2 Questions need to be answered

[BSpringsteen]

1) Why did each school need to have a protected rival? Why is that necessary?

2) Why not switch Illinois and Minnesota? They are about the same competitively, and then we could take Minnesota as a protected rival, but gain another border war opponent? That would have seemed to make more sense.

 

[iahawk20]

Nebraska and Iowa were very clear in wanting to play MN, that likely played a big part of it.

 

[tm3308]

1) Why did each school need to have a protected rival? Why is that necessary?

2) Why not switch Illinois and Minnesota? They are about the same competitively, and then we could take Minnesota as a protected rival, but gain another border war opponent? That would have seemed to make more sense.

1. I'm guessing simply for symmetrical purposes. It won't matter come 2015, because Delany seemed to hint that your "protected" rivals could change. So we could potentially gain Penn State and Wisconsin.

2. Because by putting Minnesota in the other division, you lose the Little Brown Jug, because Michigan already has a protected game with tOSU.

 

[MidnightBlueSix]

I'm with you on both fronts. We shouldn't have a protected rivalry with a school nobody considers a rival of ours. I would have happily accepted PSU or Wisconsin as our protected rivalry but Purdue is just stupid. It seems like they decided that since OSU-UM has to be a protected rivalry and so does Northwestern-Illinois, they needed to give every team a protected rivalry. I don't think it lasts more than the first 2 or 4 seasons before the protected rivalries are done away with.

The problem with swapping Illinois and Minnesota is that I think Wisconsin wanted to play Minnesota as the protected rivalry and they wouldn't be able to do that if they were in the same division. Otherwise I think it would make a lot more sense.

 

[Hawke]

You can't please all of the people all of the time. I think that Delaney & Co. have put together a very good system, one that addresses most of the issues they had to resolve in the process.

 

[redhawk94]

I agree that they should have swapped Illinois and Minnesota. Minnesota would still be able to play Wisconsin every year and then Iowa could have had a protected rivalry with either Minnesota or Wisconsin. But all in all, Iowa doesn't have much to gripe about.

 

[HawkeyeDenis]

You can't please all of the people all of the time. I think that Delaney & Co. have put together a very good system, one that addresses most of the issues they had to resolve in the process.

I agree. There are a lot of great games in the schedule next year for everyone. Iowa-Nebraska is going to be a great game.

 

[imported_ankle23]

1. I'm guessing simply for symmetrical purposes. It won't matter come 2015, because Delany seemed to hint that your "protected" rivals could change. So we could potentially gain Penn State and Wisconsin.

2. Because by putting Minnesota in the other division, you lose the Little Brown Jug, because Michigan already has a protected game with tOSU.

I bet reason #2 is the reason. good job TM.

 

[redhawk94]

I bet reason #2 is the reason. good job TM.

But they haven't played for the Little Brown Jug every year since Penn St. joined.

 

[imported_ankle23]

But they haven't played for the Little Brown Jug every year since Penn St. joined.

The Michigan AD said that they got everything that they wanted and I think that was two or three things, one being the little brown jug game with minnesota. i bet it played a part as that is a pretty long-standing rivarly game.

 

[ShadasRevenge]

Overall, the conference got it right. Part of progress is that everyone doesn't get everything they want. That being said, Delany got pretty close. Very few quibbles.

 

[tm3308]

But they haven't played for the Little Brown Jug every year since Penn St. joined.

True. But I'm judging by the fact that they've reinstated it as an annual event that Minnesota and Michigan didn't WANT to give it up, but had to in order to accomodate expansion (much like ourselves and Wisconsin right now). They had an opportunity to get it back as an annual game, and they took advantage of it.

 

[ThunderHawk]

We gave a little and got a lot.

The protected rival thing I believe was a function of splitting OSU and UM. If you did it for them you had to do it for everyone.