• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

Big Ten Conference Divisions

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
MililaniBuckeye;2298895; said:
No brainer: MSU = East, Purdue = West.
Click to expand...

Well yeah if your goal is to make the divisions as unbalanced as possible in every way imaginable....on the field, access to recruiting, population base, TV interest etc.

On the other hand there's a strong argument that the Big 12 North model isn't actually a good idea to copy.
 
Upvote 0
jwinslow;2298970; said:
PSU should be the third best (if not second during brief stretches) program in the league. Instead they are inexcusably mediocre. Sure, Jim Tressel shut down their pipeline of Kijana, Enis, McDuffie types, but they have been getting outrecruited in their own state by lowly Pitt for most of that same span.

Maybe they'll recover. They should, but then they should have won more league titles than Northwestern.

Until they stop failing, I don't want to hear any 'third best' talk. They aren't in Wisconsin's zipcode, who is doing it with 1/20th as much incoming talent (on paper).
Click to expand...

Apparently you don't check out BWI. Otherwise, you'd know that PSU isn't 3rd best in the conference. They're THE best in the conference. Don't let the lack of conference championships and games where they were screwed by the referees confuse your judgement of their skill.
 
Upvote 0
jwinslow;2298970; said:
PSU should be the third best (if not second during brief stretches) program in the league. Instead they are inexcusably mediocre. Sure, Jim Tressel shut down their pipeline of Kijana, Enis, McDuffie types, but they have been getting outrecruited in their own state by lowly Pitt for most of that same span.

Maybe they'll recover. They should, but then they should have won more league titles than Northwestern.

Until they stop failing, I don't want to hear any 'third best' talk. They aren't in Wisconsin's zipcode, who is doing it with 1/20th as much incoming talent (on paper).
Click to expand...

If 20 years of not doing jack in a conference isn't proof that Penn State football greatness is a myth built on cheating (parents of players reffing home games) and a pathetic independent schedule, I don't know what is.

I don't think they will ever get back to their Boise State glory days when they could schedule one or two premiere opponents and beat up on the likes of Syracuse, West Virginia, Temple, Navy and Pitt the rest of the time.

Zurp;2298990; said:
Apparently you don't check out BWI. Otherwise, you'd know that PSU isn't 3rd best in the conference. They're THE best in the conference. Don't let the lack of conference championships and games where they were screwed by the referees confuse your judgement of their skill.
Click to expand...

Penn State being in the same division as Ohio State and tsun is just further evidence of the grand Big Ten conspiracy perpetuated by those schools to artificially hold Penn State down- which is extra hilarious because that is exactly what it will do. :slappy:

Muck;2298986; said:
Well yeah if your goal is to make the divisions as unbalanced as possible in every way imaginable....on the field, access to recruiting, population base, TV interest etc.P

On the other hand there's a strong argument that the Big 12 North model isn't actually a good idea to copy.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if OSU, UM and PSU are in one division MSU needs to be in the other for competitive balance's sake (even with ND in the other as well).
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
I posted the link in the future schedules thread but the final bit is relevant here:

Barry Alvarez: Big Ten agrees no more FCS opponents

.../snip/...

Alvarez also reiterated that geography will play a critical role in realigning the divisions to incorporate Maryland and Rutgers.

"You've got a couple schools on the bubble," Alvarez said.

"If you went straight geography, let's start west: Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois and probably Purdue is the way it seems to break down.

"I know Michigan State was lobbying in the West Division instead of the East."
Click to expand...

That's also supported by Rittenberg on ESPN:

.../snip/...

The lone caveat: there will be eight Big Ten teams in the Eastern time zone -- Maryland, Rutgers, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana and Purdue -- and only six in the Central time zone (Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Northwestern and Illinois). So one team from the Eastern time zone would need to move.

"Sometimes the best thing is to do the most logical thing," Phillips said. "It just makes logical sense to everybody. Let's try to make sure whoever we move over is the right institution, and it's good for them and good for their school, but it's hard to argue against that.

"We tried a variation last time with Wisconsin going over in that direction and Illinois. As we listen to everybody, it just makes sense to do it this way. Again, it's not finalized and nobody's declared anything that we know which seven is going to be where, but it certainly feels like we're moving in that direction."

The four schools located closest to the time zone border are Purdue, Indiana, Michigan State and Michigan, so it's not a stretch to think one of the four is likeliest to move to the Central time zone division. There are two meaningful rivalries between the foursome -- Indiana-Purdue and Michigan-Michigan State -- one of which could be preserved with an annual protected crossover.

Although my divisions proposal had Purdue moving to the West/Central division, keep an eye on Michigan State (Brian Bennett's pick). Athletic director Mark Hollis loves showcasing Michigan State in the Chicago market against Northwestern, and the Spartans and Wisconsin have formed a nice rivalry in recent years that would continue if the two schools are in the same division.

"We don't want to throw out competitive balance and those other important areas of rivalries," Phillips said, "but what's leading this ... is geography, what's best for our fans, what's the easiest travel for them and what makes the most sense."
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
So...

