know exactly how seedings for the post season are determined. It would not be very difficult unless it is entirely a human poll or selection committee which I can't see ever flying. They've spent the last 15 years or so trying to remove the "human element" of determining the champion. We know to a great extent what the BCS game matchups will be heading into CCG week right now! Before the CC games are played! Why would it be so difficult to have a pretty accurate idea of what playoff seedings would look like? So, the SEC winner between Florida and Alabama Gets a #2 seed and the loser gets a #3, I'd still rather line up against and undefeated #1 seed Rutgers! Can't you see the problems here? Just a couple seasons ago W. Virginia was 1 RichRod away from going to a MNC game. You think that team was better than the 2-loss LSU team we played? It can and will happen that the game can become nothing more than a bye week, or worse, a game you may actually want to lose!

There are any number of scenarios that could easily play out in the real world that makes it maybe a better thing to lose that final regular season game than win it. This isn't the NFL. Teams with identical records may not be comparable at all. Obviously I'm not going to be able to lay out a whole season long scenario to show that, but I am very confident in saying that it will happen, sooner or later... Once playoffs become a fact of life, there will come a time where TOSU or UM will be put in a position of not really wanting to win The Game so to give themselves the best opportunity to win an MNC...

You're looking at it with an NFL mentality. The Game is still a must win because a loss that late in the year kills your NC hopes... and I'd like to think the eye will be on that prize. College, for the better in my view, is fundamentally different than the pros in that respect (and this difference is part of the reason I am against a playoff format).

Starting next year you could have 9-2 OSU vs 9-2 UM, both having already clinched their divisions. No MNC on the line after 2 earlier losses. The Game is a [censored]ing bye week. What if we've lost to 'da U' and a cross divisional Big Ten game, UM loses to another tough Appy St team and Toledo, but rebounds to win their side of the conference? Neither would be playing for a MNC. The game is a bye week, period. Sadly, there are so many plausible scenarios to make this game meaningless it's a [censored]ing disgrace that they did this...

 

[cincibuck]

Seriously? The big 12 north was the dominant division when they started out.

Dominant? How? Texas and Oklahoma will have down years, but they, along with Nebraska were the dominant teams of the Big 12. No one else came close to sustaining a decade of leading the conference.

and there will be moments when Wisc, or MSU or Iowa will win two or three years in a row, but history is on my side and will be again in the not to distant future. Michigan has too many assets to be down very long.

The problem, flat out, is that the CCG is a money ploy and nothing else. It would really suck if the season ended up with a reprise of The Game, but it could also easily end up with Nebraska and OSU playing twice, or Nebraska having to reprise the PSU game. A CCG should only take place if the conference winners haven't met.

 

[MaxBuck]

I'm unclear why so many people here seem surprised that the Big Ten will have a conference championship game.

 

[exhawg]

On the bright side scum is likely to suck this year, fire DickRod, and hire a new coach that will take a few years to bring in his type of players. By the time scum is good again the Big 10 will likely add more teams and have to do this all over again. IMO the chance of a Big 10 championship rematch between OSU and scum in the first 2 years of the game are very small. Now the chance of a OSU/Husker rematch next year is pretty high.

 

[jwinslow]

Dominant? How? Texas and Oklahoma will have down years, but they, along with Nebraska were the dominant teams of the Big 12.

Not when they formed the conference. The power rankings then:

1. Nebraska
2. Kansas St
3. Texas A&M
4. Colorado (they dropped off in b12 year 2)
5. Texas
6. Oklahoma

Texas was only good in the 90s and just plain mediocre in the 80s. Oklahoma was the opposite (mediocre in 90s, good not great in 80s).



The b12 should be a perfect example why you shouldn't mess with all-time rivalries when clearly you can't predict how divisions will play out. Maybe they could have seen Texas/OU rebounding, but who saw Nebraska becoming that bad after so much consistent greatness?

 

[armsbendback]

A playoff is, yes, in fact, hypothetical until it becomes a reality. Like you, I can read the leaves and believe that sometime in the next 6-10 years the BCS, NCAA, and TV Networks will iron somethings out and at that point a playoff will be a reality.

As far as your point about seeding again.

Each seed in a 8, 12, or even(doubtful they would go this high) 16 team playoff would be a tough matchup against a team loaded with talented players. But again to think you could narrow down the exact schools that will be in which slots and therefore somehow jostle for position against a "lesser" seed is preposterous. The most obvious example is 2007. The amount of changes and upheaval in the final 2-3 weeks(rivalry games and CCG) was so enormous that the potential championship game match-up and exact BCS ranking of each candidate was changing by the minute for two straight weeks.

Also, individual conference winners would earn automatic births into a playoff but not specific seedings. That would most likely still be determined by the BCS rankings. ex: Winners of the B10, SEC, B12, PAC-10, ACC, Big East plus next two highest BCS ranked teams earn the right to be the 1-8 seeds and have some sort of home field advantage or bye. But their actual seeding would be determined by BCS ranking and/or best records.

