Pro side--In all honesty I think most of the Big Ten fans could see this coming. The original divisions of the Legends and Leaders never truly made any sense. The names themselves have been ridiculed since they were announced. By having an East/West Big Ten, I think it's more of a public opinion standpoint and I know Dave Brandon and Gene Smith both agreed to keep Michigan and Ohio State in the same division. Those two teams are the marquee schools in the Big Ten so it makes sense that they are at the top of the decision hierarchy. If you listen to 97.1 The Ticket, from 2-6pm, you'll hear Sparty fan Mike Valenti completely against this idea for one reason--he doesn't want to play Michigan and Ohio State every single year in the same division (one point should be made is that Michigan plays them both every single year without complaint). So yes there are detractors but geographically it works.
Con side--This is my point of view..I'm completely against it for one simple reason. I don't want Michigan to be stuck playing Maryland and Rutgers every season. I actually enjoyed being in a division (although the whole Big Ten was bad except for OSU this season) with MSU, Iowa, Nebraska, and so on. Those games felt like true Big Ten matchups and I'm afraid that once Maryland and Rutgers join in 2014, that'll no longer be the case. Now there are also rumors of expanding the conference schedule to 9 games instead of 8, but playing the two new schools will still feel like non conference games for a few years. The argument for 9 games is valid--Michigan wouldn't have such a long time between playing schools in the other division such as Iowa or Minnesota where there is a rivalry that exists. Bottom line is that I feel like the whole schedule could be "watered down" and that's the last thing Michigan needs.
The bad part about having MSU, Penn State, OSU and Michigan all in the same division is it takes four of the top 6 teams, both historically and currently, and puts them all in the same division. It definitely makes the most sense. Maryland and Rutgers will take time to both get up to B1G caliber on the field and for us fans to except no matter what division they are in.
ReplyDeleteWith only Wisc and Nebraska (maybe Iowa) on the West it defintely gives them an easier trip to the B1G championship. But LSU and Bama have to face each other every year, no harm in OSU and Mich going at it every year and making The Game stay important every time they play. I don't love it, but to win NC's Michigan needs a strong resume. Beating PSU, MSU, and OSU will help them every year.
I grew up in Michigan, but live in Nebraska now. I can't tell you how much it means to me to be able to see my Wolverines come to Lincoln every other year, and see the Huskers play at the Big House the other year. I am sure there are tons of Michigan fans in Maryland and New Jersey who are excited by these early reports, but, selfishly, I'm a bit sad that the Michigan-Nebraska yearly game may come to a quick end. The people in Nebraska LOVE college football and the excitement in Memorial Stadium the evening of the Michigan game this past fall was amazing. Couldn't agree more with Kyle that the Michigan vs. Nebraska game has the "gravitas" of a premiere Big Ten match up.
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DeleteWhat's up, Aaron! As a Wolverine fan in Iowa I definitely understand.
DeleteAs long as Michigan and OSU are in the same division I will be happy. I just don't want it possible for them to play in back to back games. And it could make the game even better with the winner going to the championship game. Looking at the divisions mentioned I think MSU should go to the west to make it even
ReplyDeleteI agree with Michigan8. Don't want to play Ohio back to back. Move MSU to west and Indy to east with us. Make MSU our rival for every year scheduling and I've got to tell you, I wouldn't have a problem playing Sparty twice. Go Blue
DeleteLove the idea.
DeleteI'm glad ohio and Michigan will be in the same division. I just hope they officially call em east and west. I don't like the leaders and legends thing
ReplyDeleteI like UM and Ohio in the same division. It just seems that the west is a little easier.
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ReplyDeleteI'd like to see a North (North/West) division and a South (South/East) division.
ReplyDeleteNorth (North/West) South (South/East)
Nebraska Illinois
Minnesota Purdue
Iowa Indiana
Wisconsin Ohio
Northwestern Penn State
Michigan State Rutgers
Michigan Maryland
Geographically this lines up pretty good - allthough the North has some better teams.
