Posted on 08/02/2007 12:24:56 PM PDT by GOP_Raider
Bring up the Big Ten this off-season and you’ll get two topics of discussion: the schedules and the perceived lack of speed. While it might be the granddaddy of the conferences, it has a lot to learn from the younger, hipper leagues when it comes to scheduling, and to some, fielding teams with fast players.
Schedule-wise, forgetting the mega-gap between the end of the Big Ten season and the bowls (Ohio State beat Michigan on November 18th and didn’t play Florida until January 8th), the league that can’t add up its own teams continues to have a big problem with the configuration of the slates.
Having eleven teams makes it realistically impossible to have a round-robin schedule like the Pac 10 (no way the Big Ten teams are going to give up the cash cow of a third non-conference game), and not having twelve prevents the league from splitting into two divisions and settling things with a title game. Therefore you have a situation like last year when Wisconsin and Ohio State didn’t meet, and Purdue didn’t have to play Ohio State or Michigan.
Talk about your unfair draws, Iowa, a very good team, but not an elite one, doesn’t have to play the Buckeyes or the Wolverines meaning it’ll be right in the hunt for the Big Ten title, while other teams miss some of the lightweights. That still won’t change.
(Excerpt) Read more at cfn.scout.com ...
The Big 10 really needs a 12th team and a title game. OSU and Michigan ended their season ranked #1 and #2 in the BCS. Florida then beat FSU in Tally and won the SEC title game, thereby grabbing enough attention to jump Michigan into the Corn Chip Bowl. We know what happened next.
The media constantly presses for Notre Dame to join the Big 10, but if that would really work, it would already have happened. They need a team that presents a well rounded athletic program and adds a TV market. Louiville fits that bill and would also bring an annual rivalry with the SEC. Rutgers and Syracuse should also be considered. A suggested lineup would be Michigan, Michigan St, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin and Minnesota in the “Lake Division” and Ohio St, Penn St, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and Louiville in the “River Division”.
Hmm...back in the day, the last game of the season would always be Indiana-Purdue, Michigan-Ohio St., and Illinois-Northwestern...the other 4 would mix it up some.
I would prefer West/East or Midwest/Central, however you want to call it.
Minn-Wisc-Ia-Ill-NW-New team (I won’t argue with Louisville)
Ind-Pur-Mich-Mich St.-Ohio St.-Penn St.
I believe this year will be the seventh "L" in front of LLLLLLLLoyd Carr's name vs Tressel.
But you Florida guys, in the SEC I'll be cheering for anybody but Florida.
The mention of Rutgers going to the Big 10 would probably complicate this scenario even further. If ND had really wanted to be in the Big 10 it would have happened already...so I would probably think that for the simple fact of dividing the conference into two divisions, Lou’uhville will be the easiest.
I like the “Lake” and “River” division ideas, it’s probably better than anything I could have come up with.
If the regular Big Ten season would end without Ohio St vs Michigan as the final game for either team a meteor would hit the earth that year.
No to a Big Ten championship game.
It’s nice and screwed up and that’s the way I like it.
Great shot of the Shoe!!!
O H ...........
This will probably be Ferentz’s last or next to last year at Iowa. If his kids weren’t in school in Iowa City, he’d have been an assistant in a pro team by now.
Ha ha ha ha ha!!!
lol!!!!..........
Thanks. I still prefer to have pics that have each stadium full, like it would be during a game, though.
I O!!!!!!
No conference championship.
Teams not playing each other every year.
How can you call this a power conference?
Michigan State. Wait a year. For Spartan fans hoping to end the yearly craziness and bizarre collapses, this season could be even worse in Mark Dantonio’s first year. The team needs to be rebuilt, remade and reborn...
I'm not quite sure what John L. Smith did to that program to leave it in such disarray, but I can't imagine Michigan State's expectations were that high coming into this year.
Funniest line I've heard in a long time from post game press conf.'s, the Spartans had beaten Notre Dame in South Bend, and when asked what it was like beating ND..."it's nice. But there's nothing like beating Boise State in Boise."
I think Zook had the same look when he was at Florida. ;)
Yep.
Oh boy, what kind of an upset would that be? Granted, it's not likely, but...
Now that’s “a really big ‘shoe.”
I’d take Appalachian State straight up against Michigan. I’ve seen Western Washington University play when they were national champs, and the discipline they have can make up for the size.
Boise State is a good example of that. Interesting to see what happens to that team this year.
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