Division 1 College Conference Realignment

[rams80]

Current Rumored Big Ten Divisions. Division names mine.

Big Ten North-ish

Michigan

Michigan State

Minnesota

Northwestern

Iowa

Nebraska

Big Ten South-ish

Illinois

Indiana

Purdue

Ohio State

Penn State

Wisconsin

EDIT I suspect the annual rivalry games in this setup would be

Ohio State-Michigan

Wisconsin-Nebraska (Wisky traded Minny and Iowa for this, presumably)

Illinoia-Northwestern

Penn State-Michigan State

Purdue-Iowa

Indiana-Minnesota

[Still MIGHTY]

Current Rumored Big Ten Divisions. Division names mine.

Big Ten-ish North-ish

Michigan

Michigan State

Minnesota

Northwestern

Iowa

Nebraska

Big Ten-ish South-ish

Illinois

Indiana

Purdue

Ohio State

Penn State

Wisconsin

FYP

[ESTONES6]

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the alignment is as follows:

* Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Minnesota

* Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana

The OSU/Michigan game will be moved to Thursday night... and here is the uniform the Buckeyes are slated to wear for The Game:

Sources: http://www.cleveland.com/buckeyeblog/index.ssf/2010/09/big_ten_to_announce_divisions.html

http://www.cleveland.com/buckeyeblog/index.ssf/2010/09/ohio_state_uniforms_for_michig_1.html

[rams80]

The OSU/Michigan game will be moved to Thursday night...

Oh that's just going to piss people the off right there, and throw a monkey wrench into any hope for productivity in Ohio or Michigan that week.

[Seadragon76]

Why not at this point? Ohio State-Michigan is already one of the greatest rivalries out there. Why not give it a primetime slot and let the world watch Michigan... stink it up again against Jim Tressel and the Bucks.

[rams80]

Why not at this point? Ohio State-Michigan is already one of the greatest rivalries out there. Why not give it a primetime slot and let the world watch Michigan... stink it up again against Jim Tressel and the Bucks.

1. Logistics-both play at 100,000 plus capacity stadia with fanbases that travel well. It works a lot better to have the game on a weekend rather than a weekday.

2. Your TV numbers are going to be down because, guess what, folks have to work the next day and therefore can't stay up to watch a football game.

3. The "world" watches the game in its Saturday time slot anyway.

4. People (reading Michigan and OSU fans) have been pissed off about screwing with tradition by first the thought of splitting OSU and Michigan up, then possibly moving the game to October. I can only assume the response to moving the OSU-Michigan game to the ACC/Big East "Hey we're still relevant GUYZ!" time slot will be volcanic.

[Cujo]

Dear god, these leaked Big Ten divisions are horrible.

This was supposed to be simple: East and West, right down the Indiana/Illinois line. But no. Instead it's this giant cluster:censored: and the conference's biggest money maker, Michigan-Ohio State, is history. How do they expect them to remain massive rivals through the years when the teams aren't even in the same division? The Big-Tween really dropped the ball on this one.

[rams80]

Dear god, these leaked Big Ten divisions are horrible.

This was supposed to be simple: East and West, right down the Indiana/Illinois line. But no. Instead it's this giant cluster:censored: and the conference's biggest money maker, Michigan-Ohio State, is history. How do they expect them to remain massive rivals through the years when the teams aren't even in the same division? The Big-Tween really dropped the ball on this one.

I dunno. Tennessee and Alabama, Georgia and Auburn, Miami and Florida State, North Carolina and NC State, and Maryland and Virginia seem to hate each other as much as always and they aren't in the same division. So long as the game is played annually, the rivalry should remain.

/Why are protected rivalry games such a hard concept to grasp?

[NEW.ERA]

Posted above but here's what it looks like.

New Big Ten alignment.

• Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern and Minnesota.

• Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana and Illinois.

[OnWis97]

As a Wisconsin Fan I am disappointed.

Some thoughts

* We are separated from our three nearest geographic opponents.