I am not trying to say everything about todays decision was ideal, merely countering one specific example you are making(the idea that The Game can be meaningless some seasons or even not played at 100%) that is inaccurate. The Game may have lot some personal and historical value to you, but it will always have value and meaning in the context of tOSU vs. Michigan, the context of the B10 Championship and the Context of a hypothetical/eventual playoff.

You're kidding right? You think playoffs in college football is "hypothetical" at this point? Well I hope to god you're right.

As for not knowing seedings with just a few remaining games left around the country; I think you could have a very good idea who and where you're going to be playing by running a few simple mathematical equations with all the possible outcomes of those 2 or 3 important games that are left, once you know exactly how seedings for the post season are determined. It would not be very difficult unless it is entirely a human poll or selection committee which I can't see ever flying. They've spent the last 15 years or so trying to remove the "human element" of determining the champion. We know to a great extent what the BCS game matchups will be heading into CCG week right now! Before the CC games are played! Why would it be so difficult to have a pretty accurate idea of what playoff seedings would look like? So, the SEC winner between Florida and Alabama Gets a #2 seed and the loser gets a #3, I'd still rather line up against and undefeated #1 seed Rutgers! Can't you see the problems here? Just a couple seasons ago W. Virginia was 1 RichRod away from going to a MNC game. You think that team was better than the 2-loss LSU team we played? It can and will happen that the game can become nothing more than a bye week, or worse, a game you may actually want to lose!

 

[Buckeye Nut]

Not when they formed the conference. The power rankings then:

1. Nebraska
2. Kansas St
3. Texas A&M
4. Colorado (they dropped off in b12 year 2)
5. Texas
6. Oklahoma

Texas was only good in the 90s and just plain mediocre in the 80s. Oklahoma was the opposite (mediocre in 90s, good not great in 80s).



The b12 should be a perfect example why you shouldn't mess with all-time rivalries when clearly you can't predict how divisions will play out. Maybe they could have seen Texas/OU rebounding, but who saw Nebraska becoming that bad after so much consistent greatness?

Couldn't agree more. You can't predict competitive balance so go with the sure thing and preserve all the rivalries and make it easier on the fans with the travel. What's done is done so I'm not going to spend any more time complaining about how I think they should've done this. I thought it was going to be much worse honestly. I'm very relieved the game was retained as the last game and that all conference games will count in the divisional standings giving the game some meaning within the conference and making the chance of a rematch less likely. If I get my wish a rematch will never happen just to spite Delaney.

 

[zincfinger]

Doug Lesmerises confirms crossover games WILL count in Big Ten.

That takes care of the "The Game won't matter".

No, it doesn't. Interdivisional games inherently mean less than intradivisional games do, because your opponent's record doesn't matter to you. In the past, a loss to Michigan was doubly damaging, because it not only gave OSU a loss, but also gave Michigan a win. The second element of that is gone now, and it absolutely does make the game mean less. Not nothing, but less. From now on beating Penn State is objectively more important than beating Michigan. Penn State is the big winner in this alignment (not entirely without reason), and I have little doubt they're largely responsible for it.

 

[sflbuck]

Looking at this I am struck by how much of the new divisional set up has been done with an eye to future expansion. The current alignment begs for ND to be added to the scUM-Neb division and Rutgers to the OSU-PSU division. ND-Rutgers become intra division rivals and ND gets an game in the NYC area every other year.

Rinse and repeat for Missouri and Syracuse (or the Big East/ACC team of your choice)

 

[Cincinnatibuck]

Stop thinking like a disgruntled fan. The Game will matter every time it's played. If you can't get up for beating that team up North twice in one year, you may have a problem not "The Game".

 

[Buckskin86]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojwl8Fbh__c]YouTube - Delany Announces Big Ten Divisions (Part 1)[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT74odaVAe8]YouTube - Delany Announces Big Ten Divisions (Part 2)[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNgcm2r_jvs]YouTube - Big Ten Announces Divisions[/ame]

 

[Tlangs]

Iowa/Purdue? What the fuck is this, as a Big Ten fan have you ever looked at this game and gone, whoa, I don't care that one of those teams is down I must watch that game for the rivalry. Pathetic, this is bull shit. Lose Wisconsin vs Iowa for Iowa vs Purdue kiss my ass Delany.

The Iowa vs. Purdue protected game is hilarious. I'm sure Iowa loves it. It pretty much guarentees them an easier schedule than Nebraska and Michigan every year.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Stop thinking like a disgruntled fan. The Game will matter every time it's played. If you can't get up for beating that team up North twice in one year, you may have a problem not "The Game".

You honestly think the 2006 game would have been what it was if they were playing again a week later? Come on. Would people still get up for it? Of course but there is no way you can say the first game would have the same importance with a rematch looming. The second game is the one that "counts".

The finality and winner take all element to The Game made it unique and was a major part of what made it the greatest rivalry in all of sports. Having a CCG a week later creates a diminishing effect on The Game no matter the divisional split (someone is going to rest/pull starters sooner rather than later) so thats a different argument.

Splitting the two teams (which was obviously the plan from day 1 for both AD's let alone the B10 brass) creates the possibility of a rematch. It doesn't matter what the chances are of it happening, they are greater than zero.