Talk of Eliminating Divisions

[ohio1317]

https://www.centredaily.com/sports/college/penn-state-university/psu-football/article222662380.html

I personally doubt this ends up going anywhere, but apparently at least discussions of going without divisions and matching up best 2 as the Big 12 does.  I personally like it, but think they'll be reluctant to do it (easier in the Big 12 with a full round robin of teams). 

If they ever did though, assuming 9 conference games remain (10 is better, but probably unrealistic), then I think you lock 3 games for each team and have the other 10 rotate (meaning you play everyone both home and away over 4 years). 

[Hawkinole]

I have thought of this but didn't think others would. I still haven't formulated my thoughts on it completely. East and west would play each other more, but East v. East and West v. West, wouldn't. I would guess amongst the east that the traditionalists would like playing the "real" Big Ten teams more often.

So far I am satisfied with what we have, but as I am a blossoming oldster, I miss playing Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana and MSU most years, even though at 5'8" I wasn't actually the guy playing them.

[MarqHusker]

Delaney issued a peculiar statement about needing to make sure the top 2 teams are in the CCG.

[847badgerfan]

I have thought of this but didn't think others would. I still haven't formulated my thoughts on it completely. East and west would play each other more, but East v. East and West v. West, wouldn't. I would guess amongst the east that the traditionalists would like playing the "real" Big Ten teams more often.

So far I am satisfied with what we have, but as I am a blossoming oldster, I miss playing Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana and MSU most years, even though at 5'8" I wasn't actually the guy playing them.

All of this.

[847badgerfan]

Delaney issued a peculiar statement about needing to make sure the top 2 teams are in the CCG.

Most years, it has been that way. So this year the 1st and 3rd play and that's not good enough? Screw him.

[JerseyTerrapin]

I thought it was an NCAA requirement that there has to be a true round-robin schedule in order to do the top-two-go-to-the-championship-game thing, as the Big 12 does.
 

[ohio1317]

Thats what get me.  They had this discussion a few years ago.  They ended up relaxing the CCG rule so you didn't need 12, but still needed round robin (in divison as the 10 team Sun Belt does or for the whole conference as the Big 12 does). 

That said, at the time, it was the Big 12 and ACC suggesting change and I think Big Ten only willing to go half way with it.  If they change their vote, it would go a long way.  This is actually one of the rules the power 5 conferences have autonomy on I believe meaning you do not need to get whole NCAA involved which makes change much easier.

[ohio1317]

At the end of the day, I 100 percent support the change because I want to play the western teams more, but they better realize this would not be clean.  With 14 teams, you miss 4 teams a year still.  That will lead to some very different strength of schedules.

[Cincydawg]

Maybe a rule could be if a division champ has say 4 losses and the runner up on the other side only has 2 or fewer, you could cross over.

That would of course mean a repeat game, but that happens at times anyway.

[bayareabadger]

At the end of the day, I 100 percent support the change because I want to play the western teams more, but they better realize this would not be clean.  With 14 teams, you miss 4 teams a year still.  That will lead to some very different strength of schedules.

The not clean SOS is not great. I like the schedule side of it. I assume no matter what there's a live with it factor. 

[ELA]

Maybe a rule could be if a division champ has say 4 losses and the runner up on the other side only has 2 or fewer, you could cross over.

That would of course mean a repeat game, but that happens at times anyway.

Thing is, Northwestern went 8-1 in Big Ten play.  I don't want to start bringing OOC into it.  I would prefer to go to 10 games and say any time one division runner up is two games ahead (ignoring tiebreakers)  in conference record of the other division champ, they go.
I do find it funny how often these conferences want to manipulate things to get their desired result, while the SEC just went first, went geographic, and have been just fine.  ACC tried to set up FSU-Miami, never got it.  Big Ten tried to set up UM-OSU, couldn't get it, abandoned the plan, now are trying to formulate a new plan.  Funny thing is, as undesirable as rematches are, a rematch of a season ending rivalry game would be flat out awful.  I'm glad we dodged that bullet with Oklahoma-WVU, and that's not even a rivalry.

[medinabuckeye1]

Funny thing is, as undesirable as rematches are, a rematch of a season ending rivalry game would be flat out awful.  I'm glad we dodged that bullet with Oklahoma-WVU, and that's not even a rivalry.

I agree on this completely.  OU/TX was, of course, a rematch, all the B12CG's are but in this case it was an early December rematch of a game played in early October.  

In the current B1G set-up the only cross-over game in the last week is IU/PU.  The only one in the second-to-last week was MSU/UNL and the only one in the third-to-last week (Nov 10) was UW/PSU.  In the fourth-to-last week there were two but that is almost a month before the CG so a rematch of one of those wouldn't be too bad.  

This year the B1G-W Champ didn't play the B1G-E Champ in the regular season so the closest we came to a rematch was B1G-E Co-Champ Michigan had played B1G-W Champ Northwestern but that game was in September.  

As I see it, the problem with a non-divisional CG is that with 14 teams each team misses four.  As others in this thread have mentioned, that can cause VAST differences in SoS.  This year, for example, Wisconsin missed #1 but played #2, #3, #4, #5, and #6/7.  That is a heck of a lot tougher schedule than Northwestern who played one of the top-4 or Ohio State who played three of the top-7.  

[Cincydawg]

Twelve team conferences would help out I think.

That change didn't help IMHO.

[Entropy]

I'd leave the divisions alone...   SEC had a great Championship game this year, so I read... but a just a few years ago these were routes.

I'll still repeat what I said before.... Move MSU to the West, someone else to the East.  Keep the 9 game conference schedule but on the 3rd week in Sept, have crossover rivalry week.    In this scenario, MSU would play Michigan... PSU and Nebraska could lock horns... etc..    A tweak based upon historical win %'s is what they need, not a drastic change.  jmo