* While competitive balance is not too bad, I'd say we're i the slightly tougher division at the top with PSU/OSU, but putting Northwestern/Iowa/Michigan with Nebraska evens it somewhat.

* It's totally random. Obviously the straight E/W split would have been unfair to the East, so I cannot really complain that it did not shake that way, but it's such a mess.

* Minnesota/Wisconsin is the oldest Bowl Subdivision rivalry. I really hope they protect that game. They should, but unlike Mich/OSU, there is not much money to be made from it and we know that tradition that does not raise the money is meaningless. But I'd guess this is one of the protected rivalries.

* Wisconsin is among the best in the nation in terms of fans traveling to road games. I wonder whether the Iowas/Northwesterns did not want us for that reason.

I would guess Wisconsin fans will be among the most upset.

[rams80]

As a Wisconsin Fan I am disappointed.

Some thoughts

* We are separated from our three nearest geographic opponents.

* While competitive balance is not too bad, I'd say we're i the slightly tougher division at the top with PSU/OSU, but putting Northwestern/Iowa/Michigan with Nebraska evens it somewhat.

* It's totally random. Obviously the straight E/W split would have been unfair to the East, so I cannot really complain that it did not shake that way, but it's such a mess.

* Minnesota/Wisconsin is the oldest Bowl Subdivision rivalry. I really hope they protect that game. They should, but unlike Mich/OSU, there is not much money to be made from it and we know that tradition that does not raise the money is meaningless. But I'd guess this is one of the protected rivalries.

* Wisconsin is among the best in the nation in terms of fans traveling to road games. I wonder whether the Iowas/Northwesterns did not want us for that reason.

Not really. Outside of Nebraska vs Wisconsin it's a straight North/South split. East/West really is only a necessity if you have a league playing in 3 or 4 time zones, not 1 or 2.

For your second point, you should see the Michigan fans complain. They are convinced they are in the harder division. Of course if we went straight East/West like they seem to be pining for.

For point 4, rumor has it that will be the protected rivalry, but I wouldn't be surprised if the "price" for getting a protected rivalry with Nebraska was being in a separate division from Iowa and Minnesota.

For Point 5, for all we know, Indiana asked to be in a division with Wisconsin for the same reason.

[Sport]

Dear god, these leaked Big Ten divisions are horrible.

This was supposed to be simple: East and West, right down the Indiana/Illinois line. But no. Instead it's this giant cluster:censored: and the conference's biggest money maker, Michigan-Ohio State, is history. How do they expect them to remain massive rivals through the years when the teams aren't even in the same division? The Big-Tween really dropped the ball on this one.

I dunno. Tennessee and Alabama, Georgia and Auburn, Miami and Florida State, North Carolina and NC State, and Maryland and Virginia seem to hate each other as much as always and they aren't in the same division. So long as the game is played annually, the rivalry should remain.

Why are protected rivalry games such a hard concept to grasp?

None of your examples have a 75 year history of playing on the last game of the season. Everyone gets a locked in cross division opponent and most people are smart enough to understand that, but people weren't worried that the OSU-Michigan wasn't going to played. That was never a concern because it's too crazy. The biggest concern (that they'll move the game because of being in opposite divisions) is about to happen. They're going to botch this thing and this rivalry will lose a lot of its intensity because it's being moved.

Also, Nike could stop with the pro-combat uniforms during the game anytime now.

[illwauk]

Wisconsin's not in the same division as Nebraska, Minnesota OR Iowa.

Granted, the rivalry with Iowa is contrived, so I'm not too upset about that. But they're either gonna kill the most prolific rivalry in college football or COMPLETELY miss the boat on such a natural rivalry between the two Big Reds red & white teams.

I decided I can't in good conscience help UW push that "Big Red" nonsense. It's just part of their ridiculous wannabe-ivy complex.

[Seadragon76]

As for those who are possibly fearing the end of the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry...

...You can get off that ledge now.