If Michigan and Ohio are in the same division they would never get to play for the championship - I'd prefer that they move the Mich/Ohio game off the last game of the year and give them both the opportunity to play in the championship - hopefully against each other every year.
Couldn't get the above comment to line up right - hopefully, you catch my drift.
DeleteRick--Geographically it makes sense...and I like how the teams are divided. However, I don't think the athletic directors would sign off on that one. Competition reasons, money draws, etc...Maryland especially. They're so far in the hole debt wise that they need games against a Michigan every season
ReplyDeleteI thought about the north/south division but that did not work out much better. There would be a lot of travel for some teams.
ReplyDeleteI hope they start playing 9 division games. I am a little sick of the B1G beating up the MAC.
I could not disagree with FortMillRick more. The Michigan-Ohio game at the end of the season is "The Game" for a reason. That game has great meaning, and the chance that both teams would play each other in the championship game regardless of the outcome of that game would obviously make The Game less impactful if not meaningless. Let's not forget the rest of the B1G would hate to see that game two weeks in a row. The Game has to stay as Michigan and Ohio's final game of the season every year. It has to, no exceptions. Period.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I think Jim Delany will try to do the same thing he did last time when deciding how to structure the two divisions (albeit with less tacky names) and organize the divisions such that it is a balance of football and basketball powers in each division while trying to preserve as many rivalries as possible. With that philosophy in mind, Maryland and Rutgers have to go in the same division since they are the coming in together. Michigan and Ohio need to be in the same division (preserving this rivalry is top priority no matter what they do and he knows that now). Wisconsin-Iowa-Nebraska-Minnesota are all likely to be in the same division as Delany is likely to have each school in his ear saying how much they value their geographic rivalries. My idea for what the final divisions SHOULD look like is something like this and is more or less East-West with some minor change:
Division one: Michigan, Ohio, Michigan State, Rutgers, Maryland, Purdue, Illinois
Division two: Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Northwestern, Minnesota, Penn State, Indiana
You'll notice the real non-geographical split is Penn State. You have to put the Nittany Lions in the other division just to give that conference a bit more power in football. To put them with Michigan, Ohio, and Michigan state would severely concentrate all the football power in one division. You can say "oh but Wisconsin and Nebraska" and I would just say to compare the divisions top to bottom without putting Penn St in the "West" and tell me they stack up side by side. Indiana is in division two also because of their power in basketball and for the same reason Penn State can't be with Michigan, Ohio, and State.
I'd love to hear what people think about this.
The original alignment in the story is this:
DeleteDivision one: Michigan, Ohio, Michigan State, Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana, Penn State
Division two: Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern
It does separate the two Indiana schools, but neither school is a football powerhouse. This is the most simplistic way to divide the conference. Eastern most 6 schools and Western most 6 and call it a day. One side might be harder than the other, but thats what will happen anytime Michigan and OSU are in the same division.
You can't use basketball as an argument here since the divisions are meant for football only. Divisions don't really exist in Bball anyway. That being said, "The Game" would never be diminished if they had to face each other in back to back weeks but since there is basically no chance they'll be in separate divisions it won't happen. They'll just beat on each other to make it to Indy. Remember when Michigan and Ohio State were No.1 and No.2, OSU beat Michigan and it was up to Florida to destroy chances of the rematch is the championship game? Fans were salivating over that possibility. I'm not saying your division idea is bad, but it won't happen that way. Penn St is too close to Rutgers and Maryland and I've heard they want to start a rivalry between those schools. Now, if they announce something else other than what I've laid out I'll be surprised.
ReplyDeleteAt that point there was no Big 10 championship game so trying to compare a conference championship to the national championship is a weak comparison at best.
DeleteTHE best argument for having us and OSU in same division, is to guarantee we play each other only once.... otherwise, the "game" gets watered down, if they have to play each other twice.
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