New Divisions: ESPN We are in the West of course.

[exswoo]

The problem with the protected crossovers is that it unbalances the division schedule long term by penciling in a permanent opponent. Back in the old setup Michigan had the hardest path of going through the Legends + OSU every year (although I realize that Neb had a harder path the first two years due to you guys getting Wisconsin + Osu and Penn state rotated in, although it lets up in 2013 and 2014). If they did protect the Minnesota game, the situation will be flipped with Michigan getting a weak opponent every year while the rest of the East will have harder match ups (on average).

 

Not having protected games is the only way to guarantee a balanced schedule over the long run - Indiana/Purdue is getting a break by the crossover, but they aren't expected to compete for a title every year so it's not as harmful to protect that game.

[WoodyHayes1951]

I love the Illinois game but if I had to choose between then and protecting our rivalry then I'm taking the rivalry no question.

 

How much can the Little Brown Jug mean to Gopher fans? they are 24-71-3 all time. 30 year olds have only seen them win once.

[True2tRA]

What a joke of a division of teams. One is overloaded (EAST) and one is crap (WEST) and don't say football is cyclical. 90% of the teams in the new West Division historically haven't done anything...and Iowa has exactly TWO 9-win seasons under Ferentz despite all the love he gets. And who knows how far Wisky will drop now - that not they were ever truly consistently great. So, good news for Huskers - bad news for fans of football...because the West division should be easy pickens every year for any team that has their act together.

Yea, I agree. We will have to see how it all plays out, but wow. Talk about one sided. All the marquee match ups are in the other division. At this point, I'm not seeing how this is good for Nebraska.

[deedsker]

What a joke of a division of teams. One is overloaded (EAST) and one is crap (WEST) and don't say football is cyclical. 90% of the teams in the new West Division historically haven't done anything...and Iowa has exactly TWO 9-win seasons under Ferentz despite all the love he gets. And who knows how far Wisky will drop now - that not they were ever truly consistently great. So, good news for Huskers - bad news for fans of football...because the West division should be easy pickens every year for any team that has their act together.

Yea, I agree. We will have to see how it all plays out, but wow. Talk about one sided. All the marquee match ups are in the other division. At this point, I'm not seeing how this is good for Nebraska.

But...but...

[tschu]

What a joke of a division of teams. One is overloaded (EAST) and one is crap (WEST) and don't say football is cyclical. 90% of the teams in the new West Division historically haven't done anything...and Iowa has exactly TWO 9-win seasons under Ferentz despite all the love he gets. And who knows how far Wisky will drop now - that not they were ever truly consistently great. So, good news for Huskers - bad news for fans of football...because the West division should be easy pickens every year for any team that has their act together.

Yea, I agree. We will have to see how it all plays out, but wow. Talk about one sided. All the marquee match ups are in the other division. At this point, I'm not seeing how this is good for Nebraska.

We can romp our division, win just 1 game (CCG) by any measure, and get our way into either the playoffs or a "BCS Bowl"

 

We lose 1 or maybe 2 "marquee matchups" a year, but everyone is losing a marquee matchup when you consider that we now are having to include a Rutgers and a Maryland in the mix. It's slightly less exciting but much better in terms of championship equity

[zoogs]

Gee......East and West Divisions.

 

Too bad it took the egg - heads many million of dollars and innumerable public scoffings to arrive at a descriptive and sensible set of names that any competent 1st grader could have produced right out of the box.

 

Mr. Delaney, one thinks you may be too clever by half.

 

I've really come to like the Legends and Leaders names and it honestly wasn't that confusing.

 

The fact that the Big Ten has branded itself as B1G and now they want to name one of their divisions the B1G East makes me wonder about their competency though. How do they not see the branding issues and confusion there?

 

I feel bad for the teams in the B1G East who, presumably, do not wish to be associated with the football quality of the Big East.

[Mavric]

Gee......East and West Divisions.