As part of the division alignment announcement comes the 2011-2012 Big Ten Schedule. It works like this:

-5 Division Games

-1 Protected Rivalry Game (Matchups are as follows: Michigan-Ohio State, Nebraska-Penn State, Minnesota-Wisconsin, Michigan State-Indiana, Iowa-Purdue and Northwestern-Illinois)

-2 Crossover Games

Also of note: Michigan-Ohio State will be played on the final day of the regular season in both years, like it has been for many years.

[The_Admiral]

None of your examples have a 75 year history of playing on the last game of the season. Everyone gets a locked in cross division opponent and most people are smart enough to understand that, but people weren't worried that the OSU-Michigan wasn't going to played. That was never a concern because it's too crazy. The biggest concern (that they'll move the game because of being in opposite divisions) is about to happen. They're going to botch this thing and this rivalry will lose a lot of its intensity because it's being moved.

Oh, get the sand out. The rest of the world doesn't care about your stupid game. The conference doesn't revolve around the Michigan-Ohio State game.

[rams80]

As for those who are possibly fearing the end of the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry...

...You can get off that ledge now.

As part of the division alignment announcement comes the 2011-2012 Big Ten Schedule. It works like this:

-5 Division Games

-1 Protected Rivalry Game (Matchups are as follows: Michigan-Ohio State, Nebraska-Penn State, Minnesota-Wisconsin, Michigan State-Indiana, Iowa-Purdue and Northwestern-Illinois)

-2 Crossover Games

Also of note: Michigan-Ohio State will be played on the final day of the regular season in both years, like it has been for many years.

Viva the most one-sided trophy rivalry in the Conference!!!

[tyst13]

Never mind. Why can't I just delete my post?

Edited September 2, 2010 by tyst13

[OnWis97]

Big Ten North-ish

Michigan

Michigan State

Minnesota

Northwestern

Iowa

Nebraska

Big Ten South-ish

Illinois

Indiana

Purdue

Ohio State

Penn State

Wisconsin

Switch Northwestern and Wisconsin and I think it's good. Wisconsin gets Iowa and Minnesota, which it wants. Northwestern gets in-state Illinois. From a "balance of power" standpoint that probably puts extra weight on the "Northish", but Northwestern is just a hair below Wisconsin anyway.

I suspect the goal was to go 2 and 2 of the "Big Four" (Mich, OSU, PSU, Neb), then split the next tier (Wisc, Iowa), then split the "bottom two" (Indiana, Minnesota). But things change. Right now, Michigan is not in the big four...Wisconsin and Iowa round out the big five, making the bottom division tougher. But in a few years, who knows. Michigan State may build a Rose Bowl Team. Or Purdue. Minnesota may even build a good program if the Vikings move (they had a great one until the Vikings arrived). Things change and basing it on today's balance (and the assumption the Michigan will be back) is a bit short sighted.

By the time Wisconsin opens it's season on Saturday at UNLV (a game I'll be attending), I'll be over it, but I did see one article suggesting that Wisconsin was the only school with a legitimate complaint. I think swapping NU and UW would mean that none do.

[pcgd]

I think it broke down like this. You have the top 4 teams (Michigan, OSU, Penn State, Nebraska) that had to be split up in some ways. Then you had the next two (Wisconsin and Iowa) that had to be split up. After that it was about protecting rivalries.

Saying that, Wisconsin has the biggest complaints because they lost out on the Iowa and Nebraska connection. Illinois got off pretty good...3 division mates are within 5 hours of the Illinois Campus (Indiana, Purdue, Ohio State) plus their protected rivalry is just 3 hours up the road in Evanston.

[dfwabel]

Texas A&M AD Bill Byrne finally gave two reasons why he opposed them joining the SEC in a recent appearance.

1- Competition: "I was concerned with changing conferences that we may not be ready for the level of competition if we decided to leave. I was very concerned about trying to take things slowly, and not rush."

2- Budget (as they already owe the university some $16MM): "If we looked at where we stacked up financially in the Pac 10 conference, we were about third. If we looked at where we stacked up in the Southeastern Conference, we were eighth out of 12. We didn't rank very well."