Division elimination

1. Minnesota

2. Wisconsin

3. Nebraska
All this series needs is a spark and perhaps some pain. Or for Nebraska to shift into the program it was supposed to be when the Big Ten added it for the 2011 season. The perpetual chirping from both sides of the Missouri River suggests the disdain for the other program is unquestioned. While rivalry status might produce varying shades from the fan bases, it seems apparent they are one another’s least-liked opponent. That matters.

Iowa has won seven straight meetings and eight of 11 since the Huskers joined the Big Ten. The last four games have come down to big fourth quarter moments. In 2021, their meeting became BTN’s most watched sporting event with 1.94 million viewers. There is plenty of school and league equity in this Black Friday series, and it’s important for Nebraska as it further marries its traditions with its Big Ten future.

Nebraska leads 29-20-3 overall and now they play for the Heroes Trophy. It’s surprising these teams haven’t engaged in a winner-take-all divisional battle — or spoiled one another’s divisional coronation. It’ll happen one of these years.
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So, I wonder what criteria they used to determine each teams 3 primary opponents?   Distance from each school?

We haven't been competitive with the 3 closest ones  - Iowa, Wiscy, Mini.  NW may be closer than Wiscy.    

 I would like to see it being Iowa, Mini, NW.   Or Iowa, NW, Ill

It will most likely be Iowa, Wiscy, Mini  - because of revenue those games would have the most draw.  

 
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I realize this might not be the end.

But I've always liked 16 teams in four-team pods.  Which could look pretty nice now as:

Penn State, Michigan State, Rutgers, Maryland

Ohio State, Michigan, Purdue, Indiana

Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern

USC, UCLA, Nebraska, Illinois

But since the new shiny thing seems to be three permanent opponents and split the rest, with 16 teams it would be fairly easy to go with a 3-6-6 format.

Will be interesting to see.  And see if they even get a chance to do either one before there are more than 16 teams...

 
Mavric said:
I realize this might not be the end.

But I've always liked 16 teams in four-team pods.  Which could look pretty nice now as:

Penn State, Michigan State, Rutgers, Maryland

Ohio State, Michigan, Purdue, Indiana

Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern

USC, UCLA, Nebraska, Illinois

But since the new shiny thing seems to be three permanent opponents and split the rest, with 16 teams it would be fairly easy to go with a 3-6-6 format.

Will be interesting to see.  And see if they even get a chance to do either one before there are more than 16 teams...
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Penn State, Michigan State, Rutgers, Maryland:  This would be the easy division.  

Ohio State, Michigan, Purdue, Indiana:  This would be the division that Indiana and Purdue would never win and would just hope to tie for second.

Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern:  This would be the worst and most boring division in all of sports.  This would be like watching Skinemax when you are a kid...you think you are watching something awesome but then you find out there is real porn out there and you never go back to watch again.

USC, UCLA, Nebraska, Illinois:  This would literally be wide open almost every single year.  It would all come down to who lost to Illinois. 

 
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Wonder if they go above 16 teams if there is a push for 10 conference games?

A big reason for division elimination was so that teams could play more often (avoiding the Nebraska/Indiana problem).  But adding more than 16 teams makes it harder to rotate through all the teams.  I guess with 18 they could do 1/8/8.

 
I heard a pod caster yesterday (think it was josh pate) say that Stanford, Oregon, Washington and Cal are included. Then Notre Dame and Carolina. First to be announced will be Notre Dame followed by the others. If that happens I can see 3 super conferences evolving with 24 teams and a completely new type of governorship as the NCAA's time has reached an end.

 
IgniteTheSpark said:
At this point, what advantage is it to play an out of conference game?
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I guess just to avoid a conference loss and maybe to schedule a pud team or to get a different team in for your fanbase to see.

Loebarth said:
I heard a pod caster yesterday (think it was josh pate) say that Stanford, Oregon, Washington and Cal are included. Then Notre Dame and Carolina. First to be announced will be Notre Dame followed by the others. If that happens I can see 3 super conferences evolving with 24 teams and a completely new type of governorship as the NCAA's time has reached an end.
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The NCAA has never really been in charge, it is amazing that the schools pretended like they were for so long.

 
Red Five said:
Wonder if they go above 16 teams if there is a push for 10 conference games?

A big reason for division elimination was so that teams could play more often (avoiding the Nebraska/Indiana problem).  But adding more than 16 teams makes it harder to rotate through all the teams.  I guess with 18 they could do 1/8/8.
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The easiest is 20 teams with 5 team pods.  Each year your pod round robins a different pod and you play every team once every 3 years.

 
In another 10 years one school will start b!^@hing that something isn't fair and schools won't be able to get along and these super conferences will implode haha.

 
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