Should the Big Ten Schedule Change?

[buckeyebri]

At the risk of opening up this can of worms for the umpteenth time, why? This year was the perfect example of why not to have a conference title game. We were the only undefeated team in the conference and had just beaten the team we would have ended up playing in the title game.

I think it is a combination of bringing in a high quality team to the B10 to strengthen it, as well as, playing the championship game to legitimize a team going in to a playoff.

After the pastings that OSU and UM took in the bowl games, along with most other B10 teams, the perception of the conference nationally is that it is very weak and that OSU and UM face no competition on a weekly basis.

The SEC has legitimite contending teams deep into its conference, the B10 pretty much gets weak after the top 3 maybe 4 teams. This is not going to change overnight and neither is the perception of the conference in the future. I see the addition of a 12th team and a conference championship as a step towards changing that perception.

 

[bkochmc]

No it doesn't guarantee a spot for ND. They weren't a conference champion. Hell they barely made it in this year as it was....

The 5 WCs would've been:

Wisconsin
Auburn
ND
West Virginia
Arkansas

If ND gets in, ND gets in. They won't win shit with that team in a tournament, but if they are good enough to be there, let them in.

One small correction to your list of wild cards... you overlooked an 11-1 scUM team that beat up on NoD and Wisconsin.

 

[IronBuckI]

The Pac-10 made their 12th game another conference game. If the Big Ten did that then we would only rotate one team off of our schedule every year instead of two. That reduces the chance of missing a Wisconsin or Iowa. Or, like Purdue last year, eliminates the chance of missing both Ohio State and tsun. Adding a bye week or two somewhere in the middle of the season, say around midterms, wouldn't be too bad of a thing either.

 

[kippy1040]

I am in favor of having a conference title game to determine a true winner. This year we all witnessed how weak our conference was this year. The losses by Ohio State to Florida and Scum losing to SoCal pretty much sealed the truth. Well maybe i should change the work "Weak" to mild or midiocore.

Notre Dame will never give up that big contract with NBC. Surely we could find another school that could break away from thier conference to join the BIg1T1en. If that would be the case then the conference could maybe be called the GreatLakes12 with a east and west division.

The conference would still keep our tradition of Ohio State and Scum in november as usual. And the championship game could be in the RCA dome in Indy. We could only play one OOC game in the start of the season and get right into the season the next week. The NCAA has to take control and git rid of all these meaningless bowl games that we see year after year. Its just not right to me.

 

[CookyPuss]

I didn't like any of the options. I would prefer to see them start the season the same week, but extend it a week by adding a bye. I know that moves the scUM game to after Thanksgiving, but that is fine with me.

As for adding a 12th team, I just don't see any school that is viable. I would be surprised to see ND give up the NBC bank to join and outside of them, I don't really see another school that fits. Louisville and WV would be stupid to leave the Big East as they will almost always be fighting each other for a BCS game. I can't remember who is left in confernce USA. Memphis? They would be game I'm sure.

Frankly, I don't see how the Big 10 holding a championship game gets us any closer to a playoff. The Pac 10 would have to add 2 teams and I don't see it happening. I also don't see how it improves the rep of the Big 10... not that I really care what SEC fans or anyone else thinks of the Big 10. Also, adding another team means there is one more team not played during the regular season and making it more likely that a team gets a softer schedule and easier road to the championship game. I just don't see what it accomplishes. I don't think the layoff was the main problem and I don't think scUM playing a later game would have gotten them in.

 

[OSU_Buckguy]

I didn't like any of the options. I would prefer to see them start the season the same week, but extend it a week by adding a bye. I know that moves the scUM game to after Thanksgiving, but that is fine with me.

true, that is another option, but i don't think it addresses the current issues. if we want the big ten season, especially the game, to weigh heavily on the voters' minds, having the big ten schedule end one week before the other bcs conferences does not help much. there would also be that time differential of the layoffs between big ten teams and the other bowl teams. whatever change that would be the best for the big ten, in my opinion, must be one that has the conference schedule ending at the same time as the other bcs conferences.

I don't think the layoff was the main problem and I don't think scUM playing a later game would have gotten them in.

i would rather know that it isn't the case than think that it isn't.

 

[CookyPuss]

true, that is another option, but i don't think it addresses the current issues. if we want the big ten season, especially the game, to weigh heavily on the voters' minds, having the big ten schedule end one week before the other bcs conferences does not help much. there would also be that time differential of the layoffs between big ten teams and the other bowl teams. whatever change that would be the best for the big ten, in my opinion, must be one that has the conference schedule ending at the same time as the other bcs conferences.

I really don't see how we have ever had a problem. The argument was whether the Big 10 #2 or the SEC #1 deserved to be in the title game. I don't think the voters were going to put scUM in that game as long as there was another viable option. I can't think of any season in the BCS era where having a championship game would have changed anything in regards to getting placement in the national championship game. The Pac 10 also ends the week before the other conferences and it didn't hurt USC when they got in ahead of Auburn. {Edit: Now that I think about it, they did end the same week as the others this year, I can't remember if they did in the past.. sorry about that}.