B1G Western Division:

Michigan State
Nebraska
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Illinois

B1G Eastern Division:

Maryland
Rutgers
Penn State
Ohio State
Michigan
Indiana
Purdue

I don't hate it. Certainly seems to work out well for us, though I think Nebraska would have feelings of the old Big XII North with Ohio State/Michigan assuming the roles of Texas/Oklahoma.

It wouldn't be ideal for putting more notches on the IlliBuck, seeing as they wouldn't be guaranteed every year... but I'm willing to trade that for what seems to be pretty decent balance.
 
Upvote 0
SloopyHangOn;2305012; said:
It wouldn't be ideal for putting more notches on the IlliBuck, seeing as they wouldn't be guaranteed every year... but I'm willing to trade that for what seems to be pretty decent balance.
Click to expand...
A nine game conference schedule with a single protected crossover would help that.

Ohio State - Illinois
TSUN - Sparty
Purdue - Iowa
Penn State - Nebraska
Maryland - Minnesota
Rutgers - Wisconsin
Indiana - Northwestern

The first 3 are historical rivalries.
Nebraska - Penn State has some history and would be nice counter balance to The Game.
Minnesota & Maryland - Both are urban BB schools & are tailor made rivals IMO
Wisconsin & Rutgers - the battle of the 'historically we suck but things have gotten better and we both wear red'
Northwestern & Indiana - Not really a historic rivalry but such is life

If people complain that Nebraska & Penn State getting matched up is unfair then you could always switch Maryland & PSU. That brings back the Governor's Bell thing for PSU & Minny while UNL & Maryland will survive.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
I'll suffer a lot of negative rep for saying it, but:

East/West would make a heck of a lot more sense if the B1G had Notre Dame to balance out the west. Unless that happens, you have one major powerhouse program in the west, and 3 sometimes-good programs vs. the east that has 3 powerhouse programs, and 1-2 sometimes-good programs.
 
Upvote 0
Teams from FCS, formally known as I-AA, have become common nonconference opponents for FBS teams because they will accept take a relatively big payday without asking for a game on their campus. Generally, they provide little more than a tuneup for the teams from college football's highest level - with some notable exceptions such as Appalachian State winning at Michigan in 2007.
Click to expand...


Ah. Love being able to read a story in 2013 and see them bring that up.

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefoo...iscusses-beefing-up-football-schedules-021313
 
Upvote 0
Mrstickball;2305327; said:
I'll suffer a lot of negative rep for saying it, but:

East/West would make a heck of a lot more sense if the B1G had Notre Dame to balance out the west. Unless that happens, you have one major powerhouse program in the west, and 3 sometimes-good programs vs. the east that has 3 powerhouse programs, and 1-2 sometimes-good programs.
Click to expand...

Honestly, I see no way ND would join as a member of the B1G "west". They are going to want access to the eastern teams like Rutgers and down the atlantic seaboard. They're not going to join to play the likes of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Illinois every year. They (and I think the B1G too) want the exposure to the East.
 
Upvote 0
Mrstickball;2305327; said:
I'll suffer a lot of negative rep for saying it, but:

East/West would make a heck of a lot more sense if the B1G had Notre Dame to balance out the west. Unless that happens, you have one major powerhouse program in the west, and 3 sometimes-good programs vs. the east that has 3 powerhouse programs, and 1-2 sometimes-good programs.
Click to expand...

The only problem with that is that Notre Dame is by far the most popular team in the NE, more so than Ohio State, TSUN or even PSU. ND in the B1G would almost certainly need to be in the east while Ohio State and/or TSUN go west.

Something along the lines of:

Ohio State
Nebraska
Wisconsin
Iowa
Minnesota
Northwestern
Illinois
Indiana

TSUN
PSU
ND
Sparty
Purdue
Maryland
Rutgers
Virginia

Edit: Damn you BearBuck for posting while I had the reply window open! lol
 
Upvote 0
Muck;2305347; said:
The only problem with that is that Notre Dame is by far the most popular team in the NE, more so than Ohio State, TSUN or even PSU. ND in the B1G would almost certainly need to be in the east while Ohio State and/or TSUN go west.

Something along the lines of:

Ohio State
Nebraska
Wisconsin
Iowa
Minnesota
Northwestern
Illinois
Indiana

TSUN
PSU
ND
Sparty
Purdue
Maryland
Rutgers
Virginia

Edit: Damn you BearBuck for posting while I had the reply window open! lol
Click to expand...

Right, I understand that. I'm just talking from a competitive balance standpoint. As it stands, you have four historic programs in the B1G right now - OSU, TSUN, Nebby and JoePa's Rambling Rapists. If we go geographic right now, you have a 3/1 split on powerhouses. With ND in the mix, you can at least get a more reasonable 3/2 split geographically.
 
Upvote 0
Bucknut24;2306476; said:
Mike Hall ‏@BTNMikeHall
I asked AD Gene Smith likelihood of #Buckeyes and #Wolverines being in same division- "Strong likelihood"
Click to expand...

Is that the same Gene Smith that didn't think Ohio State would get the one year bowl ban?

Just sayin": his "track record" on predictions is not very good.

:biggrin:
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top