Never going to happen. If they decide to split UM and OSU....Iowa and wisky get split too.
New look at Big Ten Divisions with OSU/Michigan on Opposite Sides
- Thread starter JonDMiller
- Start date
Never going to happen. If they decide to split UM and OSU....Iowa and wisky get split too.
bws258
Well-Known Member
No more than 1 protected game per team!
Big Ten trophy games, in order of importance or historical significance:
- Michigan - Ohio State (The Game)
- Minnesota - Wisconsin (Slab of Bacon/Paul Bunyan's Axe)
- Michigan - Michigan State (Paul Bunyan Trophy)
- Iowa - Minnesota (Floyd of Rosedale)
- Indiana - Purdue (Old Oaken Bucket)
- Illinois - Northwestern (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk/Lincoln Trophy)
- Illinois - Purdue (Purdue Cannon)
- Iowa - Wisconsin (Heartland Trophy)
- Michigan - Minnesota (Little Brown Jug)
- Illinois - Ohio State (Illibuck)
- Indiana - Michigan State (Old Brass Spittoon)
- Michigan State - Penn State (Land Grant Trophy)
- Minnesota - Penn State (Governor's Victory Bell)
- Ohio State - Penn State (rivalry game?)
- Minnesota - Nebraska
- Iowa - Nebraska
No way in the world do Mich, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisc, and MSU end up in the same division. That is insane.
My best guess is:
Michigan
Nebraska
Iowa
Michigan St
Minnesota
Northwestern
Ohio St
Penn St
Wisc
Purdue
Illinois
Indiana
It is balanced, and most rivalries can be preserved with one protected game.
My best guess is:
Michigan
Nebraska
Iowa
Michigan St
Minnesota
Northwestern
Ohio St
Penn St
Wisc
Purdue
Illinois
Indiana
It is balanced, and most rivalries can be preserved with one protected game.
83Hawk
Banned
This makes sense, if Ohio St and Michigan are split....which I am not convinced will happen...that would be incredibly stupid and would water down the rivalry.
And I would be VERY surprised if OSU and PSU were in one division and Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin and Nebraska were in another. That would violate Delaney's #1 priority of having a competitive balance.
As for expansion....I don't see it happening for a long time. It won't happen until Notre Dame decides they want to join.
I agree with many on here. I think you got a little hasty in puttin gyour prediction out Jon. Here is how I see it:
Division A: PSU, OSU
Division B: Mich, Nebby
Mich St, Iowa and Wiscy will be divided next - 2 to B and 1 to A. IMO Mich St will remain with Mich and Iowa will be with Nebby, so:
A: PSU, OSU, Wiscy
B: Mich, MSU, Nebby, Iowa
Don't know and don't really care how the rest are split up. But I do think MN will go to A to stay with Wiscy. I also think there will only be one protected rival and out of Wiscy and MN Iowa will keep the MN rivalry. Which is fine by me, think of it as switching the Wiscy rivaly with NE. We come out on top. Just to make my prediction complete:
A: PSU, OSU, Wiscy, MN, NW, IL
B: Mich, MSU, Nebby, Iowa, Pur, Ind
For arguements sake, I think Purd/Ind and NW/IL will remain together and I can see them easily switched. I actually prefer them switched but I think the above gives best competitive balance.
Division A: PSU, OSU
Division B: Mich, Nebby
Mich St, Iowa and Wiscy will be divided next - 2 to B and 1 to A. IMO Mich St will remain with Mich and Iowa will be with Nebby, so:
A: PSU, OSU, Wiscy
B: Mich, MSU, Nebby, Iowa
Don't know and don't really care how the rest are split up. But I do think MN will go to A to stay with Wiscy. I also think there will only be one protected rival and out of Wiscy and MN Iowa will keep the MN rivalry. Which is fine by me, think of it as switching the Wiscy rivaly with NE. We come out on top. Just to make my prediction complete:
A: PSU, OSU, Wiscy, MN, NW, IL
B: Mich, MSU, Nebby, Iowa, Pur, Ind
For arguements sake, I think Purd/Ind and NW/IL will remain together and I can see them easily switched. I actually prefer them switched but I think the above gives best competitive balance.
Much more logical and way more realistic....if UM and OSU are split.
IowaSS
Well-Known Member
Flat out, Michigan is not the team that everyone thinks they are. I don't think they carry the same weight that everyone thinks in the big 10 division discussions. Splitting OSU and Michigan really doesn't make a difference to me. I would agree that OSU is really the only team that carries weight year in and year out. The rest of the teams I rank the same are Iowa, PSU, Nebraska, Wisky, MSU with the rest having high points and keep everyone honest. No offense to the Michigan fans, but until they clean house and bring in a stellar coach like Iowa did with Kirk, they are going to be suspect and under investigation for "practices" which steer recruits away. We'll see how it plays out, but the Michigan and OSU argument is mute.