 

Too bad it took the egg - heads many million of dollars and innumerable public scoffings to arrive at a descriptive and sensible set of names that any competent 1st grader could have produced right out of the box.

 

Mr. Delaney, one thinks you may be too clever by half.

 

I've really come to like the Legends and Leaders names and it honestly wasn't that confusing.

 

The fact that the Big Ten has branded itself as B1G and now they want to name one of their divisions the B1G East makes me wonder about their competency though. How do they not see the branding issues and confusion there?

 

I feel bad for the teams in the B1G East who, presumably, do not wish to be associated with the football quality of the Big East.

I'm sure they're not too worried about it. It will probably always be written out as "Big Ten East"

[flatwaterfan]

Legends and Leaders are no more, as the Big Ten will use geography to determine its new divisions and division names beginning in the 2014 season.

 

http://espn.go.com/c...est-sources-say

I wonder if the ultimate endgame would be to have 20 teams, 2 10 team divisions. Play nine game scheduline interdivision only then play the championship game. So basically would have a true b10 east, a true b10 west playing for a big 10 championship

[exswoo]

Besides, there is no football conference called the Big East, so worst case they will think that the Big Ten has a bunch of catholic schools that play basketball

[Mavric]

Legends and Leaders are no more, as the Big Ten will use geography to determine its new divisions and division names beginning in the 2014 season.

 

http://espn.go.com/c...est-sources-say

I wonder if the ultimate endgame would be to have 20 teams, 2 10 team divisions. Play nine game scheduline interdivision only then play the championship game. So basically would have a true b10 east, a true b10 west playing for a big 10 championship

Not to be nit-picky but I'm sure you meant "intradivision" - within the same division.

[sd'sker]

My sister went to Penn State...never underestimate their size and influence 1 out of every 5 college grads in the US went to Penn State...I went to games there in the 80's - the place is football - will always be football - State College becomes the 3rd largest city in the State on Saturday. This will not be an alumni-fanbase that acquiesces to forever mediocrity.

and 4 out of every 5 college grads in the US find this hilarious.

 

penn. st. was stagnant before the sanctions. so you went to a few of their games in the 80s, they have down nothing in the 90s or oughts.

 

i agree with tschu. nebraska/wiscy/northwestern are pretty close to osu/mich/msu. and the programs' strength with was and wane, ultimately being pretty even.

[ObamaRocks91]

Gee......East and West Divisions.

 

Too bad it took the egg - heads many million of dollars and innumerable public scoffings to arrive at a descriptive and sensible set of names that any competent 1st grader could have produced right out of the box.

 

Mr. Delaney, one thinks you may be too clever by half.

 

I've really come to like the Legends and Leaders names and it honestly wasn't that confusing.

 

The fact that the Big Ten has branded itself as B1G and now they want to name one of their divisions the B1G East makes me wonder about their competency though. How do they not see the branding issues and confusion there?

 

I feel bad for the teams in the B1G East who, presumably, do not wish to be associated with the football quality of the Big East.

There really was no brand equity with the division names so I'm not worried about that. The only branding that existed was being mocked by the everyone outside of the Big Ten.

[HSKR]

I love the Illinois game but if I had to choose between then and protecting our rivalry then I'm taking the rivalry no question.

 

How much can the Little Brown Jug mean to Gopher fans? they are 24-71-3 all time. 30 year olds have only seen them win once.

 

Yep, the Little Brown Jug sounds a lot like Nebraska vs Kansas in football. It was a nice game but nobody will even remember the series 5 years after it is over.

[Bigdsrip]

Well it appears we should make it to the B1G championship game 7/10 years with Wisconsin making it a few and maybe northwestern sneaking in once. No excuse for not dominating this division

 

 

I'm noticing a lot of relegating UW to 2nd fiddle in this new division. I might point out 48-17, 30-27 (with a 17 point lead blown), 70-31. One team has been clearly ahead of the other but its not Nebraska. Traditionally UW doesn't hold a candle to NU but on the field recently UW is clearly in the drivers seat in this new alignment.