 

[OSU_Buckguy]

I guess I just don't see the problem.

having two weeks off more than most other major programs is something that should be changed. some will just point to ohio state's record in bcs bowl games and claim that it hasn't hurt us. though that may be the case (or it may not), there is more than one team in the big ten. also, there is more than just this season to consider when discussing pushing back the end of season. i'd rather see the big ten nip the problem in the bud before it actually becomes a problem. how the rose and championship bowls played out is beside the point. imagine if ohio state and m*ch*gan had instead dismantled their opponents. surely, we'd be saying that the early conference finish likely kept the second best team from playing in the national championship game.

 

[CookyPuss]

having two weeks off more than most other major programs is something that should be changed. some will just point to ohio state's record in bcs bowl games and claim that it hasn't hurt us. though that may be the case (or it may not), there is more than one team in the big ten. also, there is more than just this season to consider when discussing pushing back the end of season. i'd rather see the big ten nip the problem in the bud before it actually becomes a problem. how the rose and championship bowls played out is beside the point. imagine if ohio state and m*ch*gan had instead dismantled their opponents. surely, we'd be saying that the early conference finish likely kept the second best team from playing in the national championship game.

I edited my last post when I realized my statement about the Pac 10 was incorrect. I agree we need to move the end of the season back a week, bringing back the bye. Sorry for using incorrect info.

 

[OCBucksFan]

no one would want to decrease the ooc schedule to two games, which is why i didn't include it as an option.

Well a championship game doesn't seem like it's really needed when we have 11 teams. I guess it would solve the split of the title issue, but I still foresee a lot of problems with it.

I see maybe starting a week later and adding a bye as a viable option, that would cut 14 days off the time, reduces the downtime to a little over a month.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

I think it is a combination of bringing in a high quality team to the B10 to strengthen it, as well as, playing the championship game to legitimize a team going in to a playoff.

Why do we have to "legitimize" our conference champion?

After the pastings that OSU and UM took in the bowl games, along with most other B10 teams, the perception of the conference nationally is that it is very weak and that OSU and UM face no competition on a weekly basis.

Adding a conference title game would not have changed the results of the bowls...not one iota.

 

[ncbuckeye3]

And the chances of that happening are between slim and none.....

16 teams get in...

There are 11 conferences in D-1A, they all get in. You can keep how they determine the champions the same.

5 "Wild Cards" using the 5 highest NON-conference champion teams as determined by the BCS formula.

I've thought this should happen since 1998, exactly like this. You have to reward all conference champions or the small conferences would always vote it down. I think it would be awesome.

 

[Bleed S & G]

exactly, the BCS needs to get their heads out of their asses and quit pushing games further and further back also.

read yestrday that delany has the bowl system in place at least until 2014

 

[ncbuckeye3]

I didn't like any of the options. I would prefer to see them start the season the same week, but extend it a week by adding a bye. I know that moves the scUM game to after Thanksgiving, but that is fine with me.

As for adding a 12th team, I just don't see any school that is viable. I would be surprised to see ND give up the NBC bank to join and outside of them, I don't really see another school that fits. Louisville and WV would be stupid to leave the Big East as they will almost always be fighting each other for a BCS game. I can't remember who is left in confernce USA. Memphis? They would be game I'm sure.

Frankly, I don't see how the Big 10 holding a championship game gets us any closer to a playoff. The Pac 10 would have to add 2 teams and I don't see it happening. I also don't see how it improves the rep of the Big 10... not that I really care what SEC fans or anyone else thinks of the Big 10. Also, adding another team means there is one more team not played during the regular season and making it more likely that a team gets a softer schedule and easier road to the championship game. I just don't see what it accomplishes. I don't think the layoff was the main problem and I don't think scUM playing a later game would have gotten them in.

I agree here, why do we need another team and a championship game to extend our season.

USC moved their game with UCLA to the same date as the conference championship games, they played 12 games this season, and had two bye-weeks. What is wrong with that?

I thought the layoff was not a big deal until I read that every team is allowed 15 practices between their last game and the bowl. That means since the scUM game, we practiced 15 times.

BUT...since the scUM game, Florida practiced for two more weeks, played two more games, and then had their 15 bowl practices. This could be a difference.

I also tend to think that Tress may over-analyze when given time off. Hasn't he lost most regular season games when he had a bye week the week before? I think he thought too much about Florida in those 51 days and that lead to some of what we saw this week.

 

[Bleed S & G]

Why do we have to "legitimize" our conference champion?


Adding a conference title game would not have changed the results of the bowls...not one iota.

I agree we don't need the championship to 'legitimize' the champ, the only reason why i would favor the championship is because of the layoff.. but i think its just fine the way it is. this is the big 10, we dont need no stinking championship