JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
The Big Ten and Pac 12 have entered into a 'scheduling agreement' that will extend across all sports, including football.
Here are some of the primary nuggets:
-Big Ten will put move to nine game conference slate on hold
-Big Ten vs Pac 12 in football will happen starting 2017, with all 12 teams in each league playing one another in an out of conference game each year
-Basketball series for both men and women could take place as soon as next year
In the item linked above, Big Ten commish Jim Delany looks as this as a benefit of conference expansion without having to actually expand.
This is a pretty big collaboration with some potential for enormous ramifications.
These are my opinions and I could prove to be all wrong, but here it goes...
PLAYOFF HOPES DASHED? For those wanting some form of college football playoff, Jim Delany and the Big Ten occupy a space on their dart boards. The Big Ten is the primary force AGAINST a playoff. The Pac 12 might not be as much against a playoff as the Big Ten has been but they have not been an advocate. These two leagues have had ties for decades and the Rose Bowl is something of incredible importance to each league. I think there are some folks in each league who look at the Rose Bowl as a bigger deal than the national title game.
With these two leagues entering into multi-sport scheduling arrangements, namely the forthcoming Big Ten-Pac 12 out of conference scheduling that begins in 2017, it brings them even closer together philosophically and creates a more unified 'voting bloc' if you will. Roughly one-third of 'BCS Conference' teams will reside in these two leagues. The sway and influence is enormous, so the future of college football and any sort of post season change will have to be something these leagues go along with, or it won't happen.
TELEVISION GIANTS: The Pac 12 kicks off its new network in 2012. The Big Ten Network has been rolling strong now for several years. These are the only two leagues that have their own TV networks. Now that they are entering a formal scheduling agreement and each league has its own network?? Whew, that's a very strong position. The folks at ESPN can't be liking this one bit, as Fox owns 49% of the BTN and they currently have the TV rights both league's football title games. Can a BTN/P12N owned bowl game be too far away? Will those leagues look to move the Rose Bowl in house? This USA Today item had this snippet of interest: "Together, the Big Ten and Pac-12 encompass 15 states holding 43% of the nation's population and 22 of its top 50 television markets." That is powerful stuff right there.
NEUTRAL SITES? Also in that USA Today article was the notion that there could be an annual 'kickoff game' between teams from both leagues, perhaps played at the Rose Bowl, as well as other matchups played at 'neutral' sites in NFL stadiums. I think those are good ideas, especially if you play the games in the opening weekend of the college season because the NFL is not in play at that time and the venues would be available to use.
There are a number of offshoot conversations that will stem from this partnership, including one very local; will this impact the future of the Iowa-Iowa State game?
It sounds as though the Big Ten will scrap their nine-game conference schedule plans, which I am happy about. I didn't like the unbalanced aspects of a nine-game slate, where you would play four home games and five road games one year then flip it the next.
Not having that 9th conference game makes the Iowa-Iowa State game more tenable from Iowa's point of view. That being said, if some of the B1G-P12 games are played at neutral settings, you could still get into the problem of only having six home games in a season which has to be a non-starter. Will Iowa State want to continue to the series given their nine-game round robin slate in the Big 12? Will the Big 12 even exist in 2017? More questions than answers, to be sure.
You also have to figure this announcement plays into recent comments from Gary Barta related to no longer playing home and home basketball games with UNI and Drake on an annual basis, as it sounds like Iowa and its Big Ten brethren will begin scheduling games against Pac 12 teams as early as next year.
Here are some of the primary nuggets:
-Big Ten will put move to nine game conference slate on hold
-Big Ten vs Pac 12 in football will happen starting 2017, with all 12 teams in each league playing one another in an out of conference game each year
-Basketball series for both men and women could take place as soon as next year
In the item linked above, Big Ten commish Jim Delany looks as this as a benefit of conference expansion without having to actually expand.
This is a pretty big collaboration with some potential for enormous ramifications.
These are my opinions and I could prove to be all wrong, but here it goes...
PLAYOFF HOPES DASHED? For those wanting some form of college football playoff, Jim Delany and the Big Ten occupy a space on their dart boards. The Big Ten is the primary force AGAINST a playoff. The Pac 12 might not be as much against a playoff as the Big Ten has been but they have not been an advocate. These two leagues have had ties for decades and the Rose Bowl is something of incredible importance to each league. I think there are some folks in each league who look at the Rose Bowl as a bigger deal than the national title game.
With these two leagues entering into multi-sport scheduling arrangements, namely the forthcoming Big Ten-Pac 12 out of conference scheduling that begins in 2017, it brings them even closer together philosophically and creates a more unified 'voting bloc' if you will. Roughly one-third of 'BCS Conference' teams will reside in these two leagues. The sway and influence is enormous, so the future of college football and any sort of post season change will have to be something these leagues go along with, or it won't happen.
TELEVISION GIANTS: The Pac 12 kicks off its new network in 2012. The Big Ten Network has been rolling strong now for several years. These are the only two leagues that have their own TV networks. Now that they are entering a formal scheduling agreement and each league has its own network?? Whew, that's a very strong position. The folks at ESPN can't be liking this one bit, as Fox owns 49% of the BTN and they currently have the TV rights both league's football title games. Can a BTN/P12N owned bowl game be too far away? Will those leagues look to move the Rose Bowl in house? This USA Today item had this snippet of interest: "Together, the Big Ten and Pac-12 encompass 15 states holding 43% of the nation's population and 22 of its top 50 television markets." That is powerful stuff right there.
NEUTRAL SITES? Also in that USA Today article was the notion that there could be an annual 'kickoff game' between teams from both leagues, perhaps played at the Rose Bowl, as well as other matchups played at 'neutral' sites in NFL stadiums. I think those are good ideas, especially if you play the games in the opening weekend of the college season because the NFL is not in play at that time and the venues would be available to use.
There are a number of offshoot conversations that will stem from this partnership, including one very local; will this impact the future of the Iowa-Iowa State game?
It sounds as though the Big Ten will scrap their nine-game conference schedule plans, which I am happy about. I didn't like the unbalanced aspects of a nine-game slate, where you would play four home games and five road games one year then flip it the next.
Not having that 9th conference game makes the Iowa-Iowa State game more tenable from Iowa's point of view. That being said, if some of the B1G-P12 games are played at neutral settings, you could still get into the problem of only having six home games in a season which has to be a non-starter. Will Iowa State want to continue to the series given their nine-game round robin slate in the Big 12? Will the Big 12 even exist in 2017? More questions than answers, to be sure.
You also have to figure this announcement plays into recent comments from Gary Barta related to no longer playing home and home basketball games with UNI and Drake on an annual basis, as it sounds like Iowa and its Big Ten brethren will begin scheduling games against Pac 12 teams as early as next year.
rolleyes