 

Also I might echo what others have said, the difference in the strength of the divisions is misleading. Very rarely since PSU has joined the conference has all three of OSU, PSU and UM been good at the same time. Maybe for about three years around 97-2000 but most OSU fans would probably claim they were down at that point despite making Rose Bowls. Point being those three look great on paper but UW has been every bit as good for the last 15-20 years as PSU and UM.

 

You already know that you underestimate Northwestern at your own peril, they are a very solid program good for 7-10 wins every year. Iowa has been way down the last two years but for the last 15 years they have been battling UW for 4th in the B1G pecking order (Name recognition not on field product) and I wouldn't expect them to stay down for long. This has kind of been their MO. They have two rebuilding seasons where they win 6-8 games followed by two very solid years where they win 10+ when those players become upperclassmen. Laugh now they'll be back soon enough, and thats coming from someone whose motto concerning Iowa is 'F*%$ Iowa'. This is the first cycle where UW has been able to reload while Iowa had to rebuild so we'll see if thats a sign that UW has pulled ahead for good or if Iowa will catch up with some fresh blood on the coaching staff. Again though they will be a solid team more years than not.

 

Minnesota is a joke now but it was less than 10 years ago when they were beating SEC teams (Bama, Arky, Etc.) in bowls with multiple NFL running backs gaining huge chunks of yards. Brewster completely ruined that program but IIRC Minnesota was the leading rushing team in the B1G from 99-2006 or so, ahead of OSU and UW. If they rediscover their B1G power roots they are another team that can win 7-8 games a year. As it stands they are the worst program in the B1G which is really sad for one of CFBs all time giants. I don't think NU or UW will have to worry about Minny challenging for the division anytime soon but they should be a team that can beat you on the right day, and thats not the case right now. Hopefully that changes y 2014.

 

Illinois is a crazy program. They always have way more talent then their record shows but every once in a while they put it together and make a nice run. For as bad as they have been they've been to 2 BCS games, which is more than most programs can say. Purdue has never recovered from the Starks Flip in 04 (Purdue was #5 in the NCAA, fresh off the highs of the Drew Brees years, Gameday was at W Lafayette, Kyle Orton was the Heisman front runner and UW was their last tough game that year. If Purdue gains 3 yards on 3rd down with a little over 2 mins left in the game they most likely win the B1G and go to the Rose Bowl for the 2nd time in 4 years...

)

 

Bottom line is the West has a lot of midrange teams while the East is feast or famine. As others have mentioned the 9 game schedule means that we'll all play at least one of the big names every year, with another opportunity in the Big Ten title game. They definitely have more prestige but this is the B1G, every game is on national TV and if you go undefeated you will be in the National Title game. I like it just because it feels natural to be paired with Iowa/Minn/Ill/Northwestern/NU. UW/NU will have a chance to become the rivalry it deserves to be, especially considering we basically jacked your program in every way. Add to that the way we rubbed your faces in the dirt twice on the national stage to start things off and this has the makings of a beautiful relationship.

[Mavric]

My sister went to Penn State...never underestimate their size and influence 1 out of every 5 college grads in the US went to Penn State...I went to games there in the 80's - the place is football - will always be football - State College becomes the 3rd largest city in the State on Saturday. This will not be an alumni-fanbase that acquiesces to forever mediocrity.

and 4 out of every 5 college grads in the US find this hilarious.

 

penn. st. was stagnant before the sanctions. so you went to a few of their games in the 80s, they have down nothing in the 90s or oughts.

 

i agree with tschu. nebraska/wiscy/northwestern are pretty close to osu/mich/msu. and the programs' strength with was and wane, ultimately being pretty even.

Well they did go undefeated in 1994 only to get screwed out of a national title.