Hawke
Well-Known Member
Michigan has been down but they aren't a program to stay down. That being said I'm not convinced RichRod will be the one to take them to the promised land.
IowaSS
Well-Known Member
I hear that! Call it history or tradition that pulls in the recruits to bring you a winning season, most high school kids just want to go to a team they think is cool or will give them a good look from the NFL draft. Whether they remain a has been (think Miami, FSU who were studs not that long ago) will depend on character which I don't think Michigan has now. It's been some time that I thought Michigan had a coach I respected. Honestly I hope they keep RR as long as it means wins for us but hate to see any school in the big ten lose face as I think it hurts all the credibility of our conference.
silvanthalas
Well-Known Member
I'd be just fine with Michigan never playing in the Big Ten title game.
The fact remains, however, that even if they suck for the next 100 years, the Big Ten is deciding alignment based in the LAST 100 years.
It needs to be done geographically, or not at all.
silvanthalas
Well-Known Member
And then what? Review it every 5 years because the 'recent results' haven't held up against history? That's a great way to make it even more laughable.
Hawke
Well-Known Member
That's thinking outside the box!
olivecourt
Well-Known Member
Here's my best shot, with protected rivalries in parentheses:
Farm division
Iowa (Minnesota)
Nebraska (Wisconsin)
Penn State (Ohio State)
Michigan State (Michigan)
Indiana (Purdue)
Illinois (Northwestern)
Factory division
Ohio State
Michigan
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Purdue
Pluses: --Keeps Ohio State and Michigan in the same division. I think that's in the rest of the league's best interest... otherwise, you could wind up with those two teams getting even more attention than they already do. I think their ADs realize that playing twice would be a huge press bonanza and a cash cow, which is why they are changing their tune.
--Only one protected rivalry game per team (I agree with Jon that two won't work), but you still maintain the nine best-known trophy games (The Game, Paul Bunyan's Axe, Michigan/Michigan State, Floyd, Old Oaken Bucket, ILL/NWU, Little Brown Jug, Old Brass Spittoon, and Land Grant). You lose the Purdue Cannon (?), the Heartland Trophy (cool but relatively new), the Illibuck (?), and the Governor's Victory Bell (?).
-- One protected rivalry means you still play other teams a lot (assuming 12 teams and 9 conference games), so it's not like the Heartland Trophy would be retired. Iowa can't play all of their "rivals" every year and try to get something going with Nebraska. You'll pull your hair out trying to make that work.
-- IMO, farms and factories is a sweet way to divide the conference. Purdue is a stretch for factories, I know, but they do have that great engineering program, so at least they are familiar with the concept of building stuff. I also considered Grain Belt/Rust Belt.
Minuses: -- In any setup where Iowa isn't in Minnesota's division but plays them every year, they get a huge competitive advantage. I doubt Penn State would be wild about playing Ohio State every year while Iowa gets Minnesota. Part of me feels like you've got to get rid of the protected rivalries altogether or you really screw up the competitive balance.
Farm division
Iowa (Minnesota)
Nebraska (Wisconsin)
Penn State (Ohio State)
Michigan State (Michigan)
Indiana (Purdue)
Illinois (Northwestern)
Factory division
Ohio State
Michigan
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Purdue
Pluses: --Keeps Ohio State and Michigan in the same division. I think that's in the rest of the league's best interest... otherwise, you could wind up with those two teams getting even more attention than they already do. I think their ADs realize that playing twice would be a huge press bonanza and a cash cow, which is why they are changing their tune.
--Only one protected rivalry game per team (I agree with Jon that two won't work), but you still maintain the nine best-known trophy games (The Game, Paul Bunyan's Axe, Michigan/Michigan State, Floyd, Old Oaken Bucket, ILL/NWU, Little Brown Jug, Old Brass Spittoon, and Land Grant). You lose the Purdue Cannon (?), the Heartland Trophy (cool but relatively new), the Illibuck (?), and the Governor's Victory Bell (?).
-- One protected rivalry means you still play other teams a lot (assuming 12 teams and 9 conference games), so it's not like the Heartland Trophy would be retired. Iowa can't play all of their "rivals" every year and try to get something going with Nebraska. You'll pull your hair out trying to make that work.
-- IMO, farms and factories is a sweet way to divide the conference. Purdue is a stretch for factories, I know, but they do have that great engineering program, so at least they are familiar with the concept of building stuff. I also considered Grain Belt/Rust Belt.
Minuses: -- In any setup where Iowa isn't in Minnesota's division but plays them every year, they get a huge competitive advantage. I doubt Penn State would be wild about playing Ohio State every year while Iowa gets Minnesota. Part of me feels like you've got to get rid of the protected rivalries altogether or you really screw up the competitive balance.
