Why not? Do you think they wouldn't play every year? I don't see what it matters, just as long as they play every year, which they will.
Joe Schad also got hung out to dry by his own network when he want on the air saying the Big 12 was dead. Hours later, even as it was becoming apparent that the Big 12 was going to stay (somewhat) together, he was still reporting that it was dead.
No offense to anyone, but this is nonsense. There is absolutely no way OSU and Michigan will be in different divisions. I cannot believe Delaney would ever sign off on that proposition.
I'm not saying this will happen, but this could also explain why Delaney wants to go to 9 game conference schedules as well, you put Michigan and OSU in opposite divisions but they still get to play each other as a protected rival every year.
I just want to see Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Nebraska in the same division.
To me an even split geographically still makes more sense. There is plenty of power in the west to equal the power in the east. The problem may be that it just DOESN'T sound as powerful. Some idiot on the radio in the morning down here said yesterday that if the Big 10 splits it this way, NE would win the west every year because they would have no competition in the west without one of the teams from east. I don't suppose anyone reminded him that NE hasn't beaten a ranked team for how long? I believe NE will have all the competition they want in the west...
Each school could have two locked cross division rivals.
Why does anyone think you are going to have protected rivals in the opposite division? The Big Ten has never said that. They said rivalries will be considered, but a protected rival in a different division doesn't make sense.
In a 9 game schedule you have 5 division games and 4 out of division. Everyother year you trade out 2 other division teams for the 2 you didn't play the last 2 years. If you start protecting a game from the other division then you have an odd number of teams to regularly swap around. And I don't see having 2 other division guaranteed teams.
Mich and OSU will be in the same division, book it. Joe Shad doesn't know anything. The Ads haven't even met yet to decide and they are the ones who make the decision, not Delaney.
Gawd I hope not
If the abomination of splitting Michigan and OSU is true, then I'd hope for:
North
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan State
Minnesota
Nebraska
Wisconsin
South
Illinois
Indiana
Northwestern
Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue
This is still very geographically sound, and only one cross-divisional rivalry would be needed. Probably:
Iowa - Illinois (seems obvious)
Michigan - Ohio State (the game)
Michigan State - Indiana (spittoon)
Minnesota - Purdue (leftovers)
Nebraska - Penn State (the pregame)
Wisconsin - Northwestern (neighbors)
Ok, Ohio State over the past decade (and longer) would be pretty much a lock for the championship game but all I see people talking about, if they are in different divisions, is rematch, rematch, rematch....
I don't have time to run the numbers but maybe someone else could but we are just talking since 1993 so Michigan has played in the Rose Bowl since then following the seasons of 1997, 04, 05, and 07 and the Orange Bowl following the 1999 season. The rest of their teams have pretty good but even in championship years, Iowa, Nebraska, and Wisconsin (if all in their division) will definately have a ton of say in whether or not they get even to the title game. That is not a cake walk of a division by any means so we are talking possibly 4 or 5 'rematches' in a 17 year period...Wisconsin would have won that division in 93, 98, and 99 as they represented the entire Big Ten in the Rose Bowl by winning the conference those years, Iowa would have won the division in 2002, Nebraska or Iowa each of the last two years, Illinois even had 2 BCS teams in that era and I believe beat Michigan one of those years with Kurt Kittner at the Big House (maybe both) so the case could be made for them to be in separate divisions that it would make for pretty competitive balance as long as they have that game as a protected rival game.
On the other side, Purdue has gone to the Rose Bowl under Drew Brees, Penn State went 12-0 in 1994 I believe with a great team, Michigan State had a good team in 1999 with Plaxico that would have challenged for that side of it etc...
I just don't see that they would have to worry a huge bit about taking much away from that Mich/OSU game as it likely won't happen more than once every four years based on past history (especially with Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State and Nebraska getting back to Championship form) and as someone else said, the re-match would create even more buzz anyway so it's not a bad thing.
Fun to speculate.
Here's my question....if we are going to play 9 conference games....why the hell are we playing a CCG? If we play 9 conference games, that means that there are only TWO conference teams that we don't play. A conference championship game would be a rematch nearly ever damn year. I hate the idea of the CCG being a rematch, but if we are going to do 9 league games instead of 8, the liklihood of a rematch increases significantly.
I say we just go to 12 teams and NOT have a CCG....of course, the Big Ten presidents won't go for that because they'd be leaving roughly $15M in revenue out on the table.....its too bad it all comes down to money instead of what is best for the game.
Why does anyone think you are going to have protected rivals in the opposite division? The Big Ten has never said that. They said rivalries will be considered, but a protected rival in a different division doesn't make sense.
In a 9 game schedule you have 5 division games and 4 out of division. Everyother year you trade out 2 other division teams for the 2 you didn't play the last 2 years. If you start protecting a game from the other division then you have an odd number of teams to regularly swap around. And I don't see having 2 other division guaranteed teams.
Mich and OSU will be in the same division, book it. Joe Shad doesn't know anything. The Ads haven't even met yet to decide and they are the ones who make the decision, not Delaney.